easter egger chick doesn't have green legs

[frizzleman74]

i bought an easter egger chick from mypetchicken and its legs are not green. It has a muff from what i can tell (only 5 days old) Should i be concerned that it wont lay blue eggs? Do easter eggers have to have green legs?

 

[Frost Homestead]

If it's an EE there's a good chance it wont lay blue eggs anyway. I have 4 grown EE hens and 2 lay blue eggs and 2 lay green eggs. All four of my adult EE have blue/slate legs, not green. (I also have 4 2 month old EE that all have green legs)

They are very young their leg color may not have developed fully yet, so give them some time.

A lot of people claim *all* EE should have green legs, but in my experience this is simply not true, they can even end up with yellow or pinkish legs depending on what breed they are mixed with. If you do have any blue/slate legged birds there is a higher likelihood they may lay blue eggs instead of green. I'm pretty sure green legged birds are more likely to lay green eggs rather than blue.

 

[10 point]

Quote:
X2 you said it perfect

 

[sgtmom52]

Don't give up yet ~ I have 3 EE x spangled Russian Orloff mixes that have yellow legs ~ 2 lay blue/green eggs and the other a pale brown egg. I also had a 4th one which died who also laid a beautiful green egg.

 

[rancher hicks]

I wasn't aware that leg color made a difference. Does it. I have two one lays blue the other green I never noticed the legs. I have some that lay beige. Never noticed their legs either except I do know that a couple new girls are my crosses and they don't have green or dark legs either. They are barred and have some black on their legs but not much.

I have a lav/cross hen and she lays beige eggs too. I'll have to check legs I guess.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
I don't know where MyPetChicken gets their EE's. My understanding is that they do not hatch their own but get them from different hatcheries. If you knew which hatchery it came from, then people that got EE's from that hatchery could possibly tell you the tendencies of their chickens.

Many people confuse all these various traits with EE's. EE's are simply chickens that might lay blue or green eggs. Muffs, tufts, leg color do not matter. They don't even have to have a pea comb. The blue egg gene follows the pea comb a lot (one expert on here posted that the blue egg gene follows the pea comb 97% of the time), but if it is mixed with the rose comb, you get a walnut comb, and there are some that have a single comb.

The original blue egg layers came from Chile. There was no standard as far as any appearance is concerned. The appearance was pretty much as mixed as barnyard mutts can be. Someone developed the Araucana and Ameraucana breeds from these chickens with the blue egg gene and picked certain traits they wanted their new breeds to have. The muffs and tufts went with them so they kept those. The pea comb was normally associated with the blue egg gene so they chose that. The legs could have been any color. They could have chosen any color or pattern. But, for their own reasons, they chose as they chose. Many people think that the EE's come from Ameraucanas so they think EE's should have the same general traits as Ameraucanas, but the development went the other way. If you cross an Ameraucana with another chicken, you will get an EE, but Ameraucana does not have to be in the mix.

A lot of hatcheries further confuse the issue by calling their EE's Ameraucanas. They are not. They are EE's.

The blue egg gene is dominant. If the chicken has one blue egg gene, it will show up, but it may be blue or green. The basic egg shell color is either white or blue. If you break an egg and look at the shell color inside you willl either see blue or white. But many hens put a brown coating on top of the shell. If the brown coating goes on a white egg, the egg is brown. If the brown coating goes on a blue egg, the egg is green. How much brown determines the shade.

If an EE hen has one blue egg gene and one white egg gene, the blue egg gene will show. But if you cross her with a rooster that has none or only one blue egg gene, some of her offspring willl not have the blue egg gene. some will but some won't. That's why some hens that hatch from blue or green eggs do not have the blue egg gene.

Here is my green egg laying EE, the one with the blue bands on each leg. You can't see it real well, but her legs were yellow. Her comb was sort of a modified pea. Due to some irresponsible pet owner releasing dogs inthe country so they can live the good life, this hen is no longer with me, so I cannot get better pictures.

 

[tclegg]

Quote:
I don't know where MyPetChicken gets their EE's. My understanding is that they do not hatch their own but get them from different hatcheries. If you knew which hatchery it came from, then people that got EE's from that hatchery could possibly tell you the tendencies of their chickens.

Many people confuse all these various traits with EE's. EE's are simply chickens that might lay blue or green eggs. Muffs, tufts, leg color do not matter. They don't even have to have a pea comb. The blue egg gene follows the pea comb a lot (one expert on here posted that the blue egg gene follows the pea comb 97% of the time), but if it is mixed with the rose comb, you get a walnut comb, and there are some that have a single comb.

The original blue egg layers came from Chile. There was no standard as far as any appearance is concerned. The appearance was pretty much as mixed as barnyard mutts can be. Someone developed the Araucana and Ameraucana breeds from these chickens with the blue egg gene and picked certain traits they wanted their new breeds to have. The muffs and tufts went with them so they kept those. The pea comb was normally associated with the blue egg gene so they chose that. The legs could have been any color. They could have chosen any color or pattern. But, for their own reasons, they chose as they chose. Many people think that the EE's come from Ameraucanas so they think EE's should have the same general traits as Ameraucanas, but the development went the other way. If you cross an Ameraucana with another chicken, you will get an EE, but Ameraucana does not have to be in the mix.

A lot of hatcheries further confuse the issue by calling their EE's Ameraucanas. They are not. They are EE's.

The blue egg gene is dominant. If the chicken has one blue egg gene, it will show up, but it may be blue or green. The basic egg shell color is either white or blue. If you break an egg and look at the shell color inside you willl either see blue or white. But many hens put a brown coating on top of the shell. If the brown coating goes on a white egg, the egg is brown. If the brown coating goes on a blue egg, the egg is green. How much brown determines the shade.

If an EE hen has one blue egg gene and one white egg gene, the blue egg gene will show. But if you cross her with a rooster that has none or only one blue egg gene, some of her offspring willl not have the blue egg gene. some will but some won't. That's why some hens that hatch from blue or green eggs do not have the blue egg gene.

Here is my green egg laying EE, the one with the blue bands on each leg. You can't see it real well, but her legs were yellow. Her comb was sort of a modified pea. Due to some irresponsible pet owner releasing dogs inthe country so they can live the good life, this hen is no longer with me, so I cannot get better pictures.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/22249_no_tuffs_20_w.jpg

sorry for your loss--but wanted to let you know she was beautiful..

 

[azygous]

I had glanced briefly at the original post, but it has been knocking about inside my head ever since. I have four five-week old EE's. I never really noticed their leg color. Today, I finally took a good look. Their legs, much to my surprise, are PINK! These chicks, are also developing some white feathers in their breasts and wing tips.

I have three older EE's, and they all have slate-colored legs. None have any white in their feathering. Two lay blue eggs and one lays an olive green egg.

I'm so grateful for this thread! I now know much more about EE's than I ever knew before! Thanks for all of the great information!

 

[92Pony]

I'll add my experience, fwiw;

I have 3 EE bought from a local feed/seed store. One has green legs and muff - she lays (WHEN she lays) blue-green eggs. The other two have yellow legs and no muff. They lay very,very light brown eggs (to the point my 9yr-old like to argue that they're white

)


Wade

 

[MistyF]

To frizzleman74 I was wondering if the chick started laying eggs yet? and if so what color are they??