Easter Egger club!

[RoosterLew]

But EE's are mixes of a Ameraucana and some other breed. So it is possible for them to have single combs. Correct? I asked what breed/breeds the chicks were and people said that both were EE's. She has a small beard.

NO...
Easter Eggers are ...well...they are really whatever you want them to be. There is no standard to them, there is no definition...
Traditionally, they are anything that lays a colored egg...which USUALLY means some form of blue egg, be it blue or a shade of green.
Usually that comes with a pea comb.

 

[estamets]

NO...
Easter Eggers are ...well...they are really whatever you want them to be. There is no standard to them, there is no definition...
Traditionally, they are anything that lays a colored egg...which USUALLY means some form of blue egg, be it blue or a shade of green.
Usually that comes with a pea comb.

I thought they could even be any bird that had Ameracauna or Araucana parentage...

 

[QueenBubbles]

Here is my Penny:

She is filling out @ 13 weeks. I've heard this EE coloration is blue-red. She turns into a little sparrow hawk when she is asserting her absolute dominance.
Does anyone know when EEs go thru the juvenile molt?

 

[WendyF]

Here's an update on my EEs! Not so little anymore, they are starting to show signs of getting ready to lay! Reese Fearless Dusty Comet Pepper Little Bit

they are all so gorgeous! What are you feeding them? Gosh, seeing pics like this REALLY makes me hope that all 4 of my EE eggs hatch...

 

[QueenBubbles]

Comet is gorgeous!

 

[WendyF]

OK. I'm pretty sure Ana (the striped chick) is a roo, but what about Elsa? Here's Ana! PLEASE! PLEASE! Tell me I got at least one pullet! BTW Elsa's comb hasn't grown at all since I got her at less then a day old. They also have a very bad habit of jumping out of their brooder lately! ~~

lol i just love ana's mohawk! I' d love to see more pics as they grow.

 

[RoosterLew]

But EE's are mixes of a Ameraucana and some other breed. So it is possible for them to have single combs. Correct? I asked what breed/breeds the chicks were and people said that both were EE's. She has a small beard.

I thought they could even be any bird that had Ameracauna or Araucana parentage...

OK...I'll do my best here...LOL
1st a disclaimer - I speak and type in laymens terms, which to some may seem incorrect. I do this in an attempt to make sense more than be technically correct.

What is an Easter Egger?

Short answer: "Easter Egger" is a Term used to categorize chickens that carry the blue egg gene which do not belong to a breed.

Some explanations :
A "Breed" is not defined by the APA, or any other organization. A "Breed Standard" can be defined, but a "breed" is defined by science.
A breed put basically is a like group that when mated produce like off spring. This is why EE's are not a breed!! Not because they have not been recognized by some organizaion, but because they do not reproduce young which look like themselves, as a group.

The Breed Organizations like the APA define breed "standards" as to what the perfect example of certain breeds should look like.

Actually....and the Ameraucana & Araucana crowd can feel free to slay me on this....Those two breeds are EE's. They were developed from EE's, the term "Easter Egger" has been around and used to describe chickens that layed Blue or green eggs for decades before either of those two breeds existed!!

SO now that I have said that...what makes Ameraucana's and Araucanas "breeds" of EE's?
Basically, a very dedicated and hard working group of poultry men and women decided to develope a breed of chcikens from these blue egg laying chickens from some where in South America - there is controversy over when and where and who, and the "evidence" available contradicts itself so badly that I don't believe we will ever have a good answer! Many great folks went to alot of effort and managed to not only develope 1, but 2 breeds of chickens in the USA that lay Blue eggs. Many still today are still working hard on those breeds.
Personally I thank and applaud these great pioneers!!
There are more breeds in the works now that lay blue eggs as well! Those folks have my respect as well!

So some say that An Ameraucana that is not up to APA standrds, doesn't fit a color Variety, etc is an EE...I would disagree...if it comes from full Ameraucana lineage, its an Ameraucana. Just because its not up to standard doesn't make it an EE, its simply a non-standard Ameraucana! .

I have a friend who is a Black Foot Native American. He learned english from an "English" (Or British? I dunno?)school Marm, and he is a US Marine. So he speaks with a heavy British accent, and has short hair...Not your "Standard" Black Foot...but he is still a Black Foot!

SO if you cross any Breed of Chicken which carries the blue egg gene, then YES you have made an EE.

Some say EE's can lay any color of egg....again I'd disagree, kinda....!
I defer to the "old timers" here....Again: "Back in the day" the term Easter Egger refered to chickens which carried the blue egg gene. And just how can you tell if they carry this gene? THEY LAY BLUE OR GREEN EGGS!

The blue egg gene is "Dominate", which means that the bird only needs to carry a single copy of the gene to show the trait.
If they have a blue egg gene, and do not have a brown egg gene - they will lay blue eggs!
If they have both blue and brown egg genes, they will lay green eggs.

Now with that said....it is possible for them to lay a brown"ish" egg and still carry the blue egg gene! which means they are EE's and dont lay "blue or green" eggs. SO I'm contradicting myself right? Not really....lol

Blue & brown eggs vary greatly in "shade"...I have an SQ Ameraucana hen that lays a blue egg so light it looks almost white, until you put it next to a white egg.

Blue is actually an egg shell color, meaning the color goes alllll the way through the shell. Blue on the outside and the inside.
Brown is a coating on the outside of the egg. The actual shell is white. When the brown is laid on a blue egg, it looks green. The egg isn't really green...you can actually separate the brown coating and it looks brown and the egg shell itself is blue!

Now I mentioned the "brown egg genes" - unlike the blue egg gene, there has been no single gene found to cause brown egg coating by itself. It is believed to be many genes. Which is why it is so hard to get rid of once you have it! That is also why the brown shades vary from barely tinted to chocolate like a Marans egg.

So if you have a chicken laying a very light shade of blue egg, with a medium to heavy brown, you may not see the blue through the coating. BUt it is still there. SO now you do have an EE that lays a brown looking egg.....but its really a brownish green..lol

So is any Ameraucana or Arauccana cross an EE? Welllll they should be, as Ameraucanas and Araucanas should have 2 copies of the blue egg gene. However, neither of those breed are really old enough to rule out having birds missing one gene....I don't know that you could say for certain that they ever will? Whose to say that some of those birds that lay a darker "blue" egg aren't really laying a lighter blue with a very thin brown coating? .

As for comb types, the blue egg gene USUALLY passes with the pea comb gene. With the pea comb gene present, you will not get a single combed bird....usually. But there are alot of blue/green egg laying , single combed chickens out there. The minute you say it can't happen....someone will prove you wrong!! The only "Never" in genetics is genetics are "never always"!!

SO ...now if you breed some EE's, and cull and breed more and cull more and eventually you get a group of birds that consistently make babies that look like momma and daddy bird you'll tell me I'm wrong, because you have EE's that produce like offspring. Congrats...you just created a breed, just like the Ameraucanas, just like the Araucanas, you created your own breed from EE's!

So what about those E's that Daddy was a Black Copper Marans and Momma was a Buff Orp? Well, thats not an EE...thats an BCM/BO cross...I bet she is pretty though ;, but a BCM/RIR is prettier, in my barn at least!

 

[RoosterLew]

OK, so now who wants to join me in organizing a real Easter Egger Club?

lol

 

[Tappy4me]

they are all so gorgeous! What are you feeding them? Gosh, seeing pics like this REALLY makes me hope that all 4 of my EE eggs hatch...

Thanks, both of you!
Just standard feed lol. Just switched them to layer. They free range all day

Comet is gorgeous!

 

[Nippers]

I have an EE named nippers and she so sweet! Sorry I don't have a pic yet.