Easter Egger club!

[mymilliefleur]

Here are my up and coming Easter Eggers:


Yes they all have Naked Necks. I took my Easter Egger hens and bred them to a Naked Neck roosters. From the offspring, two of the 7 I kept laid green eggs. I hatched out some babies from these two hens bred to a Naked Neck rooster. I'm waiting until they ( the pullets) start laying to see if the blue egg gene passed to these.

You can read about them in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/939680/green-egger-naked-neck-thread/180#post_15940084.

ENJOY!

Thanks for the link, I've decided to breed some of my EE's to my Naked Neck rooster next spring. Glad to hear some of them inherited the green egg gene.

 

[draye]

Be sure to post them on the link. I'd like to see the progress of others birds also.

 

[AJ83]

My Easter Eggers at 12 weeks, now 15 weeks.




Is there a way to tell what breeds they are? The one on the right almost has the coloring of a welsummer.

 

[junebuggena]

My Easter Eggers at 12 weeks, now 15 weeks.




Is there a way to tell what breeds they are? The one on the right almost has the coloring of a welsummer.

If they are hatchery sourced, there may have been several breeds that were bred into the lines over many generations. There is no way to know what went into the mix of each bird.

 

[ochochicas]

My Easter Eggers at 12 weeks, now 15 weeks.




Is there a way to tell what breeds they are? The one on the right almost has the coloring of a welsummer.

Those are the cutest stinkin' pullets! If I had to guess I'd say they are Ameraucana (possibly wheaten) crossed with an Amber white or other breed that is heterozygous for dominant white.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

My EE, Cappuccino, is missing the bottom of her beard. She looks quite funny.

 

[Sylvester017]

Mine are lazy. Only got 5 eggs out of three of them this season. Poor producers. My Red Stars lay every day.

My Ameraucana and my friend's EE both stopped laying their 2nd year. My friend got zero eggs and I got only 3 eggs and no more. My older 5-yr-old Silkie at least still lays a couple dozen eggs every Spring before stopping!

What's up with Ameraucanas and EEs being such lousy layers after their 2nd year? Seems like these girls are always in a perpetual or sporadic molt. Our other breeds are laying like champs through this heatwave!

I won't bother with blue eggers again - even blue egg Cream Legbars are not giving me good feedback reviews and some can still lay just white eggs - not worth getting only a year's worth of eggs and then have to continue feeding them while they give nothing in return. I mean, they are sweet non-combative flock birds but since I am zoned for only 5 hens I need ALL my girls to lay SOMETHING! If Ameraucanas/EEs were not alert predator-savvy guardians/sentinels in the flock my girl would be re-homed or in someone's freezer now.

 

[Sylvester017]

Here are my up and coming Easter Eggers:


Yes they all have Naked Necks. I took my Easter Egger hens and bred them to a Naked Neck roosters. From the offspring, two of the 7 I kept laid green eggs. I hatched out some babies from these two hens bred to a Naked Neck rooster. I'm waiting until they ( the pullets) start laying to see if the blue egg gene passed to these.

You can read about them in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/939680/green-egger-naked-neck-thread/180#post_15940084.

ENJOY!

Quote:

My and my friend's experience with pure Ameraucanas and a few EEs have been disappointing with their egg production after their 2nd year. Maybe your Turkens will infuse a better laying longevity since the blue egg gene doesn't seem to produce very prolific breeds after age two. Even the blue-egg Cream Legbar owners complain of inconsistent production after the pullets mature.

 

[mymilliefleur]

My and my friend's experience with pure Ameraucanas and a few EEs have been disappointing with their egg production after their 2nd year. Maybe your Turkens will infuse a better laying longevity since the blue egg gene doesn't seem to produce very prolific breeds after age two. Even the blue-egg Cream Legbar owners complain of inconsistent production after the pullets mature.

My, EE's seem to lay just fine, I've really only been into these birds for the past 2-3 years, so we'll see how my EE"s do as they get older. Maybe they just don't do well in your climate? Did you and your friend both get your birds from the same source? crossing them with another breed that does well in your area, might be a good idea.

 

[Sylvester017]

My, EE's seem to lay just fine, I've really only been into these birds for the past 2-3 years, so we'll see how my EE"s do as they get older. Maybe they just don't do well in your climate? Did you and your friend both get your birds from the same source? crossing them with another breed that does well in your area, might be a good idea.

I thought my friend's EEs would be better layers than my Blue Wheaten Ameraucana. I got my Amer from an East Coast breeder and my friend got her birds locally in SoCal. She has one Ameraucana that lays poorly but better than my Amer but she has an EE that completely stopped laying her 2nd year. Seems healthy and fine another year later, just no eggs. I don't like the odds of taking a chance on any more Amer or EEs when the percentage of being poor layers is too high a risk for me. I have enough trouble getting eggs from broody Silkies and yet the little buggers have out-performed my Ameraucana!

Blue-egg Cream Legbars are a risk too - some are good layers and some not, with one owner recently reporting they got white instead of blue eggs from one of their pure CL's. I'll wait a few years to see if any of the blue-egg breeds improve genetics for laying consistently past their first laying cycle.

Other Amer owners have said it's weird the way Amer's start molting, stop for a while, then start molting again. That kind of inconsistent molting has got to be a contributor toward poor egg production. If all my chickens stopped laying I'd assume it was something I was doing wrong, but the other breeds lay fine. I'm not so sure I can blame climate for my Amer's poor production since my walnut-comb fluffy Silkies and no-comb feather-footed Breda are laying way better in this heat. It's just my prima dona Ameraucana that pants in the heat, lies around too lazy to forage with the others, and only layed 3 eggs this year - yet one day of clouds or sprinkly rain and she's busy as a bee in the yard! Sweet bird but I can't use a non-productive layer when I'm allowed only 5 hens in my zone. I thought we hit the jackpot with our gentle non-combative Amer and she is a love but less than a year of eggs doesn't cut it with us - she layed about 4 months as a pullet, stopped laying in winter, began molting December through January, layed 3 eggs in June and then stopped the rest of the year! Can't use a free-loader!