Olive Egger

Hard to tell what you'll get with a cross-bred chicken like the Olive Eggers unless you know the specific parents or even parentage breeds! My "Livvie" appears to be Crested Cream Legbar (blue) crossed with a Plymouth Barred Rock (brown)??? She's just turning two, a teensy bit flighty and decided to go broody! I might try to use her to raise me a rooster for them, plus 2 more girls to my current healthy mixed Heritage & Cross 8???
ChickenMath!

I only have one olive egger, his name is Benny and I got him from a local breeder. Let me just say- the SWEETEST boy to his hens. He will literally make nests for them, cuddles with them, and he even stuffs his face in their backs when they are cuddling
Whenever anyone comes to my house they always comment on how beautiful he is.

I can't say that they are all nice though.....
I once had a really mean olive egger named Dumpling, he would attack me all the time and chase me around the yard. I have tried 2 times to get an olive egger hen and have not got one yet Only have got roos.
I just really want those olive eggs.

Benny

My olive egger is an Ameruacana mix. She's a pretty crap layer (she gave up laying after two sky blue eggs and now hogs the laying boxes to lay her phantom eggs), and she came home with a bumble foot. She also enjoys screaming her heart out for no apparent reason. Mine is a little on the dumb side, with some difficulty eating (you have to hand feed them, and when they're full, they'll just look at you).

Negatives aside, olive eggers have big personalities and beautiful eggs (when they choose to lay them). They are friendly inquisitive bird (a little too heavy to fly as much as the average leghorn), and enjoy massages and sitting in your lap (a little too much as tehy sometimes fall asleep - once she's on, she'll never leave!). They are also relatively beautiful, and once you've looked into their derpy eyes, you know you're not going to let this chicken go. Seriously, who doesn't want a bearded, muffed wonder!
I would recommend this chicken for kids (please DON'T use this beautiful inquisitive breed for meat)!!!!!!

everything is worth it for the muffs

My olive egger is a Marans/Ameraucana mix from mypetchicken. She is a cruddy winter layer and she makes more noise than the rest of my flock put together. Her sister is the same. It's not all that fair to rate "olive eggers" since different mixes will have different traits but this is just my experience and the particular mix I got. If you're concerned about upsetting your neighbors or if you're trying to hide chickens from your HOA, this might not be a good mix for you. When mine are laying, they are good for about 4 olive eggs per week and neither have gone broody.

If you're looking for a colorful egg basket, you have to add some olive eggers. Since these birds are defined by their egg color, they aren't a breed per se, but are the result of breeding a dark egg layer with a blue egg layer. Many combinations can be used so the resulting olive eggers can have various types and personalities. For mine, I used a cream legbar rooster and various marans and welsumer hens. The progeny lay from a deep minty green to a beautiful true dark olive.
Interestingly, the mothers of my OE's all started laying between almost six months to over eight months and the daughters (Perhaps because of the legbar influence) were all laying before five months.
I do think the welsumer crosses can be sexed at hatch, just like the purebred welsumer mothers, but unfortunately I wasn't paying a lot of attention to this. I want to hatch more next year and will definitely pay more attention to see if this holds true. if it does, the welsumer cross might have an advantage over the crosses where marans were used.
I also want to try creating some using EEs. So many possibilities, so many colors.

I got three olive eggers in the spring, not knowing much about the breed. They haven't started laying yet, so I can't say anything about their egg production, but they are very sweet. One of mine bonded with me and now she follows me around and will sit in my lap. The other two, one who's a frizzle are sweet once caught but they are hard to catch. The main problem I have with them is at night they refuse to go in the coop and go to a high place instead, and sometimes they even get on the roof of our house. But otherwise, they are great and I recommend them!

My first and only Olive Egger, Olive, sadly died before she could lay any eggs. So I can't write too much of a review... She was super friendly, and beautiful. I hope to get another very soon.

I purchased a beautiful CP over CL cross from Deanne at Just Struttin farms. She is a superb forager and a sweet gentle natured bird when it comes to her getting along in the flock. I chose her because they are feather sexable at hatch and I wanted a pullet and because I wanted to add the olive egg color to my basket. I have lap chickens and she is NOT one of them. She has been terrified since day one and no amount of water melon, meal worms, canned corn or BOSS will help her to like me. It is a little disappointing but that is OK. She is not at POL yet but I am looking forward to finding that first green egg. I will update this when she is laying regularly.

ETA...Willa lays a large-ex large mottled Olive Green egg about 5 days a week. She has become much more at ease around me and will eat out of my hand but the Penedesenca in her keeps her from being a lap chicken. that's OK she is a relaible and beautiful girl and I am happy that she no longer acts like I will twist off her head when I enter the coop. Her comb is huge and flops over to the right which I think may mess with her vision a bit. But she is happy. Her whole coop is very genial and I would say that she is near the top of the pecking order. Just Struttin Farms has great birds. I recommend this hybrid and that breeder!

I have been breeding my own version of these birds by crossing both Silver Laced Wyandottes and Black Australorp Roos with my Wheaten EE hens. I end up with these gorgeous blue birds or blue laced white birds. They are so pretty. I even ended up with a rumpless roo during one cross. My EEs lay a light green egg. My Olive Eggers lay a really pretty Khaki green egg, not as dark as some I have seen, but still pretty.

olive eggers are an unushual breed; they lay olive green eggs and are small copaired to other chicken breeds they also have striped fethers

I have been breeding my Lavender Ameracuana chickens with a French Black Copper Marans rooster. The chicks are absolutely gorgeous. Super friendly, curious, good foragers, and seem to be maturing rather quickly. I do not have any at point of lay yet, but it will be very soon. Can't wait!!
If I could give these more than 5 stars I would!!