Easter Egger Personalities

[Acre4Me]

We have 2 EE that will turn 1 year old tomorrow. They are friendly. Like most chickens, they were a bit skittish until they got closer to point of lay. Once they began laying eggs, they were friendlier. We like them a lot and just picked up 4 more from the same hatchery.

 

[sean_wonder]

Mine are very nice. One of them loves to hop on my lap every time I sit down. I have one that is flighty only when I try to catch her. Otherwise she is a sweetheart.
I have 4.

That is so cute! Kind of reminds me of the horse I used to have... her name was Rumor. Total sweetheart, loved cuddles and scratches of all kind, would follow you around if you called her name... but if you came at her with any sort of contraption that came over her head or neck? Game over. That horse was gone with a capital G. Of course once caught she’d calm right back down to her lovely self... but she was definitely a character.

 

[sean_wonder]

My EEs are always the first to sound the alarm. They are extremely alert compared to the others.

Ooh, that’s perfect! I’ve been worried about getting too docile of a breed, since I’m trying not to get saddled with a rooster and the rooster is normally the flock protector. If I do end up with an EE roo well... triple the protection?

 

[fldiver97]

I have two EEs, Shirley is a little bigger and not flighty, will eat out of my hand and hang out with me. Chicken Nugget is s but smaller, actually the smallest in the flock and less outgoing. She will come for treats, will let me pick her up when she’s scared. She’s lowest in the pecking order but can hold her own.

 

[MissLavender]

I have three 5 month old easter Eggers and a 2 year old olive egger. The three young girls are skittish but very, very sweet. Olive the Olive Egger is a spaz...lol. Dashes around the yard like a maniac with her wings spread out. But she is very docile and doesn't mind being picked up once in awhile...especially if she knows you have treats!

 

[fldiver97]

@sean_wonder
First picture has eggs from both EEs, all the eggs look a bit pale in my pictures
Second picture is Nugget
Third picture includes 2 EE eggs, one is one of the two EE fairy eggs I’ve had in the last 5 or 6 years

 

[BrandonVercnocke]

Sooo cute. Would love to see the egg if you get a chance!

These are them

 

[wleigh1021]

I've had 3 EE hens and 1 roo. The roo was fine until he was about 8-10 months old. He started attacking me all the time, any time I was around him and he could get to me. It's such a shame because he was so pretty. All the hens I had were pretty flighty. None wanted to be caught but would allow you to hold them and all would eat treats out of my hand but none that i would call "pets". One was an escape artist. One time she got out and I was trying to chase her back into the coop and instead she flew up on top of it. Every time she was free ranging in the yard she would find some way to escape the fence so that she could go back to the coop to lay her egg. She eventually understood that I was opening the door to the coop for her and wouldn't run away when I went out to "save" her. If you are really worried about it I would try to find a bantam version as bantams tend to be friendlier. I know MPC started selling silkie EE which is a cross but they tend to be pretty expensive, at least in my opinion.

 

[sean_wonder]

These are them

wow! so pretty! @fldiver97 your eggs are also gorgeous!

i’ve heard of EE bantams but i’m afraid of my dog accidentally hurting them if they’re small... a full sized chicken could reach him a lesson if need be but i’m not so sure about a bantam.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't think EEs are necessarily any more friendly or skittish than other breeds. I currently have 2 EE pullets and had another EE hen previously (in avatar, foreground). They're also not supposed to be great layers but mine lay/laid well (well, the ones that started laying at least...)

The hen I used to have was a bit skittish but we got her as a started pullet so she hadn't been handled much. Of my current pullets, one is... neither skittish nor friendly, she's very neutral. The other one looks like this (forgive her ugliness, teenage chickens are never pretty):


Aptly her name is Cuddlebug (hubby insisted on naming her). Her nickname is "One Hander" because she'll let you scoop her up with one hand and just sit there with her legs dangling. She's a pretty big handful for me now but even though she doesn't quite fit she'll still just sit there like that.