Easter Egger club!

[junebuggena]

Question; is it at all possible to tell, or at least give an educated guess, of what the parentage of an Easter Egger may have been from it's feathering / comb / other physical characteristics?

Most hatchery sourced Easter Eggers are not mixed breeds, at least not any more than the other breeds they carry. They just haven't been bred for any specific physical traits. Most hatcheries are breeding from stock that was established in the early 1900s. They are basically breeding the same type of birds that both the recognized Araucana and Ameraucana breeds were derived from. You have to remember that prior to the late 1970s, there were no Araucana/Ameraucana/Easter Egger distinctions made. They were ALL called Araucana, but they would have all been categorized as Easter Eggers, by current definitions.

 

[Chicken5555]

Question; is it at all possible to tell, or at least give an educated guess, of what the parentage of an Easter Egger may have been from it's feathering / comb / other physical characteristics?

Sometimes, yes. Technically speaking, any chicken that carries one or two copies of the blue gene and is not an Ameraucana, Araucana or Cream legbar is an Easter egger or olive egger. Current hatchery easter eggers are sort of like the left over pre-breed who's great-great-great grandparents became Araucanas and then Ameraucanas.

Here are a few examples of some backyard bred easter eggers that look like a parent breed:
- I have an olive egger that looks JUST LIKE a little version of a French Splash Marans, except for her pea comb. Her dad is a splash Ameraucana and her mom is the splash marans.
- a polish crested easter egger cross will have a small top hat
- I've seen cornish cross easter eggers that have the telltale laced chest markings and general shape of a cornish cross.
- solid black or blue chickens that lay light blue eggs and have black faces have parentage from black (or blue) white egg layer, and other features can tell you which breed.
- If your easter egger has barring and lays olive green eggs (as apposed to regular green) there could likely be cuckoo marans in that bird
- A chicken that is mostly white and lays light blue eggs could have a parent that is a white leghorn.

 

[Chicken5555]

I just got my two girls! America and Liberty! I have a question, do true EE lay blue eggs?

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How pretty. I like the lighter one, but they are both pretty.
- If both parents each have one copy of the blue egg gene and one copy of the brown egg gene, statistically speaking 25% of the offspring will lay blue/teal eggs, 25% of the offspring will brown eggs and 50% of the offspring lay green eggs.

- If one parent has one blue and one brown gene while the other parent has one blue gene and one white gene, then the offspring will 25% of each of these colors; pink, green, blue and blue tinted.

- if both parents each have one blue egg gene and one white egg gene, 25% of the offspring will lay white, 25% of the offspring will lay blue and half of the offspring will lay blue-tinted eggs.

- if one parent has 2 copies of the blue gene and the other parent has one each of blue and brown, then half the offspring will lay blue and half will lay green.

I could go on, but I won't. Sorry if I went overboard... I love Mendelian Genetics.

 

[cmccullough1390]

We lost Calsifer and we took Chewie to his new home but got three new 5 week bantam mix I think one is mixed with auracona sp? And we added 2 road island reds
5 week mixed are named Sherlock Watson and Cersei and the RIRs are Spock and Kirk

Also now fighting lice and coccidiosis so it's been a long day we just got a new brooder
Will have pics soon I just wanna let them rest after dust bath and cleaning

 

[cmccullough1390]

The new brooder all 24 chicks are very happy

 

[FlyWheel]

Sometimes, yes. Technically speaking, any chicken that carries one or two copies of the blue gene and is not an Ameraucana, Araucana or Cream legbar is an Easter egger or olive egger. Current hatchery easter eggers are sort of like the left over pre-breed who's great-great-great grandparents became Araucanas and then Ameraucanas.

Here are a few examples of some backyard bred easter eggers that look like a parent breed:
- I have an olive egger that looks JUST LIKE a little version of a French Splash Marans, except for her pea comb. Her dad is a splash Ameraucana and her mom is the splash marans.
- a polish crested easter egger cross will have a small top hat
- I've seen cornish cross easter eggers that have the telltale laced chest markings and general shape of a cornish cross.
- solid black or blue chickens that lay light blue eggs and have black faces have parentage from black (or blue) white egg layer, and other features can tell you which breed.
- If your easter egger has barring and lays olive green eggs (as apposed to regular green) there could likely be cuckoo marans in that bird
- A chicken that is mostly white and lays light blue eggs could have a parent that is a white leghorn.

AHA, right. So basically you're saying that EEs, at least from a hatchery, were likely themselves bred from other EEs which themselves were and so on. So unless the bird is first or maybe second generation it's pretty much a mish-mashed-crap-shoot of anything?

 

[junebuggena]

AHA, right. So basically you're saying that EEs, at least from a hatchery, were likely themselves bred from other EEs which themselves were and so on. So unless the bird is first or maybe second generation it's pretty much a mish-mashed-crap-shoot of anything?

Correct. And you have to remember that both the Araucana and Ameraucana are 'new' breeds. Prior to the 1970s, there were no common breeding goals or standards. And there were no Araucana/Ameraucana/Easter Egger distinctions made. They were all called Araucana, no matter what the bird look liked. And they were all what would be considered Easter Eggers today.
It's those Easter Egger type birds that the Araucana and Ameraucana breeds were created from. And it's those birds that the hatcheries' stock originated from. While some breeders bred their birds towards what would become the Araucana breed and others towards what would become the Ameraucana breed, hatcheries have not selected for any specific set standard. This is why Easter Eggers have the kind of diversity that they do. It's not because they are crossbred mongrels.

 

[Chicken5555]

AHA, right. So basically you're saying that EEs, at least from a hatchery, were likely themselves bred from other EEs which themselves were and so on. So unless the bird is first or maybe second generation it's pretty much a mish-mashed-crap-shoot of anything?

Yes, that is a much more straight to the point way of saying. lol

 

[CluckTwice4Yes]

8-week old EE pullets, no names yet. Very excited to have them! They're still feathering out. About how long does that take the average EE?

 

[pamperedamber]

Here are my little mixed flock they are 8 months. My Easter Egger is Buttercup she lays the prettiest mint green eggs. Can't wait to get more like her.