Easter Eggers

i dont have alot to say about this breed thats bad! except they can be alittle flighty and for me they never seem to lay very long! They lay more in spits than every other day. but the all around breed is great! pretty colored birds! beautiful eggs! and some of the BEST broodies ive had were EEs!

Our EE's are around 6 months old but haven't started laying yet. They are nice birds, but don't have much of a personality. They also are shy and don't stand up for themselves. We have two easter eggers and they are both at the bottom of the pecking order. I'm a little disappointed in them, but I hope that changes once I see their first beautiful eggs.

I love this breed. My EE is so sweet and intelligent too. These birds lay beautiful lovely eggs and are fun to be around. They will not nessecarily be the top hen in a mixed flock; (However, an exception is I happened to have a EE who was top hen.) They are sweet birds in general, and their cheeks are a cute addition. (First thing I saw when I first looked at an EE!) These birds make awesome and fun layers! (Every April Fool's, for lunch or breakfast we have one green EE egg, and set it out with some ham, xD)
You're surely to get a rainbow of colors in your egg carton if you have an EE!

My four EEs add color and vibrancy to our flock as well as egg basket. Their eggs are just as individual as their personalities, so I get a combination of blue-green, olive, and pink every day. Eve, one of the four, has a wonderfully kid-friendly disposition and a loveable habit of falling asleep when picked up and hugged. My absolute favorite aspect of the breed is the fact that no matter how many you get, from 2-100, no two will be exactly the same. An entire flock of EEs would sport such a variety of colors, shapes, and patterns, that you could have enough diversity to satisfy!

Jaylin

Eve

Ava

Elise

-Alex

This is the chicken that started all for my interest of keeping chickens. And then Sebright Bantams are the breed that strenghten my liking of chicken keeping.
Easter Egger comes in all sort of color, my particular color liking is gold partrige like pattern. They can be very friendly, although some bunches can be shry and timid. They lay blue or green eggs depending on what genetic they carry. But some would lay white or brown eggs.

If someone where to start out with backyard chicken, this should be considered to keep.

Of all my breeds (Buff Orpingtons, Speckled Sussex, NH Reds, Silkies and EE's) these are by far my favorite. First of all they are totally gorgeous. They have a Hawk-Like appearance and beautiful feathering. I love the muff or beard. They all have very individual personalities too. I have 3, one is and always has been very friendly, the other two were more flighty and scared but when they matured and started laying they chilled out quite a bit and I can pick them all up now with no problem. They were the first of my 5 breeds to start laying as well and as far as I can tell, even in the first 2 weeks they are laying every other day already. Two of them give me a pastel blue egg and the other one gives be a green-blue pastel egg. So pretty.
The only thing I can think of that might be a con is that mine are the lowest in the pecking order and therefore get picked on quite a bit by my top of the pecking order birds, my NH Reds. Also, they can fly very well so that might be a con for those that have lower fences for heavier birds like Orpingtons. I have one that will fly in and out of the enclosure and sometimes in harms way (dogs) but she flys back over on her own.
I am considering removing my Speckled Sussex Roo and replacing with an Easter Egger Roo so I can always have lots and lots of Easter Eggers. I would phase out my Speckled Sussex and NH Reds.

8/30/15 I just wanted to update this review! If I could give 10 stars I would. My 3 Easter Eggers lay 6 days a week. They are my most prolific layers. When I got this breed I was only expecting 3-4 eggs a week and boy have they surpassed all my expectations. I got the NH Reds specifically for their laying ability and at 26 weeks only 1 of my NH Reds just started laying tiny pullet eggs only 1 or 2 a week. The other still doesn't lay. My Buff Orpingtons and Speckled Sussex have been late bloomers as well. Out of 8 brown egg layers, all 26 weeks, I only get 4 brown eggs a week. If it wasn't for my EE's I would not have enough eggs for my family of 4.

EE's are the best. I will never not have EE's in my flock.

I have a flock of Red Stars (RS) - Great birds. Friendly, social with people, responsive to food bribes. And I have 3 Easter eggers (EEs) - just over 4 mo old. Haven't seen any eggs yet. My RS started laying at same time. EEs are very skiddish - run away and do not respond to food bribes. They are easily corralled into their coop every night. Its their "safe place". Bunk with the Red Stars but they don't socialize at all. Will not eat out of our hands. Need to leave food on the ground. We give the RS meal worms - they go crazy for them. The EE's don't even try them. All the birds free range during the day and bunk together in coop at night. Will the EEs every warm up to people? Seem a bit socially regressive.

I'm a new urban farmer. Dad brought 3 day old EE's home for colored eggs. I did the same with them as the other breeds that are VERY friendly. These 3 hang to themselves, won't come near me for treats or mealworms. Roosting: They roost like a bald eagle! Forget the roost, these gals flew to the top of an 8' barn stall to roost! So this newby had to clip their wing.

I had three lost two and now getting 25 chicks to expand our flock.

I had seven Easter Eggers in my first year of keeping chickens and found them to bad mothers. One of them went broody and ended up eating her chicks, as well as taking the surviving chicks into the trees. The rest weren't cold hardy and ended up dying on me. Still would keep them, just not good for brooding.

We love Cheeky (11 wks old EE pullet). She's smart, beautiful (with that awesome falcon face) and very funny. She's very vocal. Not loud (yet?), just always "talking" in low rolling coos. She comes when called but doesn't always like to be held at first. Unlike most of my other girls, she takes awhile to calm down and let you love on her. She'd much rather use you as a jumping off point to fly onto the highest surface she can find. Once she realizes you're not letting her go, she settles right in and cuddles. She's always very curious about what we're doing and likes to hang out with us. She's very confident among her sisters in the flock but doesn't lord over them. They all seem to like to be wherever she is, and she's unfazed by any drama in the flock. She's not a biter at all. Easy to hand feed and love on (once she submits). From day one, she's been the first to figure everything out and the first to reach each milestone. Has never picked on any of the other girls in our mixed flock. She may end up being lead hen, and if she does, I expect her to be a good, gentle, easy leader.

I have two EE hens, Falcon and Fire Hydrant. The second wasn't named by a toddler, was named because she was SOOOO dumb that we named her the dumbest name we could come up with. As chicks, both were VERY flighty and would practically try to kill themselves to get away from us. Then, as they became layers, they calmed down. Fire Hydrant is not so stupid anymore, but as a chick and a pullet was probably the dumbest chicken I have owned. She would "alert" to terrible threats like the piece of bread in the brooder that everyone else was happily eating, would constantly "alert" at the ceiling fan that was on for a consistant 6 weeks of her life, and would happily chow down on sand while everyone else was eating chick starter. They both lay pretty mint colored eggs. Falcon seems to go broody about every 4 months, and Fire Hydrant has not gone broody at all. Overall, I do like them both and love the surprise colored eggs. They both lay reasonably well, at least 4 times a week, although during the winter they both took a 6 week break.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHICKENS. SHE WAS ONE OF MY PETS. I WOULD GET RID OF HENS THAT PICKED ON HER, BECAUSE SHE WAS MY FAVORITE HEN. I NAMED HER BELLE, SHE WAS A PRETTY EASTER EGGER. SHE LAID GREEN EGGS, AND THEY WERE MY FAVORITE EGGS. PEOPLE SAY EGGS ALL TASTE THE SAME BUT I DISAGREE, I LIKED THESE THE BEST. I DID ORDER MORE EASTER EGGERS, THESE EGGS ARE MY FAVORITE.

So you think, "Gee golly Bob, wouldn't it be neat if we could have some chickens that laid colored eggs, how cool would that be?!" Well let me tell yah...maybe it isn't all that "cool/neat" in actual practice to have those colored Easter-egger eggs depending upon how many chickens you can keep and what you need.

We have had a total of 4 EE's in our time: 2 were cockerels and 2 are hens. My husband and I hatched out a batch of EE's and sold most of them. We also purchased some EE's from a hatchery a couple months later as well. The cockerels became food once they revealed their gender, but what is important to note is that one of our hatchery EE's and one of our hatched from a farm EE's both had mild scissor beak that became apparent around 3-4wks of age. It isn't bad, but I did read EE's can tend to suffer this sort of issue more often.

Our EE hen named Freckles with mild scissor beak (hatchery stock) is a total ding-dong and lowest on the pecking order. I thought she was a roo for the longest time as a pullet because she is the gangliest darn bird I ever saw. I think her slight scissor beak gave her cross eye vision because that silly bird can't aim at a small sized treat she wants to pick up to save her life...always takes a few tries. Freckles is super gentle though and when you pick her up she would never even think of flapping her wings in your face and isn't ever rough or pushy. She is the quintessential nerd back in school that wears glasses but has a sweet personality and can be secretively clever at times. She doesn't lay super well, but lays MUCH better than our other EE hen named Midge. I would say Freckles gives us an average of 3 eggs a week, maybe 4 on a good week (and this is during spring time laying/peak). It is hard not to love her sweet demeanor. She could almost be considered an olive egger with the color of her eggs. Freckles was 30 weeks old before she began to lay.

Our second EE Midge we hatched and she is sooo beautiful and petite. She has lavender feathering with buff lacing and a dark grey head. She is one of the smartest chickens and hands down our most cuddly! We can carry and cuddle and pet her whenever and she will talk to us about her day. She doesn't really "boc, boc" like most chickens. She is quiet but when talking to us makes a "squeaky, squeaky, sqweh, squeeeaaakk" kind of conversational chatter. Don't let Midge's smaller size and extra snuggly nature fool you though, she is quite a brute underneath. If any of the other girls tries to dominate her she beats them up good till they learned their lesson. She goes on the hunt for blood and will eat huge slugs. I accidently got a baby quail in her path once and it was attacked and chewed up for dinner so quickly it was too late by the time I blinked my eyes. Midge is a horrible, horrible layer though. She laid for a month about 3 days a week then stopped for two months. She lays probably 2 eggs a week. May need to cull her before this winter, but for now her charming personality and awesome foraging skills combined with her smaller size are keeping her in good favor.

Due to the laying issues with our EE's and how long they can take to even begin laying (begin to lay on average at a much older age than many breeds) we won't get more again unless we know that their main use is to lend their sweet & goofy personality more than to be a productive bird.

I love my EE's. The darker girl is Rebecca and the cream colored girl is Gemma. Purchased @ a swap last spring, they have been such a great addition to my multi breed flock. These girls happen to give me the green color eggs, the blue color eggs are from my Blue Ameraucanas. I just purchased 5 new EE pullets. Can't wait to see the color girls and eggs I end up with. When you pop open a carton of these eggs, your family and friends are excited to see the beautiful colors you have. Highly recommend having a few.

The majority of my flock is easter egger mutt chickens. I believe that the colored egg gene is dominant, so the bloodline of my chickens include Ameraucana as well as other breeds. I personally don't mind that all my chickens are different, but I'm not a fanatical breeder or anything. If it irritates you that they aren't a "real breed" or that they're basically mutts, they aren't for you.
That aside, Easter Eggers tend to be great chickens. As I said, because the only thing in common between some of them is the colored egg gene, you will most likely have varied egg sizes and production. I have an easter egger who lays very small pinkish brown eggs, but she is a small chicken! On the other hand, I have a different EE who lays huge baby blue eggs. At least in my experience, all of my Easter Eggers have been incredibly sweet, and very bold with people. My rooster is an EE that one of my hens hatched and raised in the flock, and I have never had him try to attack or intimidate me. He is a real sweetie who takes care of the flock incredibly well, while respecting my position. If I pick up a hen and she starts squealing, he'll come running around the corner to protect her, but stop in his tracks when he sees it's just me. Perfect rooster.
The hens are also very sweet, and all tolerate me very well. All of them have had to spend quality time with me for different reasons. One had an upper respiratory problem, and I had to medicate her every night. Another suffered a dog attack and had to be separated and treated by me. The last was hatched and handled as a chick, she is the most friendly of the bunch.
To summarize, Easter Eggers aren't a true breed, and that's what makes them interesting! They're quirky and friendly, and their eggs are a great conversation starter! I LOVE my Easter Eggers.

I love my EE's. They are the calmest and most tame chickens I have ever had. I won't be without them again.

My Easter Eggers have a lot of personality! They're sweet, gentle, and they follow me around the yard. There is one, however, that relentlessly pecks at my exposed toes, pant legs, and sleeves...but I'm sure that's just a chicken thing. They are beautiful to look at, puffy muff cheeks included, and I have received many compliments on them. They are all fairly talkative, but not loud enough to bother the neighbors. I like the pea combs, especially in the climate I live in (fairly cold winters are possible). It's hard not to become attached to them, because they are so friendly! Kids love throwing treats for them over the fence, and they don't seem to eat a whole lot for their medium size. I appreciate that they actually leave my garden plants alone, instead gobbling up all of the slugs and bugs! Good bug control! And who can resist such beautifully-colored eggs? I will always have Easter Eggers in my flock!

This is Arianna Huffington, I guess she lived up to her name because she is the number 1 in our pecking order. She is beautiful, lays semi consistent blue green eggs and is VERY QUIET!!! She is curious and smart. Her lack of waddles and small comb make her an excellent candidate for the northeast winters, but her slight nature and small size (4.5 lbs) makes her rely on her besties to huddle with on those sub zero nights. She is easy to pick up and hold, her foraging qualities are poor, but what would you expect from Arianna Huffington?!? She is alert and a good alarm for the flock, often huddling the others to safety when a bird calls or small plane flies overhead.

I have two Easter Eggers, and they are fantastic! I've always had a soft spot for "mutts", and these guys have all the best attributes of a mixed breed.

As with any chicken, there is a lot of difference depending on the individual. My one EE, Camilla is pretty much a lap chicken. She loves people, loves being petted, and loves to get up into your business to check out what you're doing. The other one, Log (a name my daughter came up with), is maybe a little more shy, but still very tame and friendly.

They are both great layers, each giving us a pretty green egg nearly every day. While we were hoping to get one green layer and one blue layer, there's really no way to guarantee that, so we got what we got. We're happy.

They get the egg song out of their system quickly, and are otherwise very quiet birds, which is nice for my neighbors. Also my son, who is 4 and a little more timid around animals, loves the EEs the best!