Great description. We wanted to have colored eggs in our breed selection we picked the Ameraucana to our growing flock we got 43 40 Hens 2 Roosters and a tiny little one who we say is a surprise as we cant tell yet at 11 weeks we do hear someone in the coop trying to crow and we think it is our little surprise. this is our primary set up. our Main Hen house holds 100 Hens side coop holds 20 and we have separated coop/runs for each breeds roosters.
I have two of those and I love their personality. They are my favorite breed and I love the colorful eggs!
I have to say Easter Eggers are probably my favorite "breed", I love all of the randomness of the colors and how much each chick is a surprise as to what it'll look like. I had 3 Easter Eggers in my original flock of 10 (which sadly had to be rehomed when we moved), and now have 7 more EE chicks out of 21 total. Of the original 3, 2 were the friendliest of the flock and were happy to be handled, and the other one was the least friendly of the entire flock and would scream and run if you ever managed to get close enough to touch her. That's what I mean about variability, it's lovely in the colors of the birds and the eggs, but if you want consistency then this is not the breed for you. The new chicks are still too young to assess but no one has the same color pattern.
Cons - Ours don't lay very many eggs, usually you can barely tell their eggs are blue, ours are all skittish.
Ours are very pretty birds, but ours egg colors aren't my favorite, and ours don't lay very often. Ours our very very skittish. Some like to free range, most like to stay in the barn and barnyard...
Their eggs are large and have green shells. Everybody I sell eggs to LOVES getting the green ones. The eggs almost cannot fit in the carton! I wish I had gotten more Easter Eggers! Everyone loves Eleanor! She's so friendly too! She comes right up on my lap as soon as sit down. She also lays her eggs very quick! I saw her sit down and come right back out and there was a nice green egg right there in the nesting box. I've heard they sometimes can suffer from a cleft pallet. Eleanor did not have that problem but it's common in Easter Eggers.
To my eye, Easter Eggers are gorgeous! They are wild looking birds, with subtle variations of color, each one unique and different from the others. Some are large bodied, some small, some have beards and muffs, some have smooth faces. And the eggs! So interesting to discover the color egg that each girl will lay. My Easter Eggers have always been mild mannered and a bit stand-offish. That is not a negative at my place. I'm not a lap chicken type of girl. These hens are independent and smart, they have excellent survivability when free ranging. I always have Easter Eggers in my flock. The other breeds vary, but always a few Easter Eggers.
