What color should easter egger chicks legs be?

[draye]

Easter Eggers are NOT a breed. There is no set standard, only one in the eye of the breeder who breeds them. I myself just like a cool pattern on them, and green eggs. My Ameraucanas are for the blue eggs. I have crested Easter Eggers as well. My standard for the cross is that they are well tempered, pretty and lay a green egg. Their legs range from yellow to slate. I even have some with pink legs. I too have Crested Easter Eggers. Having a hard time getting them to increase though. Just got me a new Polish rooster. Partridge Polish. Now I have Naked Neck Easter Eggers. I have one hen that is about 18-19 weeks old and now have some hatching. 7 so far 3 non NN and 4 with naked necks. Hoping for green/blue eggs from them. All the turquoise eggs are from the crested EE in the first picture. Since I have Ameraucanas, beards and muffs aren't as important to me with the EEs.. Anything with a single comb is sold as mutts. Only peacombed birds get sold as EEs. I hatched around 500 of them this year.

 

[aoxa]

I too have Crested Easter Eggers. Having a hard time getting them to increase though. Just got me a new Polish rooster. Partridge Polish.

Now I have Naked Neck Easter Eggers. I have one hen that is about 18-19 weeks old and now have some hatching. 7 so far 3 non NN and 4 with naked necks. Hoping for green/blue eggs from them.

Getting them to increase? What do you mean?

Many of my Easter Eggers are off of my Naked Necks. I keep blue and green egg laying naked necks as well.

Once you get a Naked Neck rooster with a pea comb, you only have to have one breeding pen to get two different kinds of chicks!

 

[draye]

Getting them to increase? What do you mean?

Many of my Easter Eggers are off of my Naked Necks. I keep blue and green egg laying naked necks as well.

Once you get a Naked Neck rooster with a pea comb, you only have to have one breeding pen to get two different kinds of chicks!

I mean in numbers. Seems like every time I decide to set some eggs they almost quit laying. I think they don't want babies. I'm up to four hens now and only two are laying right now and it's about only every day or two I get an egg.
I've had an awful time getting a good crested rooster. First one I used he was so flighty I couldn't walk into the run without him going totally nuts. I got a son off him that turned out White(I assume a silver) with 1/2 spangles on his breast. After I used him (he had white legs, which I can't stand on Easter Eggers) and threw nearly all yellow legged babies (another no no for me). So now I've found the Partridge Polish guy that I'm going to use for a while to see if I can get a better crest and better looking legs hopefully blue but could live with dark like the roo has.

 

[Michael OShay]

what do you call an EE who comes from two EEs or two Ameraucanas or one of each and does not get the blue egg gene from either parent? That's what you get with many of the hatchery EEs, who look the part but who end up laying brown eggs. They obviously did not inherit the blue egg gene so what do you call them? For lack of a better term, they are still EEs, IMO. If you call them a barnyard mix, well, to me that's what an EE is anyway.

I have a hen who came from a BBS Ameraucana flock, not hatchery stock, but breeder Ameraucanas, who has has a pea comb and slate legs, but who lays a brown egg. By her type, her spurs, her lack of beard, everything, she has some Sumatra in her lineage from generations back. Both parents were Ameraucanas, not EEs, but what the heck do I call this mutant hen? I would call her an EE, but some have issue with that. I can't call her Ameraucana, though that is what she is, genetically. She's apparently in a class by herself. She should have the blue egg gene from at least one parent, but she doesn't. Bizarre what genes can do, isn't it?

Based on the Ameraucana Breeders Club definition, the answer to your questions is simple. The EE who comes from two Ameraucanas or one of each and does not get the blue egg gene from either parent is not an EE. It is just a barnyard mix. And likewise, your hen who came from a BBS Ameraucana flock and who has a peacomb and slate legs, but who lays a brown egg is not an EE either. The problem with the ABC definition is that it becomes impossible to determine visually whether or not a bird is an EE. There is simply no way to tell by looking whether or not a bird has the blue egg gene. The problem becomes even worse when dealing with a rooster as he will never lay, so there will never be anyway to determine visually whether or not he carries the blue egg gene. I suppose a set of EE standards could be established requiring EEs to have pea combs, beards, muffs, greenish legs, etc., but of course in doing that you are, in effect, establishing EEs as a breed, which of course is ridiculous as they will never breed true as long as they continue to lay eggs in various colors (it requires hybridization to bring this about). The other and better solution would be to completely throw out the EE label, even where the blue egg gene is concerned, and simply label them as barnyard mixes that happen to lay colored eggs. This would probably be the best approach, but the reality is (especially as hatcheries continue to propagate the EE label) that this is never likely to happen and generations from now, chicken breeders will still be debating what makes an EE an EE. I guess the upside to all of this is that it makes for some interesting post discussions. )

 

[Michael OShay]

EXACTLY! And that is what EEs are anyway. The truth is that my hen who came from two BBS Ameraucanas is not a barnyard mix-she isn't a mix at all. She is an Ameraucana, albeit a defective one, no more defective than an Ameraucana that missed getting a beard but is fine in all other respects. An Ameraucana with a defect is just a defective Ameraucana, but an Easter Egger is always a crossbreed. Ack, the craziness of it all with this subject!

LOL! It is crazy, isn't it.

 

[speckledhen]

LOL! It is crazy, isn't it.

It certainly is!

I just call my mutant hen an EE-Amerau-Sumatra-whatever-she-is and go with that.

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: I know, I know, which is why I was shocked when Tiny's egg was brown. Did not expect it at all. The egg she hatched from was a lovely blue color. Her parents looked like nice BBS Ameraucanas, blue rooster and not sure which color her mother was, whether black or blue. She has a pea comb, no beard, spurs, more-Sumatra-than-Ameraucana body type (not a gypsy face, though) and lays a brown egg.

 

[casey197530]

My EE rooster and hen are mixed with black Marin she lays olive colored eggs. I love them to death great chickens

 

[libbie]

A pea combed EE that does not lay coloured eggs (with parents that most definitely carried the blue egg gene) is not common. Something like 5% of pea combed EEs will lay brown/cream eggs. Whereas only 5% of single combed EEs will lay a coloured egg. The gene is so closely linked to what makes them have a pea comb, that it is very uncommon to see a green or blue egg layer with a single comb. Cream Legbars are the only single combed chicken that lay a coloured egg.

I sell the single combed ones as mutts because when you sell them as EEs, people expect a green or blue egg and I feel it is misleading. Just my opinion.

Easter Eggs are colourful, not plain. Therefore an Easter Egger's eggs should be colourful.

I know this is an old post so I'm hoping it will be seen. Any idea if a Cream Legbar cross is more likely to produce Easter Eggers with a single comb, or pretty much a crap shoot? TIA

 

[Ravynscroft]

I know this is an old post so I'm hoping it will be seen. Any idea if a Cream Legbar cross is more likely to produce Easter Eggers with a single comb, or pretty much a crap shoot? TIA

If crossed with another single comb breed, then the offspring will all be single combed EE's...