Easter Eggers - Tell me the good, the bad, and the eggly :)

[TheFugitivePen]

I like them for several reasons.

- They sometimes have adorable little muffs!
- They come in all kinds of colors and patterns.
- They lay pretty eggs!

My former girls, Nala and Trinity.
View attachment 3312839

They're beautiful!
Yes, the first time I saw an Easter Egger, all I could think was, "I MUST HAVE A CHICKEN WITH A WIZARD BEARD!" I know they don't all have them, but, golly, it's so cute! They just have the sweetest faces!

 

[artbykarenehaley]

It's good to hear that they can go from skittish to friendly

We had at least one Australorp that did that (working on a second). As a chick, she was one of our most skittish--terrified of human contact. Now she's our top hen and is the first to greet me when I come to the run. Asking for pets or snuggles? No, but she's not screaming and running at the sight of us.

I'm very new to chicken-keeping--what's the difference between hatchery chickens and SOP show chickens?

We ordered our Australorp chicks from Mt Healthy Hatchery, and, while they aren't snuggly, they've been good girls so far. My husband wants to order from them again if/when we get more chicks. They have "Americanas" but also note in the description that they are "Easter Eggers" not true Ameracaunas.

Oh, s o p stands for Standard of Perfection. It's the list of features a particular breed needs to display in order to be an excellent example of the breed. If I were looking to take chickens to a show, my birds from Privett would probably not meet the standards the judges are looking for. They are still beautiful in my eyes and very healthy. Just not show chickens.

I'm glad to see Mt. Healthy is up front about the chickens they are selling not being true Ameracaunas. Some places don't do that.

 

[BurbCoop]

We recently got a Prairie Bluebell (which is a certain recipe of EE) and a Cinnamon Queen. Hands down the most flighty and neurotic birds we’ve had so far. Hoping we get lucky with these two and they calm down a bit once they start laying.

Sven doesn’t care for them either

EEs also do well with the crazy weather swings here in Colorado. We’ve never had frost bite with the pea combs and they handle the warm summer months well.

They don’t go broody as much as other breeds, if at all. We’re always having to break our Buff Orps that go broody quite regularly. None of our EE have gone broody so far.

 

[TheFugitivePen]

Oh, s o p stands for Standard of Perfection. It's the list of features a particular breed needs to display in order to be an excellent example of the breed. If I were looking to take chickens to a show, my birds from Privett would probably not meet the standards the judges are looking for. They are still beautiful in my eyes and very healthy. Just not show chickens.

I'm glad to see Mt. Healthy is up front about the chickens they are selling not being true Ameracaunas. Some places don't do that.

Ah, yes, I've heard of the Standard of Perfection--I just hadn't put two-and-two together lol. Good to know, thank you!

And, yes, I was glad Mt Healthy is upfront about it, too. I've read that plenty of hatcheries or shops either don't know the difference or mislabel the chicks as purebreds when they're Easter Eggers.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Ah, yes, I've heard of the Standard of Perfection--I just hadn't put two-and-two together lol. Good to know, thank you!

And, yes, I was glad Mt Healthy is upfront about it, too. I've read that plenty of hatcheries or shops either don't know the difference or mislabel the chicks as purebreds when they're Easter Eggers.

Oh, sorry! Yeah I get used to abbreviating it and forget to explain what it means. Like
OEGB= Old English Game Bird
WFBS =White Faced Black Spanish
BCM=black copper marans
SL=sex link
BPR = barred Plymouth rock
POL= Point of lay, when a pullet starts laying her first eggs.
APA= American Poultry Association

So many other abbreviations for poultry breeds that I can't remember them all.

 

[TheFugitivePen]

Oh, sorry! Yeah I get used to abbreviating it and forget to explain what it means. Like
OEGB= Old English Game Bird
WFBS =White Faced Black Spanish
BCM=black copper marans
SL=sex link
BPR = barred Plymouth rock
POL= Point of lay, when a pullet starts laying her first eggs.
APA= American Poultry Association

So many other abbreviations for poultry breeds that I can't remember them all.

No apologies necessary! Thank you for the list! That's super helpful for this chicken noob!

 

[artbykarenehaley]

No apologies necessary! Thank you for the list! That's super helpful for this chicken noob!

Haha i saw them alot when I first came to this website and was a bit lost at first but I kept notes

 

[cluckcluckduck089]

All of our easter eggers are eggstreamly skittish
we have one named murder who acts like she is being murderd any time you come withen 3 ft of her

 

[Yard Farmer]

All of our easter eggers are eggstreamly skittish
we have one named murder who acts like she is being murderd any time you come withen 3 ft of her

My EE was like that for a long time, but I started holding her more often, and feeding her out of my hand. Now she isn't nearly as skittish.

 

[Iluveggers]

Mine have great personalities! One is a spitfire but not the top of the pecking order, she likes to jump on my lap but will NOT let me pick her up.

The other is much more shy, but will let me pick her up if needed. She’s very tame & mild-mannered.