Easter Egger’s first egg!

[alknoll]

I think Queenie is gorgeous and her egg is perfect! Fit for a queen! Great video, thanks for sharing!

Thank you! She is probably my favorite. She is named appropriately because as a chick, if you put your hand in the brooder, she would immediately puff up her chest and come peck you. It of course didn't hurt at all, and was quite comical. Fast forward to now, a ~27 week old pullet, and my neighbors (who have had chickens for decades) text me: "Just saw your white chicken chase a squirrel up a tree. Never seen that before." She is the Queen!

She is so docile now that she is laying. I hope she doesn't get picked on! Selfishly I want her to continue her reign!

 

[alknoll]

Oh, and this EE "Queenie" is also my avatar! Those cheeks

 

[alknoll]

I do have an Instagram account, rarely use it tho.
They provided a direct link...as yo may have seen.

Thank you @aart - I saw you were able to load the video. Great! I will try to save some in the future to post to YouTube. This has turned into quite the fun conversation. Thanks for your replies!

 

[BDutch]

Yes, I know EE are not 'true breed', but a cross.
No, not all EE lay green/blue.
The fact that this bird has muffs tells you that one of it's parents has Ameraucana in it's
genetic background.
Easter Eggers can produce different color of eggs...blue, greens, browns, pinks, whites.

Sorry I didn’t know this. Always thought EE lay coloured eggs other then the white and brown. Obvious I made a mistake.
Where I live they don’t sell EE, they only sell Aracauna’s. The owners claim they always lay green and blue eggs.

 

[AusHen]

"Easter egger" is a blanket term used for any bird that has a blue laying ancestor, Ameraucana being most common in the US. Since the most commonly sold ones especially from hatcheries are multi-generational EE crosses they can lay any possible colour. The ones that dont lay blue/green just means they didnt inherit the blue gene

 

[aart]

Where I live they don’t sell EE, they only sell Aracauna’s. The owners claim they always lay green and blue eggs.

If they are pure breed they will, if crossed with a brown egg layer they'd be called EE's.


There are only white and blue shells.

Brown eggs have brown coating on white shells.

Green eggs have brown coating on blue shells.

The brown coating can be very light or very dark, and can vary day to day.

Then the bloom can add another aspect to the egg color.

Pink/purplish eggs are from the bloom on a brown egg.

 

[BDutch]

Sorry I’m getting off topic but I do wonder how you can be sure you have an EE.

What if someones crosses EE’s?
If you cross EE x EE can you get 25% Aracauna/Americauna, 50% EE and 25% brown egg layer. Or doesn’t it work this way with EE’s. Do you still name all descendants EE?

Or do all people who claim to have EE buy from hatcheries where they control the crossings: And always cross Aracauna or Americauna x brown egg layer. ?

 

[AusHen]

No you cant get Ameraucana or Araucana out of "easter egger" parents since they are crosses and araucana/Ameraucana are pure breeds produced only by pure breed parents. EE x EE offspring can be called EE but in reality are just fancy named cross breeds just like their parents.

Most hatcheries breed EE to EE which is why there is such a variety in feather and egg colour.

Best way to tell an EE from a pure breed such as a Ameraucana or Araucana is the source of the chick/bird, price and if it fits the standard of perfection for the breed. EE have no standard of perection since it can be made of any blue layer and any non blue layer breed or even two seperate blue laying breeds

 

[alknoll]

First time chicken buyer, I wanted Ameraucana and didn’t pay attention to the spelling: Americana from TSC. Sigh... I just looked up Ameraucanas at Meyer hatchery and those birds aren’t cheap!