Araucana are standard and rumpless, tufts are possible. I have 4 tufted hens and all laying up a storm. Fertility is great, so is hatch rate. I have several confirmed hatches from shipped eggs of these. Hatching 4 tufted chicks to 7 eggs 100% hatch rate here.
The Araucana chicken was originally bred by Dr. Rueben Bustos, a poultry expert in Chile. Through years of selective breeding, and by crossing two types of Chilean ‘land-race’ fowl, the Collonca and the Quetro, Dr. Bustos developed the first ‘Collonca de Artes’ . . . the breed that in North America, we now refer to as the Araucana.
The Araucana was approved as a recognized breed by the American Poultry Association in 1977. Dr. Bustos wrote about his birds in 1914, but the worldwide interest in the special traits of the Araucana can be directly attributed to an article which the National Geographic Magazine published in April 1927.
The Ameraucana and the ‘easter egger’ are tailed chickens that lay blue or green eggs but they are not Araucana. Easter egger is a term used to refer to a chicken of mixed or unknown background, usually sold by hatcheries and feed stores under the name Araucana or Ameraucana to hobbyists who are not aware of the difference. There are a number of important breed type differences between the Araucana and the Ameraucana breeds with the only commonality being that they both have pea combs and lay blue or blue/green eggs. The APA Araucana breed standard calls for a tufted, rumpless, pea combed, ‘blue’ egg laying bird.