Farm Store Chicks Breed

[GravityWaves]

I feel like I’m ignorant here, but isn’t an olive egger just a blue layer crossed with a dark brown layer? The hatchery could have crossed easter eggers, which are themselves kind of a mutt, with welsummers or marans or something, and with the genetics lottery, you get a mishmash of traits for each bird? (which would explain how they’re all kind of different)

Townline Hatchery has a couple different lines of OE. On their website description they claim some are Cuckoo Marans malex"Americana" and others are "Americana"xBlack Copper Marans. Also, their picture for OE is not even one of their own stock. Townline "Americanas" would definitely be considered Easter Eggers (non-standard colors, any color eggs, may have muffs.)
I could see the partridge or wild-type from their "Americanas" giving the OE the black vs. brown (m vs f) breast look.

 

[maudeflanagan]

I thought I’d post an update photo. At one time, the chicks in the picture were about the same size. I think they are definitely bantams if you look at the size difference alone.

 

[Capricoco]

I thought I’d post an update photo. At one time, the chicks in the picture were about the same size. I think they are definitely bantams if you look at the size difference alone.

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I’d say BBR OEGBS for sure then. Blue eggs and pea combs are linked, and the cross over rate is something like 1 in 20 ( how many chickens that have single combs and carry blue egg gene, and how many chickens that have pea combs and don’t carry the blue egg gene) so unless you’re really really lucky, or they’re from a single combed blue egg layer(I doubt it because none of them are barred, and none of them have crests) then I’d say it’s pretty unlikely they’re OEs.(since OEs require a blue egg gene) that being said, there’s still a chance.