Easter Eggers

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!

They are great birds. They lay good sized blue-green eggs. They also pretty colored.

I have 2 EEs. One is almost 4 years old and she still lays okay. My other one is 5-6 months and hasn't laid a single egg that I know of. When around 5-6 months, both were very skittish and detested hugs. They are a bit more tame now, but I wonder why they are so skittish when young.

Received a free "Ameraucana" pair last summer, but I didn't have the heart to tell the nice lady that she'd overpaid. The hen was a White Leghorn (sweetest one I've ever met) and the roo was an Easter Egger who could almost pass for an Ameraucana except he was an incomplete Columbian with olive shanks. With his big yellowish eyes and fluffy face and neck, he looked more like a cross between an eagle and an owl than a chicken. Not a pretty bird, but Fried had a fabulous temperament 99.9% of the time. The other .1% is that he pecked me once the morning after I got him because my hens (especially the RSL, RIR and Leghorn) hated him at first and let him know he wasn't welcome. Only bird that has ever pecked me, but he's still the favorite one.


He regularly entered our house and was wonderful company when he wasn't crowing. Loved to sit on laps and shoulders. For the most part, preferred the company of people to birds.

I love these chickens!! I have always wanted this breed and finally was able to receive one about 6 months ago, her name is HennyPenny!! Her eggs have just started to hatch in my bator and most are EE's!! The roos are great flock protecters...one of mine died from a dog attack protecting his girl!!!

HGreat broodies and wonderfull mothers

Others might not agree with me...but these are my birds and thats how thye are

I know that it may seem sort of weird that I a writing a review on these birds and I just bought my firs two today, but that is how amazing they are. I would NEVER trade this breed in for any other. So many varieties and choices!! I read this thread about a year ago and thought, "I will buy some of those birds one day". Now, I have a 6 week old pullet named Aspen (Ameraucana x Black Copper Marans) and an 8 week old pullet named Paisley (Ameraucana x unknown). Paisley has the most gorgeous feathers ever, that is why it's almost impossible to tell her breed. If you have a small backyard flock, I would recommend a few Easter Eggers. They will all be friendly and unique, and will bring you extra-large rainbow eggs daily!!




Above is a photo of Aspen. Below is a photo of Paisley.

my easter egger is so calm a nice.. great layer's too..

I LOVE my Easter eggers ! I have one special one who is my favorite chicken of my whole flock, her name is little red because at the moment she is the smallest chicken and she is a neat bright red/ orange color. she runs right up to me like a dog and wants me to pet her face. she always trying to fly up and perch on my shoulder, and she follows me where ever I go, sometimes I am tripping over her because she is constantly under my feet. the other chickens I have usually move out of way or don't even care that I am there. she is also very funny to watch. Little red and also my other two EE's get along with every bird in my flock they are very accepting to new flock members also. I recommend this breed for everyone especially people who are new to raising chickens because they are so docile and easy to keep.

The only thing I can say is bad about these birds is that they take forever to start laying. I got my five easter eggers on June 5th of this year and one finally just started laying the week before Christmas. I had two more follow suit and start laying this week. So far one of the ones that started three days ago has laid for all three days and the one that has been laying the longest is going on a five day stretch. They are really calm birds to have and out of my whole flock the only ones that don't protest when I pet them. I recently had the door to their run pop open by accident and two of the easter eggers walked right up to me and let me pick them up so I could get them back into the coop. Unfortunately I cannot let them free range due to the predators I have near my house. I would recommend this breed to anyone who is interested in a calm bird and looking for some cool colored eggs.

Note: I just updated this review from 2 to 3 1/2 stars as in the past month or so my two remaining Easter Eggers have started laying regularly (even in the cold of Northern Illinois) and I get on average about 9 eggs a week from them. Plus the egg size has caught up with the rest of my flock. The lack of eggs and their size was the main reason I gave them a low review. I reserve the right to change my opinion again, though, as time goes on.

I purchased my Easter Egger chicks on a whim when I went to pick up my 45 assorted chicks that I ordered through Farm and Fleet and they had a number of additional different breed chicks for sale. I couldn't resist rounding my total up to 50 chicks, so I also purchased two Barred Rocks and three "Araucanas" Easter Egger pullets to raise alongside my others.

The Easter Egger chicks fit in well with the others socially and were easily distinguishable from my other more traditional breeds making them a favorite. As they started to get bigger, their feathering was different and their "beards" also helped distinguish them. The lack of a prominent comb and wattle also made them unique. I was anxious to see them get older and finally get my first "special" egg. When I finally did get my first off-green egg, it was definitely an exciting moment. One even had a more olive colored egg that was pretty. These are the main things that make me like my Easter Eggers and I don't regret adding them to my flock.

However, my experience with them has made me less likely to consider purchasing many more when I get more chicks in the future:

• They are all pretty close to the bottom of the pecking order. I don't know if this is because they look different than the rest. They all grew up together, so I don't know how important that is.
• They definitely seem more timid. They were the last ones to leave the coop when I first let them out into their run. There was one that barely went out at all for nearly a week despite all of the rest being very anxious to get out in a very big run.
• They don't seem to be very good foragers. They are the most likely to come back in and eat rather than see what I might have placed outside for them or look on their own.
• Their eggs, while being unique in color, are few and far between and not all that big. At the time of this writing I haven't received a single egg from them in almost a week and a half. It is cold here right now, but I am still getting a good amount from the rest of the flock.
• I have only had one chicken escape from my flock and disappear. It was one of my Easter Eggers. That could be just coincidence, but I was sure it would be one of my Leghorns and not one of my more timid Easter Eggers.

I know that Easter Eggers have a very favorable rating here and are one of the most popular "breeds", but as a mixed breed they can also be a very mixed bag.

Perhaps I just got some bad crosses and different crosses would have produced less timid and more productive birds, but that is definitely not my experience with them. My main purpose in choosing the chickens that I did was for egg production and some meat. I am definitely not getting the eggs from them. I did know, however, that as an "impulse" purchase I might be a bit disappointed.

I do not regret having them and will probably consider adding a few more with my flock for the fun of it in the future and to see if the results are different. But as a truthful opinion of them from my current experience when comparing them to the other breeds that I have, I can't rate them higher than a two right now. This isn't a slam on Easter Eggers as I still love their uniqueness in my flock, but anyone considering them should be aware of other's not so positive experiences as well.

I have two EEs. One, named digger, is a small chicken with a whopping personality. She loves everyone. Moonlight is a bit timid, but very friendly once you get to know her.
Digger(top) and Moonlight(bottom)

We have 3 EE hens and they are all great layers. 1 of them lays beautiful minty green eggs. 1 lays pretty pale blue eggs. And 1 lays ivory/ecru colored eggs. All 3 are great layers and average about 5 eggs each, per week. I love the variety of feather patterns. 1 of them, Wheatly, is my favorite in our flock. She is sweet and purrs sweetly when I talk to her. She loves to be pet and will climb on my lap whenever she gets the chance. The are all hearty and great at foraging. I would definitely get more EE's.

My EE is super hard to catch. She flies away and learned she could fly onto the roofs. Is almost 30 weeks and still no eggs.

Update: 4/8/15 My EE started to lay a green egg with white speckles 4-6 times a week. She was eleven months old at POL. She is pretty, but still flighty.

I have two Easter eggers. A pullet and a cockerel. They are lovely birds. Beautiful with super personalities. My only issues with them is that they are flighty, and sometimes grow in-proportion. As the flighty goes, I have issues catching them. They run super fast away from anything that's not food. When you do catch them, they scream like banshees and squirm like a maggot on hot ashes. The proportion thing isn't really an issue, but it happens. Being a mutt basically, sometimes you get... Odd looking chickens. For example, my cockerel has a rose comb. But, it's so large that it has flopped over on his head. Seriously. A gigantic flopped over rose comb. Anywho, I strongly suggest this breed, as they are a nice addition to any flock!

I had two EEs, but one turned out to be a rooster that I had to rehome. The one that was left, Witsie-dutsie, is a pretty pheasant color, with a nice ruff and grey legs. She is a bit louder than her counterparts, but is the bottom hen in the pack. She is the shyest of them all, and is more fearful of humans, but I got them at 4 weeks old instead of day old chicks, so that may have something to do with it. She will still get close enough to see if you brought food. Not laying yet, but she will most likely be the first in the flock to start. I would consider adding another to my flock.

We have had EE's for over a year now. Each one is so different from the others. We love the variety and their curious nature. Some can be a bit flighty or nervous and egg size can vary from med to large, but overall wonderful birds to have

I love Piper. I really do. Even though she is second in the pecking order, she is never mean. She always runs over to see me.
Also she is gorgeous! Her colors came in gold and black. Also the big puffy cheeks make me laugh all the time.



As I said earlier, she does have one big disadvantage. Her smarts (or lack there of). She doesn't really get clothes. Not just the zippers or tags like regular chickens. She doesn't get the actual cloth.


If you want to hear more about Piper check her out on my backyard chicken blog at
http://clairesfreeasabird.blogspot.com/2014/08/all-that-glitters.html !