Easter Egger club!

[goldie1234]

I got three EEs in May. One has been laying a brown egg since October. I wasn't sure about the others, but on Christmas morning we had two bluish green eggs!!!

 

[newmarch2014]

I got three EEs in May. One has been laying a brown egg since October. I wasn't sure about the others, but on Christmas morning we had two bluish green eggs!!!

Yay! I love my blue and green eggs in the egg basket.

To the other conversation....So far this first winter my 2 EE's have laid like troopers so I am happy enough with them. They are quick so were great at keeping down the grasshoppers in my garden this last summer. I don't think I will ever keep more than 3 or 4 of them in my flock since they are a bit flighty but it is fun to have something besides brown eggs in the basket and I have to say they lay really great eggs, not very big but the yolk takes up almost the entire egg, the shells are really hard and the yolks sit right in the middle so great for deviled eggs. My older Buffs and Reds make terrible deviled eggs as the yolks are always right at the edge so I only get one side per egg.

 

[junebuggena]

My black sexlink Easter Eggers, 18 weeks. Penny is always willing to come up and check things out. Junior keeps a respectful distance. Margaret is very timid. Penny is starting to get really red in the comb. I can't to see what color she lays.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have a one year old that laid 5 days a week and then just stopped in February. She is a free loader now. No eggs in 10 months. My neighbor wants to make some kind of dish with her in his smoker. I haven't had the heart to let her go yet, but the time may be coming.

This is why I have to have a mixed flock. I have decided I am ok with a retirement home for chickens (since I am a soft hearted sucker) so I stagger the chicks in small batches each year and have 4 different breeds (so far) so that I still get the few eggs we need for the house but the ones that are not great layers keep the others warm on cold winters nights, eat lots of bugs, make manure for my garden. I should be a little tougher but I just can't.

I'm with you eggs are a plus but if I don't get eggs but they still eat bugs I'm happy becouse that is the main reason we got them is too eat the ticks around hear witch they have done a great job doing so far

Yep, I'm a sucker too for the sweet hens. I had no trouble promptly re-homing terrific egg-layers that were mean bullies. But our sweet Ameraucana is still around. I know she is too timid to re-home in a friend's mixed rescue flock so here we are holding on to our deadbeat sweetie. My Silkies are old but they out-produced my young Ameraucana. If I had known what terrific egg-layers Silkies were (in spite of being a broody breed) I might never have bothered getting other breeds. Although I have been pleasantly impressed with our newest 4-lb Blue Breda - curious, outgoing, alert, sociable, yet respectful toward flockmates and she lays a nice 1.75-oz white egg. She has the cutest flipper-feathered feet and since we have Silkies, maintenance on feathered feet is routine for us.

How have the Breda been concealed for so long? This is an amazingly sweet bird and a very good layer. Very impressed with this outgoing curious and gentle breed!


I'm kinda glad our new Blue Ameraucana died since they are iffy layers and that we had this Blue Breda to replace her. No kooky spooky antics from the Breda the way Ameraucanas and EEs spook at every little thing!



The Breda is not afraid of the camera lens either. She comes right up for her close-ups!


Our 4-yr-old Silkie


Our 5-yr-old Silkie


Our frumpy Blue Wheaten Ameraucana that would rather stay away from all the other flockmates even though they are not aggressive birds.



We're only zoned for 5 hens so having just one deadbeat layer cuts into the feed bill.

 

[FridayYet]

Funny you've had such a bad experience with EEs, mine are wonderful! They each lay 3-4 extra large green eggs a week and only take a few weeks off during the winter. They are not super friendly, but not flighty either. Mine are 1/2 Ameraucana and 1/2 Cuckoo Marans. Big, calm birds. Never been sick. Would love to get more just like them if I could.

Since you can only have 5 hens, why don't you just cull your BW Ameraucana? Someone might want her as a pet.

 

[Sylvester017]

Funny you've had such a bad experience with EEs, mine are wonderful! They each lay 3-4 extra large green eggs a week and only take a few weeks off during the winter. They are not super friendly, but not flighty either. Mine are 1/2 Ameraucana and 1/2 Cuckoo Marans. Big, calm birds. Never been sick. Would love to get more just like them if I could.

Since you can only have 5 hens, why don't you just cull your BW Ameraucana? Someone might want her as a pet.

I have a home for her but just don't think she would do well on a rescue ranch with battery hens and unwanted roos. Our rescue friends would give her a nice home but I don't think she'll blend anywhere that isn't a total Ameraucana or EE flock. As it is she hides most of the day from the other 3 hens and only comes out early a.m. for breakfast and late afternoon to fill her crop before roosting. No one is mistreating her but she is just a strict loner -- kooky, spooky, jittery, jumpy, alert, wary, and everything seems to frighten her - flocks of crows, helicopters, floating balloons, plastic bags, rolling dry leaves, you get the idea! My only option is the rescue ranch but I just can't do it to her and nobody wants a pet chicken that doesn't lay eggs. Who knows? Maybe she'll lay 3 eggs again for us next year?

 

[cupofJoelene]

Does ANYONE near the Ft Smith, AR area (reasonable driving distance) have EE or OE hatching eggs?! I'm getting desperate!

 

[cgmaster]

I have a home for her but just don't think she would do well on a rescue ranch with battery hens and unwanted roos.  Our rescue friends would give her a nice home but I don't think she'll blend anywhere that isn't a total Ameraucana or EE flock.  As it is she hides most of the day from the other 3 hens and only comes out early a.m. for breakfast and late afternoon to fill her crop before roosting.  No one is mistreating her but she is just a strict loner -- kooky, spooky, jittery, jumpy, alert, wary, and everything seems to frighten her - flocks of crows, helicopters, floating balloons, plastic bags, rolling dry leaves, you get the idea!  My only option is the rescue ranch but I just can't do it to her and nobody wants a pet chicken that doesn't lay eggs.  Who knows?  Maybe she'll lay 3 eggs again for us next year?

It's funny that you have such a jittery am my flock consists of 7 pens one has a trio of young black ameraucanas (a little jittery), the next has a pair of wheatens and a silkie ( the hen is pretty new to the flock so she's kinda nuts), the next pen has a trio of silkies, frizzle and a silkie mix (3/4 silkie 1/4 EE), the next pen has an EE cockerel and a silkie mix cockerel both are very confident, then a trio of silkies, then a wheaten am roo (very confident), a hatchery Cornish hen, an old silkie/EE hen (at least four years old) laid more than four eggs last year, and a wheaten am/ buff laced white Cornish EE pullet (a little too confident) and lastly is my trio of silver penciled rocks

she tried to peck my eye after I took that picture...

 

[Amelia Egghart]

Grumpy Gilligan likes to be close but not touched! I wouldn't call her flighty, but she is a good flier (flyer?).

 

[Shawneegyrl]

New EE babies today!!