Easter Egger Extravaganza!

[gordonburrito]

Well I wanted ONE more chicken to round out our flock and well.... my wife informed me that she needs "muffs". It is her birthday soon and a girl needs her muffs doesnt' she? Yesterday she researched and drove around and found that Easter Eggers are not as easy to get your hands on as you'd think. Lots of Barred rocks and Buff orpingtons and such but not EEs. Anyhow we found a place in Lebanon Missouri (Cackle Hatcheries) that had a ton of selection and was within driving distance. We drove down but they had a 5 chick limit on purchases so we ended up getting FIVE

Other than that it was a very good experience. The chicks they sold looked so nice and healthy and they had a very nice set up for their chicks. I only wished we had visited them instead of going to the local tractor stores earlier

. Here's the website if you're in the area.

http://www.cacklehatchery.com/


So now we have 3 to 4 more chicks than I wanted but they are sooo cute

and friendly and well..... calm. We have them separated from the flock because our Black Sex Links are a bit more on the Rhode Island Red side in terms of personality and they were pecking at the babies who are 1/3rd their size. There is a good chance we will be giving away 3-4 chicks (probably 3 of them EEs and MAYBE one other). I like our current chicks a lot and they're all high egg producing breeds. But, as you all may know from reading this forums things do happen (dogs, hawks, disease, freakish accidents). I do anticipate giving a few away though and if anybody can give a good home to a couple of Easter Eggers and lives within striking distance of my house we could do a day trip with a pullet drop off to a location of your choosing. Our chicks are being raised as pets so they'll all be well petted and cared for. In the mean time here are some pictures....

 

[Red&Yellow]

Ohhh those EEs are going to be soo PRETTY!

 

[lotzahenz]

I LOVE chickens with the muffs, so cute. EE's usually have great personalities, that cute dark brown one will be rather plain as an adult though, in my experience. The lighter ones may develope more color and be prettier than you think. I'd love to visit a hatchery some day. Lucky you. HenZ

 

[DarkWingDuck]

Gotta love those big, puffy cheeks of theirs. I once had an Easter egger roo named Mafia. His cheeks made his face look fat, so I imagined him as being an old mob boss. People thought I was crazy when I held grasshoppers to him and said "here's an offer you can't refuse."

 

[M To The Maxx]

 

[pretty_chicken]

I got my EEs from Cackle Hatchery as well, and I have been pleased with them from day 1. Totally healthy and beautiful chicks. Of course, they've grown a bit since then. Seems like each day they have a different color of feathers on them!

 

[outlawfarmer]

3 days old

12 weeks old

 

[HappyTalons]

I'm the one that just *had* to have muffs.

But we just had an interesting experience with our new chicks. We've been using an extra small sized metal horse trough to keep them in. We kept hearing loud peeps and I would walk downstairs and one of the chicks seemed to be trying to get out. I picked her up and she seemed okay. Waited a few minutes and the same thing happened. I watched her more closely this time and realized she could see her reflection in the metal sides of the cage. She was reacting to and attacking her reflection!

I thought this was really weird since we've had at least 9 chickens in the pen before plus the other four new chicks which didn't react at all.

I finally put some white sheets of paper on the sides to stop her from attacking her reflection.

So either we have a really smart/observant chick or . . .a really dumb one.

 

[pkw]

Your chicks are so cute. I have some little brown striped easter eggers like yours and I tell them everyday they look like chipmunks but they are really calm little chicks.

 

[gordonburrito]

Well I came down to check on them this morning and the golden one with the huge muffs (now named Goldielocks) looked at me with one eye looking all cute and stuff. I told her to stop being so cute but it didn't help. Actually my wife has named them all (Goldielocks, Ariel, Princess Jasmine, Belle, and Snowwhite). Snowwhite seems to be the most aggressive of them so far....we're hoping she'll grow up and kick Foxy's little BSL butt. Right now though I wouldn't trust our bigger chickens for 1 minute with them alone with the exception of our Australorp who has already basically become the surrogate mother to the other part of our flock. I can also see myself getting pretty attached to them and upgrading the coop somehow..... 9 chickens though.....