Easter Egger club!

[annied24326]

Update on Frost, the freeloader: she laid her first egg today! She started squatting a couple of days ago and voila, today the egg came. It's big and beautiful!
For size and color comparison, our other EE Feathers' egg from today is on the right

And no, we did not switch to a higher protein feed. I may at some point but since everyone else, including the other EE is doing just fine, I don't want to disrupt the routine at the moment.

 

[mrjoltcola]

No references, just personal experience. When I say Easter Egger, I specifically mean the hatchery sourced type. I breed Easter Eggers, my foundation lines are from Ideal Poultry. All of my birds get a 20% grower feed for their entire life. I've never had a pullet start laying any later than 24 weeks. Several people who have purchased pullets from me have complained that their birds too a really long time to start laying. In one case, it took about 40 weeks. The difference was entirely feed related. The slow to mature birds were fed 16% protein layer feed starting at 18 to 20 weeks. Others have said their birds were inconsistent layers. Again, it was most feed related. My lines lay 5 to 7 eggs a week, even in the second and third year of laying. Switching to a higher protein feed has consistently resolved the issues.
And the original Araucanas were developed in region of South America that is pretty far south, not a hot, equatorial climate.

I agree with high protein, I just have no hard numbers. I leave them on 20 - 24% until the first egg appears, then I switch to layer crumbles. I like the idea & results of Nutrena's 18% Feather Fixer, mine laid well on that, and they prefer its smaller pellet size, but it is overpriced for what it is, so I just mix non-medicated starter 24% with 16% layer crumble for 18-20%. Even on a diet of 24%, it seems heredity defines most of it; my "old" line Araucanas don't start laying until 8 months. I've never noticed my Easter Eggers on 16% to lay less consistently, but for all I know, I could be overlooking a small improvement in egg size or frequency. I admit that your claim makes sense, however I lean more towards the likelihood that the person having trouble may have less prolific layers, or just on a bad diet, or in a stressful, crowded environment. As much as I'd like to do a study, I always start out well and forget to update my notes. I will try again to do 2 groups from the same parents and same hatch, and see which starts laying earlier / better between levels of protein.

 

[junebuggena]

I admit that your claim makes sense, however I lean more towards the likelihood that the person having trouble may have less prolific layers, or just on a bad diet, or in a stressful, crowded environment. As much as I'd like to do a study, I always start out well and forget to update my notes. I will try again to do 2 groups from the same parents and same hatch, and see which starts laying earlier / better between levels of protein.

That's what I mean though. All the chicks are either full or half siblings, and are not kept in overcrowded conditions. I only sell locally, and mostly to friends and people I know. The biggest difference is feed. The pullets that get switched to a 16% protein feed before they start laying take much, much longer to start laying.

 

[maddysmamaw]

I figure mine get enough protein from all the crawlies they get running around the yard.

 

[kingchickies]

A few of my ee 4 week olds. I've seen where someone said if the head is a different color it's probably a roo..i have 2 solids and 3 striped with lighter heads, I ordered sexed pullets, could they possibly still be pullets?

 

[junebuggena]

A few of my ee 4 week olds. I've seen where someone said if the head is a different color it's probably a roo..i have 2 solids and 3 striped with lighter heads, I ordered sexed pullets, could they possibly still be pullets?

Not an obvious cockerel, yet.

 

[kingchickies]

Not an obvious cockerel, yet.

This pic didn't make it in the last post. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[CGinJCMO]

CGin, STAY OUT OF THE FEED STORES, LOL

I hatch my own now. I can get my chick fix without the feed stores. LOL

CG

 

[Sylvester017]

I have to disagree. I have 22 breeds and varieties, from tiny bantams to a very large Marans cockerel, and they all eat the same thing.

See, I don't have the problem of having over 5 chickens because of zone restrictions so providing a variety of feed is easy for me. If I had your menagerie I think I would choose your feeding style too.

 

[71stbrew]

Wow! Moa's brother Nero says hi! love that color pattern. I've seen it a few times on roos. always very striking. Good thing they have different beards so we can tell them apart has he molted yet? Nero's tail changed how much was blue and how much was white with his molt, and his beard changed from gray to nearly white. So cool.

Mostly he just improved his tail after his molt. Lovely boy you have there.