The Olive-Egger thread!

[dekel18042]

I realized I spelled that incorrectly! I am going to have girls that are better producers in the flock. My EE/Ameraucana/Olive Eggers are for my want of colored eggs and cool birds
So, given that, would you steer clear of the Olive Egger?
Thank you so much for the help,
Jenny

My EE's have been excellent layers over the years. After buying some for two years I have been breeding them ever since I hatched eggs from the best laying hens. Only my production birds outlayed the EE"s. Then this past spring I bred California Greys (barred white egg layers) into the line and not only do most of their progeny have the puffy cheeks and muffs but they are excellent layers of pale robin's egg blue eggs. I'm going to compare them to their mothers to see how they do but I'm pleased so far.
My OE's are decent layers, laying more than my brown egg layers and much more than their dark egg laying mothers but don't lay quite as much as my EE's.
Where you get their stock and what they put their breeding emphasis on might determine the number of eggs you get.

 

[mckendall]

We have 3 and during the winter they lay about 17 eggs a week. Last summer we normally got three a day. They have been great layers and the eggs seem to be on the extra large end of the scale!!

 

[CricketFarm]

I have one olive egger she lays like this

Can she make more olive egger babies if i breed her with a silver salmon marans?

 

[Catandherchicks]

We have 3 and during the winter they lay about 17 eggs a week. Last summer we normally got three a day. They have been great layers and the eggs seem to be on the extra large end of the scale!!

Excellent! What is their cross?

 

[mckendall]

Cream legbar and maran

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

We have 3 and during the winter they lay about 17 eggs a week. Last summer we normally got three a day. They have been great layers and the eggs seem to be on the extra large end of the scale!!

That is awesome! I know that isn't what everyone gets, but it is great to know the potential is there

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

As said above, they can vary so much. I had one OE until she was re-homed recently; I bred her myself and she was a great layer of a small, dark olive egg BUT she was congenitally blind. I kept her because she laid 5 days a week, better than any of my others. My favorite OEs are those bred from my Birchen Marans because they are jumbo egg size layers, but I'm lucky to get 3 eggs a week from them, my Marans, or any of my Ameraucanas. If you are going to have other "production' birds, they will make a great addition to your flock.

Thank you for your input. Wow, did she get very picked on being blind?

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

Most hatchery 'Ameraucanas' are really EE.
What hatchery are they ordering from?
There's one that legit, but I can't remember which one...will look for it.

ETA: It's Meyers https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1151261/are-my-hens-really-ameraucanas/40#post_18067507

Thank you for the link!

 

[magdelaine]

Thank you for your input. Wow, did she get very picked on being blind?

Yes, she couldn't be in the main coop. As far as I could tell, the others thought she was challenging them by "looking them in the eye" but she just couldn't see. With a couple other birds of a certain dispostion she was fine though. I needed her little pen for a breeding pen, though, so I re-homed her.

 

[smoon]

Newbie here... I'm interested in breeding for dark green olive eggs. In "theory", which scenario would give me the darkest green eggs?

1) a black copper maran rooster over blue egg layers (EE hens)

2) a black copper maran rooster over F1 Olive egger hens

3) an F1 olive egger rooster over F1 olive egger hens


Thanks!