Can EE chick be solid white? ADDED PICTURE!

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, EE's are not recognized by anyone official. EE is just a common term used without any police running around correcting you if you state something wrong. And since it is not legally defined or enforced by anyone, we can all have our own opinions on what qualifies as an EE. To me, an EE is associated with the blue egg gene, but that is arbitrary. If you want to associate it with any other characteristic, you certainly can.

You are right. The hatcheries can send out birds that do not have the blue egg gene and call them EE's. After all, look at all the names they call their sex links. They don't all use the same crosses to produce sex links yet some different hatcheries call some of them by the same name. To me common term usage is that the EE should have a chance to have the blue egg gene. They may not always inherit the blue egg gene. But they should come from a flock that has the gene in it.

I don't recall saying that EE's were developed out of Ameraucanas. I mentioned they might come from chickens with muffs or tufts in their ancestry. And I don't know that all blue egg laying parent breeds have either of them. It's been a few years since I read up on the others. Since I don't know if any of them are available in the US, I haven't worried about it.

I made the assumption that the OP was interested more in egg shell color than pea combs. I could be wrong. An EE can mean whatever you want them to mean. If you simply mean an association with blue or green eggs, I stand by what I said. You don't know until you see an egg. And chicks hatched out of green or blue eggs may not have the blue egg gene if the parents are split for that gene. Some might call those EE's, but I called the ones like that that I hatched Supper.

 

[Pele]

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I agree, the OP was probably most interested in egg shell color; most people are when it comes to EEs. That's one of the reasons that I turn into an old stickler

, since so many people get disappointed when they get an EE that doesn't lay green/blue eggs. I feel sorry for them that they weren't prepared for that eventuality. Hatcheries seem to produce no end of heartburn when it comes to EEs and Sex-Links

As far as the Ameraucana issue, I think I mis-read your post, which I apologize for. Like I said, I really respected a lot of what you had to say, because it was very good info. You're right that EEs can be different to different people. I personally like to use the Ameraucana club's definition just to maintain my sanity

.

That being said, as much trouble as the genetic variety of EEs causes, I love them for that variety. It's like skittles, so you're not stuck with one flavor. Right now I'm praying for my youngest skittle to lay a blue or green egg. The hatchery I got her from is a very good one, so she's actually VERY close to an Ameraucana. She's what I consider to be the ideal EE since she has the muffs, slate legs, silver duckwing coloration, and pea comb. Please pleeeeeaase let her go the whole nine yards and have non-brown eggs.

 

[Tracyree]

Here she is

 

[Minniechickmama]

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He is to die for! Just a gorgeous man of a bird! Just goes to show that mutts can be prettier than purebreds sometimes.

 

[onthespot]

Why thank you! He is still just a baby in that photo. His sickle feathers are not even curved yet past his tail feathers, and his spurs are just little buttons on his shanks. As big as he is, he still has not conquered both those sussex hens, LOL. One he can breed from time to time, the other is holding out until he learns to out wrangle her. I expect to spend a few years working on my project. Hoping eventually to get rid of the mahogany and gold leakage, and replace blue with lavender. Hey! It could happen, LOL. Blue eggs will be the icing on the cake. (another five years out, IF i'm lucky! lol)

 

[Minniechickmama]

One sure must have patience when working with these projects, huh? I have started a project with making a Brown Red Jersey Giant. I was given the formula, now it is just a matter of patience.

 

[Minniechickmama]

As for the EE/Ameraucana debate, here it is....
EE is just another name for a mutt who has somewhere in its bloodline a blue/green egg gene (from Ameraucana or Araucana). It can be any color, shape, size, comb, feathering, etc. etc. But even though they carry the gene for it, they don't always lay a green or blue egg. I have a black one who lays brown, and she is obviously an EE.


As for the OP, it could be an EE, or it may be just something else they tossed in as a packing peanut. It could be just a Cornish Rock Cross (aka Meatie) I hope not, cuz it doesn't look like that was something you would want. It is probably a cockerel too, since they usually have lots of them as extras and they get rid of them by putting them in as extras.
I had an all yellow/white chick last year, now she is all brown and her name is Sweetie, a mutt and one of my favorite chicks out of the 250 or so that I have out here. You can't always judge a chicken by the color of its down.
Good luck, I hope it is at least a pullet.

 

[Momagain1]

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is this your EE? it doesnt look like any of my EE's that were white or light yellow...??

 

[Tracyree]

Yes.... Supposed to be an EE

 

[ginbart]

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OH your right he is gorgeous.