Are Easter Eggers Weak/Fragile?

[Illia]

I don't think I've ever heard of weak or fragile ones. If there is such, it's because of bad, careless breeding.


They can have appetites, yes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

EE's are not a breed. They have no breed traits. They are just mixed chickens that should have the blue egg gene. What traits they have depends on what traits their parents had. Whether they are cold-hardy or heat-hardy or not, whether they lay well or not, whether they go broody or not, how big they get, and all other traits depends on their ancestry.

Some hatcheries will use Ameraucanas to make their EE's, so those hatcheries' EE's will have some traits similar to Ameraucanas. At least one hatchery advertises that they use Araucanas to make their EE's. I have not gotten any from them so I don't have a clue if that is accurate or not.

The Araucana can have the lethal gene. That gene is a recessive, meaning you need both copies for it to take effect. If only one copy is present, then the chick hatches and is fine. If both copies are present, the chick does not hatch. That lethal gene does not weaken the adults or anything like that. If two copies are present, it is lethal to the chick before it hatches. If the chick hatches it does not have two copies so it is not lethal to that chick.

Crosses are not more weak and fragile than purebreds unless the parents are weak and fragile. Chickens inherit traits from theior parents. Whatever traits the parents have the offspring tends to have.

There is such a thing as hybrid vigor. It does exist. If you inbreed a flock of chickens for several generations they tend to lose genetic diversity. If you then cross two different flocks that have lost genetic diversity, the offspring will often have more vigor. It does not matter if you are crossing two different breeds or two different flocks of the same breed that have been genetically isolated for a while. You can get that boost in hybrid vigor if the parents are inbred but come from different flocks. There are techniques to maintain hybrid vigor even when you inbreed. Breeders do that all the time, but it takes some knowledge and real good record keeping.

A leghorn is a Mediterranean breed and usually do well in the heat. Your cross should be pretty heat tolerant but still needs basic care, like plenty of water and shade.

 

[kari_dawn]

I wanna weigh in here...I live in Texas. Last year, we had the hottest summer I have ever experienced in my albiet relatively short life according to some people....weeks and weeks of triple digit temperatures. I did not loose a single bird to heat, and I LOVE me some EEs Infact, my EEs seemed to handle the heat BETTER than my other breeds. Mutts are mutts. The most wonderful thing about mutts is that there is more genetic diversity in their bodies than the pure breds from which they came. Genetic diversity in most cases equals strong, vigerous animals. EEs being fragile or weak is a crock. I would not say they thrived in the heat of summer, but they certainly weren't suffering.

Many places call EEs cold hardy because they tend to have a tight pea comb that protects them from frost bite and heat loss, but in my experience, that trait certainly does not adversely affect them in the scorching Texas heat.

 

[Sphinx]

Well said, Ridgerunner.


I had four EE that I got from the feed store (oh noes!), so I'm sure they came from a hatchery (oh noes again!!). They were the best birds anyone could ask for. Excellent layers of very large eggs. Good with kids. Did just fine on triple digit summer days (my chickens do have shade and water available at all times. We had a cold snap where we had temperatures below zero for several days straight, and they did just fine.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
What 1muttsdan said.

As a matter of fact, I read this thread's subject line and thought "What!?!?!". And there is an article "supporting" that claim?

EEs have hybrid vigor, for the most part. Perhaps the article's author got a bad bunch o' Easter Eggers or sumpin' but I can hardly believe any EE wouldn't be heat or cold hardy, or turn out to be "weak."

 

[ClareScifi]

My little half EE boy is sure a survivor, so far, knock on wood.

When he had just hatched and was in a box all by himself, due to having nearly been pecked to death by his StepMama and brother (did they think something was wrong with him and try to kill him because of it?), I was new at regulating the heat, and I woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly realized it was probably too cold in there for him, since the sun had gone down. It was supposed to be 90-95 F since he was newly hatched. It was only 82 F! He was standing in a corner, very still, but seemed okay. Scared me half to death, but he survived!

Then another day when I had to go somewhere in the afternoon (late September), I debated where to put his box and heat lamp, knowing it would get too hot in the sunny solarium. I was afraid it would be too cool in the house. So I put him in the motor home. When I got home, the thermometer in his box was registering 112 F! I couldn't believe it! It was only about 90 F outside, but the motor home really heats up in the afternoon, I guess. I am so surprised I didn't lose him to heat stroke that day, but maybe the fact he didn't have many feathers yet helped spare him. He was really panting, but once I took him outside in the cooler air, he perked up.

Do you think that experience that hot day could make him more susceptible to overheating problems come the heat of this summer? I don't think he had a heat stroke that hot day, but who knows? I didn't see anything indicative of that, but it might have happened while I was gone?

I did take him to the avian vet recently and he thinks his heart and lungs sound fine. I hope he is a strong little survivor. I love him so very much. He's an adorable rooster. He turns 15 weeks old tomorrow.

 

[EweSheep]

All the EE's I've had, they are hardy. So are my other breeds.

We all have lost chickens in the heat last year, it was one of the worst. Heat does not discriminate breeds but some will fare better than others, like the Leghorn breeds. It all boils down to chicken husbandry.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Short answer to the subject question, not any more so than any other variety of chicken. I read the article, and it is simply one person's theory on what has happened to chickens she has had or that people she knows has had. She didn't even get all the genetic information completely correct (although the gist of it was about right).

Some strains of EE probably do have problems, while others do not. I ordered 5 EE from My Pet Chicken summer of 2010. We kept 3, and gave 2 away. I have not heard anything about the 2 that we gave away but of the 3 we kept we ended up culling 2 this fall, one for a severe cross beak and the other for suspected internal laying (which turned out to be true). The one we kept has been the most consistent layer of large green eggs regardless of the temperature. She has been a very sturdy girl and I don't anticipate having any problems with her. The problems we had with the other two I chalk up to my own rotten luck and the fact that large hatcheries rarely keep a close eye on their breeding birds because their goal is to produce a lot of chicks, not to produce quality chicks. With that many birds and breeding for the kind of volume that they are breeding for, genetic defects are bound to pop up. Add to that the fact that EE are one of the most popular types of chicks that hatcheries sell and it's not surprising that of the 4 breeds I got they were the ones with the problems.

As for EE not being heat tolerant, that has more to do with their body type than their "breed." If you look at most of the breeds that are regarded as very tolerant of heat, you will notice that they are all slim birds with large single combs. EE have (for the most part) pea combs, which may not radiate extra body heat as well as a large single comb, and very small wattles which are often covered in feathers, which definitely won't radiate extra body heat as well as large floppy wattles that don't have any added insulation. So it makes sense that they may not do as well in the heat as some other breeds. But from my personal experience, mine didn't really have any more of a problem than any of my other breeds (all of which are single combed, even the one that is supposed to be a rose combed breed).