Easter Egger club!

[CarolinaHen]

Do you know what the hen(s) and cock(s) look like? Don't know if you're hatching from your own eggs or if you got them from someone else.

Here is one of the hens. The other two look very similar to her, but a darker shade of brown with gold.

Here is the cock. We are working toward blue eggs since he is a white egg breed.

 

[MEMama3]

Here is one of the hens. The other two look very similar to her, but a darker shade of brown with gold.

Here is the cock. We are working toward blue eggs since he is a white egg breed.

That is the coolest mohawk ever!

Well my broody went nuts last night. I was walking the dog and there was a huge racket in the nest box. I looked in and she was doing this "dance" like a rooster challenging and she was pecking the eggs. I took her off the nest to see if she'd chill out, but she went right back and started pecking the eggs and the sides of the nest box. I quickly harvested eggs in my coat pockets. Weird, right?

Well I rigged up a quick incubator with an old aquarium, light and dish of water. It's got a foam insulated top. It took an hour and a half to get the temp to around 100° (the thermometer is a cheap one I stole from the coop). I hope they didn't cool too much. I guess we'll find out in 13 days.

 

[CarolinaHen]

That is the coolest mohawk ever!

Well my broody went nuts last night. I was walking the dog and there was a huge racket in the nest box. I looked in and she was doing this "dance" like a rooster challenging and she was pecking the eggs. I took her off the nest to see if she'd chill out, but she went right back and started pecking the eggs and the sides of the nest box. I quickly harvested eggs in my coat pockets. Weird, right?

Well I rigged up a quick incubator with an old aquarium, light and dish of water. It's got a foam insulated top. It took an hour and a half to get the temp to around 100° (the thermometer is a cheap one I stole from the coop). I hope they didn't cool too much. I guess we'll find out in 13 days.

That's really strange. I wonder what she was doing and why she was doing that. So odd!! Hope your babies hatch!

Stewart (rooster I posted above) is an Appenzeller Spitzhauben. He is without a doubt the best we have ever had. He takes care of the babies, shows them how to forage, brings them treats, and makes sure they hide when a hawk flies over. Can't wait to see how many of his offspring give us true blue eggs!

 

[Katt66]

That's really strange. I wonder what she was doing and why she was doing that. So odd!! Hope your babies hatch!

Stewart (rooster I posted above) is an Appenzeller Spitzhauben. He is without a doubt the best we have ever had. He takes care of the babies, shows them how to forage, brings them treats, and makes sure they hide when a hawk flies over. Can't wait to see how many of his offspring give us true blue eggs!

That is an amazing looking rooster. Glad to hear he's a good guy too. Looks will only get you so far. I can't wait to see what his babies are going to turn out like. They're going to be neat looking I'm sure. Good luck with getting those blue eggs. From what I've read blue is supposed to be dominant over white I believe? So *fingers crossed* you'll get some lovely layers out of them.
^_^

 

[roostersandhens]

 

[beachervins]

Here are our 8 week EE girls...Picadilly Polo and Eggo Sean. First time chicken charmer...totally in love!

 

[CarolinaHen]

That is an amazing looking rooster. Glad to hear he's a good guy too. Looks will only get you so far. I can't wait to see what his babies are going to turn out like. They're going to be neat looking I'm sure. Good luck with getting those blue eggs. From what I've read blue is supposed to be dominant over white I believe? So *fingers crossed* you'll get some lovely layers out of them.
^_^

We have some of his babies that are about to start laying any time. Most have turned out to have cute crests, beards, and muffs!! Super adorable! However, most have also turned out to be solid black so they are difficult to photograph well. Hopefully we will have some more colors from this hatch. The hen I posted the pic of is not one of the ones I have used with him before. These are the first ones from her. I think most of the dark chicks are the ones from my other two hens and the lighter ones are from her.

 

[Gryphon]

Ah unfortunately with the hens all being wild type coliring and the cock throwing black, white EE's aren't in your future. Also, unless your gens are carrying two copies of blue, half will be brown ir white layers. Still, a sacrifice needs to be made like that if the goal is to clean up the blue. Having EE's with crests would be a riot too.

 

[CarolinaHen]

Ah unfortunately with the hens all being wild type coliring and the cock throwing black, white EE's aren't in your future. Also, unless your gens are carrying two copies of blue, half will be brown ir white layers. Still, a sacrifice needs to be made like that if the goal is to clean up the blue. Having EE's with crests would be a riot too.

White is wishful thinking for me probably. Unless some mystery white feather gene is hiding somewhere. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though
The plan is to keep all of the ones that lay blue and cull the ones that lay white or brown. My current F1 gen is at POL, so I'll be culling some of them and keeping one cockerel. I've narrowed it down to 2, but can't find the coin to toss that will tell me which one carries blue :/ Both have pea combs and one has a crest.
The goal is to have crested blue layers with muffs and beards!

 

[Katt66]

White is wishful thinking for me probably. Unless some mystery white feather gene is hiding somewhere. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though

The plan is to keep all of the ones that lay blue and cull the ones that lay white or brown. My current F1 gen is at POL, so I'll be culling some of them and keeping one cockerel. I've narrowed it down to 2, but can't find the coin to toss that will tell me which one carries blue

Both have pea combs and one has a crest.
The goal is to have crested blue layers with muffs and beards!

Maybe take both roos and give them each a hen that you know lays blue eggs. Let them fertilize and hatch a couple of babies from each one. If one gives you olive eggers you'll know that's not the roo you want. If the other gives you blue eggs, you'll know that's your roo.

That's gonna take like another half a years worth of waiting though. Only other option I can give you is find a proven roo somewhere.