Easter Egger club!

[chick rookie]

This may have nothing to do with aggressive birds but we found all the straight comb hens were our meanest bullies - Barred Rock, RIR, NHR, Marans, Leghorns or any of the Mediterranean class, even some of the Orps. I received a lot of owner feedback also that Wyans have tendencies to be mean.

So I went in the opposite direction of having only gentle walnut, pea-combed, or no-comb breeds (Silkies, Ameraucana, Breda) but egg production is not as good with these breeds. Out of our Silkies we have one terrific layer and one that only lays a couple dozen every Spring. The Ameraucana hasn't layed in months! The Breda just started laying so time will tell how good she'll be in the long run.

Our Marans was mean, a so-so layer, and not very dark eggs. Our Leghorns were terrific layers year after year but they didn't play nice in a flock environment. We sacrificed our good egg breeds in order to have a more peaceful gentle backyard flock. It was tough to give up consistent egg layers and dual purpose LF but nice that we don't have to monitor the bully dual purpose birds any more.

Dont blame ya at all if all I heard was that this and that bird were mean I wouldn't have them either, I don't keep bullies. IMO based on my experiences in the past 4 years and going through lots of birds to find the right birds for us, granted some breeds are more prone to be mean, but all in all I believe there are good and bad in every breed, just like everything and everyone else. I have BO's they are supposed to have good temperaments, and all but 1 out of a total of 10 in 4 years are great flock birds and layers and a few were great broodies. Only one was re homed due to being mean. We have also stuck with Lt. Brahma's, first group of 4 hens were so very sweet, this years group of 5 hens,. well lets say 3 of them need to go into a pot and are getting re homed. BR 1 good out of 4 in the past 4 years. BA's never had a bad one out of 12. We love them and they will always be here. SF's first year with them, so far so good. AM's first year, so far so good. EE's had them 3 years now and only had 1 bad out of 17. I could go on but in a nut shell, I think that the hatchery birds have worse temperaments than the heritage birds of the same breed. Probably too much inbreeding???? I am getting compleatly out of hatchery birds, as I get replacements for whatever reason I am getting heritage and am finding they are so much better, they look better, lay better, healthier, better temperaments, lay longer Just all around better.... But they cost more too.
If I was only wanting production layers from a hatchery I would stick with the stars ( blacks and reds ) the ISA's are too prone for egg bound issues after the first year, they were a total disappointment!!
This is all just what I have found to work for us.

Faverole is a very gentle single comb breed .

I only have 2 but so far I agree.

I thought my friend's EEs would be better layers than my Blue Wheaten Ameraucana. I got my Amer from an East Coast breeder and my friend got her birds locally in SoCal. She has one Ameraucana that lays poorly but better than my Amer but she has an EE that completely stopped laying her 2nd year. Seems healthy and fine another year later, just no eggs. I don't like the odds of taking a chance on any more Amer or EEs when the percentage of being poor layers is too high a risk for me. I have enough trouble getting eggs from broody Silkies and yet the little buggers have out-performed my Ameraucana!

Blue-egg Cream Legbars are a risk too - some are good layers and some not, with one owner recently reporting they got white instead of blue eggs from one of their pure CL's. I'll wait a few years to see if any of the blue-egg breeds improve genetics for laying consistently past their first laying cycle.

Other Amer owners have said it's weird the way Amer's start molting, stop for a while, then start molting again. That kind of inconsistent molting has got to be a contributor toward poor egg production. If all my chickens stopped laying I'd assume it was something I was doing wrong, but the other breeds lay fine. I'm not so sure I can blame climate for my Amer's poor production since my walnut-comb fluffy Silkies and no-comb feather-footed Breda are laying way better in this heat. It's just my prima dona Ameraucana that pants in the heat, lies around too lazy to forage with the others, and only layed 3 eggs this year - yet one day of clouds or sprinkly rain and she's busy as a bee in the yard! Sweet bird but I can't use a non-productive layer when I'm allowed only 5 hens in my zone. I thought we hit the jackpot with our gentle non-combative Amer and she is a love but less than a year of eggs doesn't cut it with us - she layed about 4 months as a pullet, stopped laying in winter, began molting December through January, layed 3 eggs in June and then stopped the rest of the year! Can't use a free-loader!

I have been thinking about the CL's and breeding them to my BCM to try and get a few OE's. I have 1 EE that lays an Olive egg but am told she is not an OE, don't understand why but that is what I'm told. And no one has been able to make me understand.

As far as my AM's go I have not had a problem yet, but they both are under 1 yr old and 1 still isn't laying age yet, close but not quite.

 

[chick rookie]

O forgot to tell ya I got 2 new EE Sunday and they are wild as ----!! Not happy with them at all but will give them till they come out of ISO to calm down. They are pretty colors that I don't have, but cant deal with this wild stuff. finally got them caught Tuesday and clipped their wings so they would stop roosting on top of the dang house. My ISO pen is in the dogs yard to allow them to free range without being around the other flocks. I'm just glad they didn't FLY to the others.

 

[ochochicas]

O forgot to tell ya I got 2 new EE Sunday and they are wild as ----!! Not happy with them at all but will give them till they come out of ISO to calm down. They are pretty colors that I don't have, but cant deal with this wild stuff. finally got them caught Tuesday and clipped their wings so they would stop roosting on top of the dang house. My ISO pen is in the dogs yard to allow them to free range without being around the other flocks. I'm just glad they didn't FLY to the others.

My EEs are usually pretty wild. I've got one that is 2 years old and still as wild and crazy as when she was a chick. I've got a couple that I played with a lot since they hatched and they are much better. It seems like you have to handle them multiple times a day to get them to be friendly. Mixing Ameraucana/EE with calmer breeds like Australorp helps a lot. They are much calmer and friendlier.

 

[cabinchicky]

My older EE hens take no crap but the trio of SS will peck at my roo also till he gets tired of them. They are his favorite hens for mating though. The EE hens refuse his advances more. I like the EES but wish they were not so flighty and nuts!one minute they are fine and next me me then bam crazy mode and every one freaks out. My Cochin just looks around like What the heck is wrong with you?

 

[Sylvester017]

My older EE hens take no crap but the trio of SS will peck at my roo also till he gets tired of them. They are his favorite hens for mating though. The EE hens refuse his advances more. I like the EES but wish they were not so flighty and nuts!one minute they are fine and next me me then bam crazy mode and every one freaks out. My Cochin just looks around like What the heck is wrong with you?

I love Ameraucanas and EEs -- and little tail-less Araucanas I understand are sweet little hens too. The blue-egg gene girls do require a lot more handling to be human friendly. Our Ameraucana was indoors for quarantine nearly a month and she was the sweetest thing, letting us pick her up, pet her, taking treats from us. But once she was integrated outdoors with the rest of the flock she reverted to a wild child again.

Ams and EEs are kooky spooky jittery jumpy alert wary birds (which is why many escape predators easily) but they can be human-friendly. What makes them spook easily are the other breeds in the flock. My Amer will come up to me outdoors and take treats and carry on a conversation but as soon as another bird approaches she's gone in a flash! Ams/EEs are non-combative and would rather flee than risk a fight. That's why they run/skitter off to avoid an approaching hen maybe wanting to do combat. The approaching hen may not have combat or politics on her mind but the Ams/EEs don't risk hanging around to find out. Once you understand this nature of the EEs you get accustomed to it.

As much as I adore the kind nurturing Amers/EEs who easily accept orphaned chicks or injured birds into the flock without incident - I am sadly disappointed in their sporadic and low production in their 2nd year. Our girl layed 3 eggs only her entire 2nd year. I've talked with a Farmer's Market seller and she is not ordering any more EEs because of their less-than-steller production. She couldn't afford the feed/housing of a low-producing breed. The customers liked the blue/green eggs but she had to consider her cost. She was turning out too many EEs for the freezer because of them stopping laying.

 

[Gryphon]

At least with my two EE's, they were EXCELLENT layers as two year olds. Their eggs were bigger than their first year, and they both lay multiple times a week. Alas, all my girls are in the middle of a moult and all are on egg strike.

I have been thinking about the CL's and breeding them to my BCM to try and get a few OE's. I have 1 EE that lays an Olive egg but am told she is not an OE, don't understand why but that is what I'm told.  And no one has been able to make me understand. 

Who says they're not Olive Eggers, and what reason did they give? If the eggs are olive colored, then they're Olive Eggers. Like an Easter Egger, it's not so much a specific breed as a type of chicken. Like coursing dogs aren't a specific breed, they're just coursers.

 

[chick rookie]

My EEs are usually pretty wild. I've got one that is 2 years old and still as wild and crazy as when she was a chick. I've got a couple that I played with a lot since they hatched and they are much better. It seems like you have to handle them multiple times a day to get them to be friendly. Mixing Ameraucana/EE with calmer breeds like Australorp helps a lot. They are much calmer and friendlier.

My older EE hens take no crap but the trio of SS will peck at my roo also till he gets tired of them. They are his favorite hens for mating though. The EE hens refuse his advances more. I like the EES but wish they were not so flighty and nuts!one minute they are fine and next me me then bam crazy mode and every one freaks out. My Cochin just looks around like What the heck is wrong with you?

I love Ameraucanas and EEs -- and little tail-less Araucanas I understand are sweet little hens too. The blue-egg gene girls do require a lot more handling to be human friendly. Our Ameraucana was indoors for quarantine nearly a month and she was the sweetest thing, letting us pick her up, pet her, taking treats from us. But once she was integrated outdoors with the rest of the flock she reverted to a wild child again.

Ams and EEs are kooky spooky jittery jumpy alert wary birds (which is why many escape predators easily) but they can be human-friendly. What makes them spook easily are the other breeds in the flock. My Amer will come up to me outdoors and take treats and carry on a conversation but as soon as another bird approaches she's gone in a flash! Ams/EEs are non-combative and would rather flee than risk a fight. That's why they run/skitter off to avoid an approaching hen maybe wanting to do combat. The approaching hen may not have combat or politics on her mind but the Ams/EEs don't risk hanging around to find out. Once you understand this nature of the EEs you get accustomed to it.

As much as I adore the kind nurturing Amers/EEs who easily accept orphaned chicks or injured birds into the flock without incident - I am sadly disappointed in their sporadic and low production in their 2nd year. Our girl layed 3 eggs only her entire 2nd year. I've talked with a Farmer's Market seller and she is not ordering any more EEs because of their less-than-steller production. She couldn't afford the feed/housing of a low-producing breed. The customers liked the blue/green eggs but she had to consider her cost. She was turning out too many EEs for the freezer because of them stopping laying.

I have 6 EEs that are " me " friendly and a couple that are "anyone" friendly. The wild ones don't stay here. I dont take too kindly to haveing to chase anything down to do whatever it is I need to do. My old fluffy but don't go for that.

At least with my two EE's, they were EXCELLENT layers as two year olds. Their eggs were bigger than their first year, and they both lay multiple times a week. Alas, all my girls are in the middle of a moult and all are on egg strike.

Who says they're not Olive Eggers, and what reason did they give? If the eggs are olive colored, then they're Olive Eggers. Like an Easter Egger, it's not so much a specific breed as a type of chicken. Like coursing dogs aren't a specific breed, they're just coursers.

I was told that only certain crosses are EEs and the crosses were CL/EE or AM/ Maran. I don't know about all that kind of stuff but I do know an olive eg is an olive egg, so no one has been able to make me understand that she is NOT an OE.
I look at it like this... looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, what could it be but a duck.....



now for news of the happy kind.


I am so excited !!!!!

I found a Blue egg so my last AM hen is now laying

It's so pretty! I feel like a kid again.. lol
and ol'girl laid an egg too, I thought she was done for good. she stopped for a long time and I looked it up to be sure she is 5 years old.
and I got Welie egg today too, not as dark as I hoped but it is speckled, lightly.
pic's wont load will try again latter

 

[Gryphon]

In that case someone was being unreasonably snobby. As much as I'd like to say an EE isn't an EE unless it lays some shade of blue egg, has muffs and a beard and has a pea comb, that really isn't the case. As seen in this thread, people have EE's who don't lay blue eggs, without muffs, without beards, hell, without neck feathers! All are still EE's. Same goes for Olive Eggers. OE's are a bit more stringent than EE's, in that I really wouldn't call it an OE unless it actually lays an olive colored egg, since that's in the actual name.

 

[Sylvester017]

At least with my two EE's, they were EXCELLENT layers as two year olds. Their eggs were bigger than their first year, and they both lay multiple times a week. Alas, all my girls are in the middle of a moult and all are on egg strike.

Who says they're not Olive Eggers, and what reason did they give? If the eggs are olive colored, then they're Olive Eggers. Like an Easter Egger, it's not so much a specific breed as a type of chicken. Like coursing dogs aren't a specific breed, they're just coursers.

AS A COMPARISON NOTE FOR OTHER EE OWNERS COULD YOU LET US KNOW HOW MANY MONTHS/WEEKS YOUR 2-YR-OLD EE MOLTS LASTED AND THEN HOW MANY MORE WEEKS IT TOOK TO START LAYING AGAIN? THX!

I have 6 EEs that are " me " friendly and a couple that are "anyone" friendly. The wild ones don't stay here. I dont take too kindly to haveing to chase anything down to do whatever it is I need to do. My old fluffy but don't go for that.

WE FOUND THE "GENTLE" APPROACH WORKED FOR OUR SMALL FLOCK OF SILKIES, AMERAUCANA, & BREDA. WE SLOWLY WALK BEHIND THEM TO USHER THEM INTO THEIR COOP SAYING "SHOO, SHOO" SOFTLY. AFTER A COUPLE TIMES WE ONLY HAD TO SAY "SHOO" CALMLY AND THEY HEADED FOR THE COOP. FOR OTHER MAINTENANCE HEALTH INSPECTIONS WE DO THOSE AFTER THE GIRLS GO TO ROOST & EASIER TO HANDLE WHEN THEY'RE SLEEPY.

I am so excited !!!!!

I found a Blue egg so my last AM hen is now laying

It's so pretty! I feel like a kid again.. lol
CONGRATS! GLAD TO SEE SOMEONE IS GETTING EGGS FROM THEIR BLUE-EGG GIRLS!


and ol'girl laid an egg too, I thought she was done for good. she stopped for a long time and I looked it up to be sure she is 5 years old.

ONLY GOT 3 EGGS FROM OUR 2-YR-OLD AMERAUCANA THIS YEAR -- I DON'T HAVE HIGH HOPES OF GETTING ANYTHING FROM HER WHEN SHE REACHES 5 !!! OUR FRIEND'S EE IS GOING ON 3 AND STILL NO EGGS.

 

[draye]

[COLOR=0000CD]My and my friend's experience with pure Ameraucanas and a few EEs have been disappointing with their egg production after their 2nd year.  Maybe your Turkens will infuse a better laying longevity since the blue egg gene doesn't seem to produce very prolific breeds after age two.  Even the blue-egg Cream Legbar owners complain of inconsistent production after the pullets mature.[/COLOR]

Sorry you are having bad experience with your EE and Ameraucanas

The ones I've had over many years have all been wonderful layers. I've really only had EE's, but have laid great. Sometimes they were the best layers I had. I had one hen that laid through four years old and was still laying when I lost her this last winter. She had slowed production diwn but I was still getting three to four eggs per week.
I did get some White Ameraucanas once and kept for a while. .thry were the best layers but from the three I had I hit around 12 to 13 a week, their eggs were kind if small so I sold them off when they went into their molt.

Even now with the crosses I've done the chickens that carry the EE blood are my best and most reliable layers.

What are you feeding them? Layer pellets or crumbles usually do wonderful at helping them lay..