Ideal poultry Easter Egger genetics

[Amanda9311]

Hello everyone.

Does anyone here know the Easter Egger genetics ,or cross breeds of Ideal poultry?

From what I’ve learned so far Easter Eggers are a “mutt” and are not a recognized breed to the APA. They have genetics of the Ameraucana and some other breed.

I did reach out to Ideal poultry to ask what other breed they cross with the Ameraucana. This was their response…

“Our Easter Eggers are not crossed with anything. We just call them Easter Eggers because we do not breed the Amerecaunas for specific colors.”

I did notice they misspelled Ameraucana…(I have heard that some hatcheries are notorious for claiming they have pure Ameraucanas, and adjust the name a bit. )


When I further asked why they do not just call them Ameraucana as opposed to Easter Eggers, they did not respond.

Nonetheless, we adore our 3 girls. They are 5 weeks old and are very friendly , loving , and vocal. They are a bit skittish with strangers.

They do have slate legs & feet without feathering on the feet. So far no noticeable ear muffs or beards.

I would love to hear any insight on Easter Eggers such as their egg color, egg production, appearance, etc.

I’ll share some photos of our chickies.

Carla, Heidi, and Lena.

 

[SilverBirds]

They're most likely crossing Easter Eggers with Easter Eggers.

 

[NatJ]

From what I’ve learned so far Easter Eggers are a “mutt” and are not a recognized breed to the APA. They have genetics of the Ameraucana and some other breed.

Easter Eggers are any chickens that lay blue or green eggs, but are not a specific pure breed. Some could be bred to a specific set of standards by a hatchery, but not be right for any official breed (for example: good production of blue eggs, but feather color does not matter.)

I did reach out to Ideal poultry to ask what other breed they cross with the Ameraucana. This was their response…

“Our Easter Eggers are not crossed with anything. We just call them Easter Eggers because we do not breed the Amerecaunas for specific colors.”

I did notice they misspelled Ameraucana…(I have heard that some hatcheries are notorious for claiming they have pure Ameraucanas, and adjust the name a bit. )


When I further asked why they do not just call them Ameraucana as opposed to Easter Eggers, they did not respond.

That probably means that they are breeding Easter Eggers to Easter Eggers, not crossing in anything else.

The misspelling of "Ameraucana" was probably just a typo, since it is in a direct response to your question, not in their official catalog or online description. If they were trying to be deceptive, the website would not say "Easter Egger."

I would expect their birds to look more-or-less like Ameraucanas, but not up to the standards of a poultry show, and not in the specific colors recognized by the American Poultry Association. They should be a good choice for a backyard flock.

I think calling the birds "Easter Eggers" is a good choice of Ideal's. If they said "Ameraucana" there would be complaints about the colors, and if they said "Americana" (or other wrong spellings), there would be complaints about deception. Listing the birds as Easter Eggers is quite correct: layers of colored eggs, not meeting the description of any specific color variety of a recognized breed.

 

[3KillerBs]

There are no standards for EEs. They can look like anything and lay any color egg.

I once asked Ideal if theirs were guaranteed to lay blue or green eggs and, IIRC without hunting up a years-old-email, they essentially said that they were expected to lay colored eggs but couldn't guarantee it 100%.

 

[NatJ]

I once asked Ideal if theirs were guaranteed to lay blue or green eggs and, IIRC without hunting up a years-old-email, they essentially said that they were expected to lay colored eggs but couldn't guarantee it 100%.

The current website description says, "Easter Eggers are multicolored with pea combs, beards, muffs and clean, light black or gray legs and feet. They lay bluish green eggs with the occasional bird laying brown eggs."
https://www.idealpoultry.com/product/1677/47

So that matches what you remember: a few lay brown eggs, but most are expected to lay blue/green ones.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Easter Egger is an Ameraucana bred to another for colored eggs
Ameraucana was developed In the USA from the Araucana to "retain the blue-egg gene but eliminate the lethal alleles of the parent breed"
Araucana is a Chile breed; blue egg, no tail, muffs & beard

araucana chicken
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameraucana
easter egger chicken

 

[NatJ]

Easter Egger is an Ameraucana bred to another for colored eggs

Not always. Easter Egger is any chicken that lays blue or green eggs (or is supposed to lay one of those colors) but does not meet the description of a specific breed.

Ameraucana-crosses are one kind of Easter Egger, but not the only kind. The blue egg gene can come from Ameraucana, or Araucana, or Cream Legbar, or any other chicken (purebred or not) that lays blue or green eggs.

In this particular case, it appears that Ideal Poultry is breeding Easter Eggers to Easter Eggers, and their Easter Eggers are similar to Ameraucanas.

 

[BonnieBlue]

I have 3 Easter Eggers from Ideal. I love them! Sweet girls, and one started laying 3 days ago at 23 weeks of age.

I have two Olive Eggers from Ideal. Sweet, but more standoffish. They will come up to me and want attention, but as soon as I try to touch them, they run away screaming. Two of the Easter Eggers let me hold them, and the third lets me pet her. I have no complaints with any of them.

 

[MegTheHenEggQueen]

Hello everyone.

Does anyone here know the Easter Egger genetics ,or cross breeds of Ideal poultry?

From what I’ve learned so far Easter Eggers are a “mutt” and are not a recognized breed to the APA. They have genetics of the Ameraucana and some other breed.

I did reach out to Ideal poultry to ask what other breed they cross with the Ameraucana. This was their response…

“Our Easter Eggers are not crossed with anything. We just call them Easter Eggers because we do not breed the Amerecaunas for specific colors.”

I did notice they misspelled Ameraucana…(I have heard that some hatcheries are notorious for claiming they have pure Ameraucanas, and adjust the name a bit. )


When I further asked why they do not just call them Ameraucana as opposed to Easter Eggers, they did not respond.

Nonetheless, we adore our 3 girls. They are 5 weeks old and are very friendly , loving , and vocal. They are a bit skittish with strangers.

They do have slate legs & feet without feathering on the feet. So far no noticeable ear muffs or beards.

I would love to hear any insight on Easter Eggers such as their egg color, egg production, appearance, etc.

I’ll share some photos of our chickies.

Carla, Heidi, and Lena.

The eyeliner I have found is an EE trait

 

[Victoria Peckham]

Here is one of my Olive Eggers who looked similar to yours when at their age. In the pic she was 4 mo. Penny is now 6 1/2 mo. I don’t have a newer pic because she isn’t the friendliest of the flock. But she is very brave and inquisitive. She may or may not be laying. We have have at least 3 OE. We had some mix ups when we bought them You can see the Olive and brown eggs, not sure who is laying which. The blue/green are from our bantam Easter Eggers.