What a lovely brooder box home they have! Some lucky young birds there.
I see a lot of grey in all your birds unfortunately. It makes me wonder what their parent look like. You can end up with very grey offspring from parents that are close to the correct color but it seems more likely someone is mating birds with quite a lot of grey and oviously white legs as well. Have you seen the parents? And how are they for other traits like size and their comb (look for side sprigs)? I see only straight toes which is good, some EOs have a genetic issue with crooked toes. Aside from that they are pretty young to really comment on.
If you want to breed your EOs start with the best birds you can find. Not just for leg and feather color but for type (shape and size of the body), temperament as well as egg laying capabilities.
I have read or been told by poultry breeders with years of experience that you should never hatch pullet eggs. First because the eggs will be smaller so the chicks will be smaller and weaker. Second because you want to wait long enough to see how the parents truely turn out. Are they healthy and resistant to illness? Does the hen lay lots of eggs even after the first year? Does the rooster have a personality with you and his hens worthy of passing on?
Saying that I have hatched eggs from EOs less than a year old but I keep the above wisdom in the back of my mind at all times. And sometimes in hind site I can see where the birds I chose to breed when they were 11 months old I would not use for breeding if I had waited longer. And ones I passed by as pullets/cockerels will go in my breeding pen as adults.
I don't wish to sound like a snob or condescending, I also started my flock of EOs from a few birds and every one of them had flaws. I have raised chicks from them for 3 years now with my fourth year of breeding about to begin soon. I am still learning and all of my birds still have flaws but I have raised hundreds of chicks to select less than 20 that I would consider this year for breeding. I can see where I have made improvements to bring my EOs closer to the standard of perfection and I can see where I have made mistakes as well. Last year a 4 year old hen who is was still laying 5-6 beautiful perfect egg a week went in my breeding pen because of that trait in particular.
I guess my point is for true success your EO project will likely need to be a long term one. Start with the best birds you can for breeding and take the time to try to learn about EOs and in particular your and what they should be and what they are for each trait. From those you first hatch you will want to only keep the very best birds for breeding (maybe 10% of what you hatch). And traits like type, healthy and productivity need to be selected for along side with traits like leg and feather color. Some of those traits will only become obvious as your birds get older and as you learn more about what the breed should be like.
If you are not up for all of that you have other choices. Enjoy your EOs but don't breed them. Or breed them but don't sell or claim to be raising EOs to any standard, call them your "barnyard special". Or be very very honest with anyone who asks that they are not EOs that meet the standard for the breed. Or keep your best and eat the rest understanding it will take a few years to end up with birds that are close to the standard.
Because there is such diversity out there it is going to be an uphill battle to have the breed taken seriously the more non standard birds there are out there being claimed or sold as EOs. Having non standard EOs out there does not concern me so much as the owners of those birds not knowing what their birds should look like or the next person who buys them not knowing.
I say all this to try to help not to discourage you as you seem truly interested in understanding your EOs.
I see a lot of grey in all your birds unfortunately. It makes me wonder what their parent look like. You can end up with very grey offspring from parents that are close to the correct color but it seems more likely someone is mating birds with quite a lot of grey and oviously white legs as well. Have you seen the parents? And how are they for other traits like size and their comb (look for side sprigs)? I see only straight toes which is good, some EOs have a genetic issue with crooked toes. Aside from that they are pretty young to really comment on.
If you want to breed your EOs start with the best birds you can find. Not just for leg and feather color but for type (shape and size of the body), temperament as well as egg laying capabilities.
I have read or been told by poultry breeders with years of experience that you should never hatch pullet eggs. First because the eggs will be smaller so the chicks will be smaller and weaker. Second because you want to wait long enough to see how the parents truely turn out. Are they healthy and resistant to illness? Does the hen lay lots of eggs even after the first year? Does the rooster have a personality with you and his hens worthy of passing on?
Saying that I have hatched eggs from EOs less than a year old but I keep the above wisdom in the back of my mind at all times. And sometimes in hind site I can see where the birds I chose to breed when they were 11 months old I would not use for breeding if I had waited longer. And ones I passed by as pullets/cockerels will go in my breeding pen as adults.
I don't wish to sound like a snob or condescending, I also started my flock of EOs from a few birds and every one of them had flaws. I have raised chicks from them for 3 years now with my fourth year of breeding about to begin soon. I am still learning and all of my birds still have flaws but I have raised hundreds of chicks to select less than 20 that I would consider this year for breeding. I can see where I have made improvements to bring my EOs closer to the standard of perfection and I can see where I have made mistakes as well. Last year a 4 year old hen who is was still laying 5-6 beautiful perfect egg a week went in my breeding pen because of that trait in particular.
I guess my point is for true success your EO project will likely need to be a long term one. Start with the best birds you can for breeding and take the time to try to learn about EOs and in particular your and what they should be and what they are for each trait. From those you first hatch you will want to only keep the very best birds for breeding (maybe 10% of what you hatch). And traits like type, healthy and productivity need to be selected for along side with traits like leg and feather color. Some of those traits will only become obvious as your birds get older and as you learn more about what the breed should be like.
If you are not up for all of that you have other choices. Enjoy your EOs but don't breed them. Or breed them but don't sell or claim to be raising EOs to any standard, call them your "barnyard special". Or be very very honest with anyone who asks that they are not EOs that meet the standard for the breed. Or keep your best and eat the rest understanding it will take a few years to end up with birds that are close to the standard.
Because there is such diversity out there it is going to be an uphill battle to have the breed taken seriously the more non standard birds there are out there being claimed or sold as EOs. Having non standard EOs out there does not concern me so much as the owners of those birds not knowing what their birds should look like or the next person who buys them not knowing.
I say all this to try to help not to discourage you as you seem truly interested in understanding your EOs.
