Easter Egger club!

[Chicken Egg 17]

Wow! Fred is unique looking. That crest! Almost like a Swedish Flower. Very cool. Do you have any pictures of the transforming eggs? And I love sunning chickens. So relaxed looking.

Fred picked YOU sounds like! You're his, your hens are his, the grass is his...LOL.

I think he is about 3 years old I need to get that wrote in my chicken folder. I don't think I have any pics of he eggs transforming but I think I still have some of her green eggs and she just started laying again three days ago so I have some of each.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Here the last dozen of eggs with her green eggs in they were really dark green so it's just odd to go from dark green to a light blue o well I always wanted a chicken who lays blue eggs because that's my favorite color since I was little.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

With the blue eggs it's hard to see because of the lighting so they almost look white but if you hold them to a clear bright light you can see the blue egg shell

 

[kekstrom]

May I join here? I have 3 EE pullets in my flock of 21. These are our first chickens. They are almost 11 weeks old.

This is Osh-Kosh. She had us thinking maybe she was a cockerel for a while. She is the most shy of the 3.

This is Eleanor. She has the fluffiest muffs and beard. She has recently become more curious and friendly. I was really hoping she would. She was the first chick I picked out when we started.

Holly is the chick in the middle here. This is a terrible picture of her. She is similar to Eleanor, but has a single comb and blue instead of black on her lower half.


I need to get better pics. These are just from my album and are about 3 weeks old. I love my EEs. They are all pretty shy. But, I feel some of that has to do with having 10 BR. They take over with the socializing and always want to be held. It doesn't leave much room for the shy chicks to come say hi, when I have 10 more outgoing chickens jumping all over. I was pleased to see Eleanor and Holly make their way through last night and come sit on my boots for a few.

Love seeing all the cute chicks here and age progressions!

Welcome! And I love the coloring on your EEs. I have 3 EEs also amongst a mixed flock of all sorts of breeds. My oldest EE, Rose, is my alpha at the moment. She is sweet, calm, friendly, but I think since she grew the fastest and became the largest, she just assumed top position in the pecking order. She actually is so friendly that my husband has claimed her as "His Chicken" and he'll take her out and sit with her in his lap in the evenings. I do have only 1 BR, who is also up there in the pecking order. She has quite the strong personality, as I have heard BRs do.

 

[Amelia Egghart]

With the blue eggs it's hard to see because of the lighting so they almost look white but if you hold them to a clear bright light you can see the blue egg shell

Those are a gorgeous green. Fred must have a interesting ancestry. What other breeds have spotted eggs? I just know of Welsummer and Isbar. Both of those breeds can change how much pigment is applied each time. It'll be interesting to see her egg color right before she molts vs right after.

Beautiful eggs! I wanted blue and was happy to get pale turquoise but now I want mossy green, too!

Oh, chicken addiction.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

One of her sisters lay brown eggs with spots on like that it's the same mix she is the only one that took after her dad with the green/blue egg gene. I don't know if I have any of her eggs she hasn't been laying they all haven't except those two because ey are so crowded in there house because of all the littler chicks that are still growing so I need to get the bigger house build soon.

 

[Greenthumb83]

Welcome! And I love the coloring on your EEs. I have 3 EEs also amongst a mixed flock of all sorts of breeds. My oldest EE, Rose, is my alpha at the moment. She is sweet, calm, friendly, but I think since she grew the fastest and became the largest, she just assumed top position in the pecking order. She actually is so friendly that my husband has claimed her as "His Chicken" and he'll take her out and sit with her in his lap in the evenings. I do have only 1 BR, who is also up there in the pecking order. She has quite the strong personality, as I have heard BRs do.

Thank you! It is nice to hear that your EE is at the top. I was sure Eleanor would be, when she was in the brooder. She was bigger than everyone else and stepped on them all. She also snagged any treats that I tried to give lol. Although my EEs are shy, they seem to be in the middle of the pecking order. I never see them getting picked on, just not getting as many treats and such. My 6 Australorps are 2 weeks younger than the rest of the girls, so they have always kinda stayed in the background with their heads down. All but one (Gerty)...she hangs with the big girls and made her place near the top. We have 17 pullets and 4 cockerels. We will be going down to 2 cockerels next month and then possibly to 1. We will have to see how they do. I am hoping we will have enough hens and space for 2.

I sure would love to see any of my EEs become as friendly as yours! I don't ever expect Osh-Kosh to be much of a people chicken. Holly probably won't be either, but I think fluffy faced Eleanor is getting closer to letting me hold her.

I just kinda let them all decide when they want to be held for the most part, even in the brooder. I never pushed handling much. It didn't matter. I have no shortage of chickens jumping in my lap lol.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have had CX and yes it was brutal. Right now, and the layers are cooped seperate from the meaties, I have medium growers and slow growers and then Barr Rocks, 2 EEs, a leghorn and a couple Buff Orpingtons and a duck. Everyone seems to get along, the head hen is a Barr Rock. The Easter Eggers play the lookout.
Yes I agree it is just best to not let my meaties mingle with my layers. If for no other reason then the meaties just do not live long enough to justify the time and work of getting everyone to get along. The meaties are happier seperate.
The two EEs do keep togeather, so there might be something to them doing best with a friend.

That's a good assortment you have. The duck isn't lonely not having a partner/friend? Interesting you noticed your EEs play lookout. I've always considered EEs or Ameraucanas as the sentinels/guards of the flock too because they are so cautious, watchful, and wary. They seem to be very alert inside the coop at night also. If I crack open the nestbox door or clean-out door the Ameraucana will instantly rise to her feet and murmur while the other breeds just keep on snoozing!

 

[Sylvester017]

I was worried about having my EE's in with my single combs (mostly the Production Reds as they are very ornery) but when they were very young the EE's were quick enough to get out of harms way fast and the Reds settled down after a few months. The EE's are still the bottom of the pecking order but they seem happy enough and are plucky enough to get in on the treats and feed. There are 2 of them so they are not lonely, and the original flock Buff Orps and Brahma (same age) tolerate them well so my mixed flock does just fine together but they have a lot of room and places to hang out that they can be semi alone.

We have 4 large doghouses around the yard and a couple of lean-to shelters and a popup canopy for our hens to snooze/hide from each other or from the hawks. It surprised us how much use the hens get out of the doghouses. We noticed our friends' EEs are bottom of the pecking order but learned how to dart in and out during feeding/treats time. They are such timid jittery birds that I have always thought having more than one EE in a flock was good for them to pal around away from the dominate breeds.

Some hiding/snoozing places for our hens.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

I have had CX and yes it was brutal. Right now, and the layers are cooped seperate from the meaties, I have medium growers and slow growers and then Barr Rocks, 2 EEs, a leghorn and a couple Buff Orpingtons and a duck. Everyone seems to get along, the head hen is a Barr Rock. The Easter Eggers play the lookout.

Yes I agree it is just best to not let my meaties mingle with my layers. If for no other reason then the meaties just do not live long enough to justify the time and work of getting everyone to get along. The meaties are happier seperate.

The two EEs do keep togeather, so there might be something to them doing best with a friend.

That's a good assortment you have.  The duck isn't lonely not having a partner/friend?  Interesting you noticed your EEs play lookout.  I've always considered EEs or Ameraucanas as the sentinels/guards of the flock too because they are so cautious, watchful, and wary.  They seem to be very alert inside the coop at night also.  If I crack open the nestbox door or clean-out door the Ameraucana will instantly rise to her feet and murmur while the other breeds just keep on snoozing!

I worry about her, the duck, but I think she thinks she is a chicken. We started with two but one was attacked and lost. They were brooded with the chickens and imprinted on them, so everyone just happily flocks together. I am thinking I may try to get more ducklings next year, see what happens.
Yes I am happy with my mixed flock, I started with just the BRs had a dog attack and the owner kindly gave me two EE in return for the lost birds. Then I added the others. I enjoy the BR personality, they make great foragers. The large assortment of meat birds are a new experiment. Before I just had a few CX.
And yes I think the EE make great watch birds, they are as good as the Rooster was.