Easter Egger club!

[SiriusChicken]

Tolkien is somewhat standoffish. Not really flighty but doesn't want me to get to close. He tends to stay around the three chickens with white. Honor is the loner she likes to be further-est out and first to find new areas. They will come close but not up to being hand petted. They are actually calming down more now that they are free ranging than they were while caged.

Are all of your Easter Eggers like that or are some tamer? Do they eat treats out of your hand? I get swarmed by chickens even when I don't have treats but I give them a little treat every day. They are particularly fond of whole grained bread and strawberries. Addicted to the bread actually. But I don't have my EE yet, so I'm curious about them.

 

[FlyWheel]

Well, I definitely have an egg eater. Just went out to collect eggs and caught Braveheart in one of the nesting boxes finishing off the remains of a broken egg. To be fair, I don't yet know if she was the one, just the one that was currently pecking through the remains when I entered the coop. So fake eggs and collecting the eggs multiple times a day may be slowing her (them?) down, but obviously not completely discouraging her/them.

Any suggestions? Thx.

 

[PeepersMama]

Are all of your Easter Eggers like that or are some tamer? Do they eat treats out of your hand? I get swarmed by chickens even when I don't have treats but I give them a little treat every day. They are particularly fond of whole grained bread and strawberries. Addicted to the bread actually. But I don't have my EE yet, so I'm curious about them.

Mine are all pretty chill. A few of them were really crazy when they were babies, but once they started laying they calmed right down. If the flock you have now is really tame, then I bet they'll follow their example.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I agree, very pretty indeed. But I Don't think 'it's' a he, the tail feathers look too straight. Also the hackles are wrong (for a 'Roo).

How old?

At that age the tail feathers and hackles won't be very "manly" yet (IME). I use the comb and wattles as the first indicator, and that's usually pretty accurate since they develop before male feathering. Also, the black & white coloring increases the odds of it being male.

 

[Justino]

Jelly is a hen for sure. Her color pattern is that of silver duckwing/silver penciled, and in both of those general varieties then hen is strikingly different from the cock.
Noodle screams roo. All the different colors at this age are a sure sign of roosterdom.

Thank you! And I hope you are right about Jelly! We can definitly keep one rooster, but not two! Do you have any photo examples of those color variations with males and females? That would help me out a ton!

Here is another post with some more recent photos, more focused on the two:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/easter-eggers-11-weeks.1176478/

 

[PeepersMama]

Here is a pic of a silver pencilled hamburg hen, and a silver duckwing old English game cock and hen.
Silver penciled hen,

Silver duck wings.

Keep in mind that these pics are an example of the color, not the body type or comb.

 

[thewatsonfarm]

I just adopted a rescue hen who is my second EE.

My first one, Olga has always been my favorite hen. She is so sweet and let's be honest: finding a blue egg in the nesting box is like Christmas morning.

But our new hen, Lucille, is really winning my heart. She's a lap chicken (LOVE that!) and when my alpha-hen starts chasing her, Lucille hides behind me, because she knows I will protect her. It's precious.

Lucille lived the last 4-5 years in a cage without other chickens, and hadn't ever eaten anything but laying mash, so she was skeptical of new foods. But Sunday she watched the flock eating some frozen watermelon & when they walked away, she ran over to try it! I was so proud -- I had to capture the moment:

She was traumatized by the big change, and has stopped laying, so I haven't seen an egg yet. Waiting as impatiently as a kid before Christmas!!!

I LOVE my EEs!!!

 

[SiriusChicken]

Mine are all pretty chill. A few of them were really crazy when they were babies, but once they started laying they calmed right down. If the flock you have now is really tame, then I bet they'll follow their example.

Thanks! That's very helpful. I was hoping that.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

I just adopted a rescue hen who is my second EE.

My first one, Olga has always been my favorite hen. She is so sweet and let's be honest: finding a blue egg in the nesting box is like Christmas morning.
View attachment 1025280

But our new hen, Lucille, is really winning my heart. She's a lap chicken (LOVE that!) and when my alpha-hen starts chasing her, Lucille hides behind me, because she knows I will protect her. It's precious.

Lucille lived the last 4-5 years in a cage without other chickens, and hadn't ever eaten anything but laying mash, so she was skeptical of new foods. But Sunday she watched the flock eating some frozen watermelon & when they walked away, she ran over to try it! I was so proud -- I had to capture the moment:

View attachment 1025307

She was traumatized by the big change, and has stopped laying, so I haven't seen an egg yet. Waiting as impatiently as a kid before Christmas!!!

I LOVE my EEs!!!

What a great story and what a lucky girl to have ended up with you

 

[jasperandchar]

Posting new pictures as the others were not great, 10-11 weeks old now, gender identification would be great, PS there are 2 different white ones, 1 has fuzzy cheeks, the other does not (posted face shots of each white and side shots of each white as well

Thanks