Hoover's "Easter Eggers"

[NatJ]

Hoover's claim is, in essence, "Hey, we think these will lay green eggs because we mixed two distinct green egg laying hybrids into a single flock, and it mostly works, but probably won't work a second time if you hatch your own from these..."

While I commend their advertising for its truthfullness, that's the only positive I can put on those.

I thought it meant they had two or more flocks, but were selling all the chicks under the same description instead of listing them as two different kinds. Personally, I'd prefer to see the two kinds listed separately, but like you I do appreciate that they are trying to truthfully describe what they are selling.

I think the pea comb birds are more likely than the "Grünlegers" to produce blue brown eggs, although of course you'll get plenty of brown eggs if you raise chicks from the Grünlegers.

Some percent brown-layers are common in any of the pea-comb easter eggers, because of the linkage of the pea comb gene and the blue eggshell gene. If you cross pea-comb blue eggers with a breed that lays well, and selectively breed for pure pea combs, you mostly end up with chickens that are pure for the blue egg gene too, and it's a lot easier than trying to check what color egg each pullet lays and guessing about the males. But the genes don't always stay linked, and the crossovers mean you can get some brown eggs from any flock selected that way (this would apply to the Easter Egger flocks of most commercial hatcheries.)

 

[Chicka1]

I thought it meant they had two or more flocks, but were selling all the chicks under the same description instead of listing them as two different kinds. Personally, I'd prefer to see the two kinds listed separately, but like you I do appreciate that they are trying to truthfully describe what they are selling.

I think the pea comb birds are more likely than the "Grünlegers" to produce blue eggs, although of course you'll get plenty of brown eggs if you raise chicks from the Grünlegers.

Some precent brown-layers are common in any of the pea-comb easter eggers, because of the linkage of the pea comb gene and the blue eggshell gene. If you cross pea-comb blue eggers with a breed that lays well, and selectively breed for pure pea combs, you mostly end up with chickens that are pure for the blue egg gene too, and it's a lot easier than trying to check what color egg each pullet lays and guessing about the males. But the genes don't always stay linked, and the crossovers mean you can get some brown eggs from any flock selected that way (this would apply to the Easter Egger flocks of most commercial hatcheries.)

It really would be best to sell either the grunleger type or the other, with a choice.

 

[NatJ]

It really would be best to sell either the grunleger type or the other, with a choice.

I think so too.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Given the descriptions from some of the threads last year, I was of the impression they had mixed the flocks - and like you both, I agree - they should have kept them seperate. 1 in 6 seems awfully high to account for supposedly random genetic delinking...

 

[MommyGirl]

Seems to me that the EE’s they sell as Americanas are the ones that usually have the beards and muffs

 

[Chicka1]

Seems to me that the EE’s they sell as Americanas are the ones that usually have the beards and muffs

Maybe that's how you can (sorta) know what you have. If you want grab-bag, grunleger or americana, you choose just Easter Eggers. If you want the beards and muffs, Americana. So confusing...

 

[NatJ]

Given the descriptions from some of the threads last year, I was of the impression they had mixed the flocks - and like you both, I agree - they should have kept them seperate. 1 in 6 seems awfully high to account for supposedly random genetic delinking...

The crossover rate is supposed to be only about 5%, but you don't see it until a given female happens to get two copies of the not-blue-egg gene, by which point it's probably carried by quite a few members of the flock.

Pretty much anywhere that sells Easter Eggers says that they sometimes lay "brown" or "pink" eggs, as if that's a nice feature rather than an accident. I think they just don't care enough to go through a year or two of bother to get a true-breeding flock (genetic testing on every bird would get expensive, and test-mating every bird would be even more expensive becaues of how many females you'd need to raise all the way to laying age to test any particular parent.)

Anyone who really cares will probably buy actual Ameraucanas or Cream Legbars, or buy EEs and cull the ones that aren't right, and everyone else just buys the EEs because it's not important enough to do anything different. So the hatchery doesn't have enough motivation to change anything.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

"Overall, the Easter Eggers typically lay colored eggs, but up to 15% of the time you will have one that lays brown or cream eggs." from here.

That's 3x the rate we would expect - seems a rather high "safety" factor for them to offer up as a way of covering their butts.

 

[RubelliteRose]

I have 2 Hoover Hatchery Americanas bought from a local feed store. (It was 2020, chicks were selling out in hours and I didn't know any better...) River has neither a muff nor beard and lays light green eggs. Torchic has both a muff and beard and lays light brown eggs I was disappointed in Torchic's eggs, but she is still my favorite just for her personality.
Hoping yours are girls and lay blue or green eggs

 

[NatJ]

"Overall, the Easter Eggers typically lay colored eggs, but up to 15% of the time you will have one that lays brown or cream eggs." from here.

That's 3x the rate we would expect - seems a rather high "safety" factor for them to offer up as a way of covering their butts.

If they get the wrong rooster siring chicks one year, the rate of brown eggs in his daughters could be pretty high-- and since a rooster doesn't lay eggs, they won't even know until his daughters start laying and the customers start complaining.