Yep. That's the fun of EEs. They can come in any color or pattern
In looking through pics on here I'm wondering if the chicks I thought were ee's even are? 3 of the 5 are like this one in the pic with stripes and 2 are brown with very pretty patterns on the wings. Do they vary this much in color?
I got mine from Orshens, loads of personality, a little bossy. A couple of girls know their names. They lay nice mint green to blue eggs. My roo Moa
love that color pattern. I've seen it a few times on roos. always very striking. Good thing they have different beards so we can tell them apart has he molted yet? Nero's tail changed how much was blue and how much was white with his molt, and his beard changed from gray to nearly white. So cool.
I have to disagree. I have 22 breeds and varieties, from tiny bantams to a very large Marans cockerel, and they all eat the same thing.You would think so! But then -- no one's met MY hens yet! I give them their variety so they don't eat just pebbles/gravel to fill their crop. Honestly, the more breeds one has in the flock, the more variations in diet occurs. Ours are more pets than utility and after 6 yrs a bit old to change their (or our) ways - teehee!
Hi Junebuggena,
) or else it has to be linked to the blue egg gene.
No references, just personal experience. When I say Easter Egger, I specifically mean the hatchery sourced type. I breed Easter Eggers, my foundation lines are from Ideal Poultry. All of my birds get a 20% grower feed for their entire life. I've never had a pullet start laying any later than 24 weeks. Several people who have purchased pullets from me have complained that their birds too a really long time to start laying. In one case, it took about 40 weeks. The difference was entirely feed related. The slow to mature birds were fed 16% protein layer feed starting at 18 to 20 weeks. Others have said their birds were inconsistent layers. Again, it was most feed related. My lines lay 5 to 7 eggs a week, even in the second and third year of laying. Switching to a higher protein feed has consistently resolved the issues.Hi Junebuggena,
Not to disagree, but do you have any references for this? I know different breeds vary, a perfect example is the Leghorn eats less and lays more. But I've never read that blue eggers need higher protein intake than other chickens. Again, its a reasonable statement, but is it based on your experience, or do you have literature as well? It would seem that the claim about "Easter Eggers" is a bit broad for it to be true, since it could include Legbars (or my Silkaucanas
I have found that my Ameraucanas & Araucanas and Easter Eggers that are a mix of the two, lay year round in hotter climates; in the hottest part of the summer, when others stop, I still have blue & green eggs. This hot weather tolerance must be linked to the Araucana blood and its native South America, but its only my observation -- even though it makes sense to me, its possible that its a coincidence.
