I doubt Easter Egger. She doesn't show any EE traits. The only indicator that she could be an EE is if she lays a blue,greenish blue or pinkish egg. If she doesn't then she isn't. What color eggs does she lay? She looks like a mix of several breeds but no EE genes in her at all.
Just because a bird shows a partridge-ish pattern doesn't make her an Easter Egger. LOTS of combos could make this pattern.
The proof for an EE is in the egg. Does she lay a blue or green egg? If not, she doesn't carry the blue egg gene and is not an Easter Egger. Since she doesn't have even a vestige of a pea comb, that makes it very unlikely that she carries the blue egg gene.
A pink egg has nothing to do with EEs. Rocks are far more likely to lay a pinkish egg than an EE.
Yes, you are correct on the pinkish egg thing. My bad. EE's usually lay blue eggs but sometimes pinkish or cream or even white. But bluish eggs makes it EE for sure and pink and cream or white are colors other breeds can lay and wouldn't help determine EE in this case.
Hmmm, or she could be a Phoenix bantam cross, although I don't know where the feathered feet originated. A photo of one of my hens. Note the rose comb on the white pullet. Some of Aubrey's Phoenix Bs have RCs. Aubrey is the Boggy Bottoms Bantams guru. I also have a Lavender Cuckoo RC rooster from Aubrey, as below.
In any event, she's a lovely hen. Enjoy using her as a broody. My Phoenix bantams are superb broody hens and mothers. Don't you just love a good mystery?
I'd rule out phoenix due to the hen having a squirrel tail. That type of tail is very common in games and silkies.
EE keeps coming up. The majority of blue/green layers have pea combs. This hen has a typical looking rose comb. If she also had pea, her comb would be walnut instead. (rose + pea= walnut)
Yes, you are correct on the pinkish egg thing. My bad. EE's usually lay blue eggs but sometimes pinkish or cream or even white. But bluish eggs makes it EE for sure and pink and cream or white are colors other breeds can lay and wouldn't help determine EE in this case.
I disagree with this. EEs. *usually* lay green eggs. Some lay blue eggs. If they are laying brown or pink or cream or white eggs, they do not carry the blue egg gene and therefore are straight-up mutts, not EEs.
I never said EE's lay green eggs. I said they lay blueish eggs (blue, greenish blue). I should not have said they "usually" lay blue eggs..I should have said an EE always lays blue eggs (Blue, greenish blue). I understand full well that an EE is a bird carrying the gene for blue eggs which originate from Ameraucana or Araucana stock. EE's are actually mutts to begin with since they are a cross of an Ameraucana or an Araucana with whatever other breed the breeder puts with it. I made mistakes, you made mistakes... so to correct things. What we both meant is this: The bird in question shows no EE traits and is most likely a Heinz 57 bird. If it lays blue eggs (blue or greenish blue or pale blue or whatever) then it could be an EE unless it has Dongxiang or Lushi chicken genes in it's background (blue egg laying breeds from China) or any other chicken breed that has a mutation in the genome caused by a retrovirus that has an effect which triggers an accumulation of a green-blue bile pigment called biliverdin in the eggshell as the egg develops in the hen (The retrovirus was discovered and reported on last year.). If it has the blue egg gene from any breed other than an Araucana or an Ameraucana then it is a mutt until someone comes up with a name for it because no one has come up with one for it yet. Lol! (and feel free to correct me if I am incorrect again as I don't endeavor to purposely mislead.)
I never said EE's lay green eggs. I said they lay blueish eggs (blue, greenish blue). I should not have said they "usually" lay blue eggs..I should have said an EE always lays blue eggs (Blue, greenish blue). I understand full well that an EE is a bird carrying the gene for blue eggs which originate from Ameraucana or Araucana stock. EE's are actually mutts to begin with since they are a cross of an Ameraucana or an Araucana with whatever other breed the breeder puts with it. I made mistakes, you made mistakes... so to correct things. What we both meant is this: The bird in question shows no EE traits and is most likely a Heinz 57 bird. If it lays blue eggs (blue or greenish blue or pale blue or whatever) then it could be an EE unless it has Dongxiang or Lushi chicken genes in it's background (blue egg laying breeds from China) or any other chicken breed that has a mutation in the genome caused by a retrovirus that has an effect which triggers an accumulation of a green-blue bile pigment called biliverdin in the eggshell as the egg develops in the hen (The retrovirus was discovered and reported on last year.). If it has the blue egg gene from any breed other than an Araucana or an Ameraucana then it is a mutt until someone comes up with a name for it because no one has come up with one for it yet. Lol! (and feel free to correct me if I am incorrect again as I don't endeavor to purposely mislead.)
Wait, what? I can't see where I've made a mistake. You're right, you never did say an EE lays green eggs. That was the mistake I was trying to point out. An EE does NOT always lay blue eggs. In fact, the vast majority of them lay green eggs. These green egg layers carry the blue egg gene, but they also carry brown egg genes, which expresses as a green egg. Some EEs also lay blue eggs, but there are fewer blue egg laying EEs than green, since so many brown egg laying chickens were used when hatcheries were developing their strains of EEs.
As far as ancestry, where does any of that come into EEs? I have never heard from any source that the blue egg gene has to come from Araucana or Ameraucana. There are some lovely EEs that get their blue egg genes from Cream Legbars, for example. The ONLY characteristics that make an EE an EE are 1. the presence of the blue egg gene (from whatever source) and 2. Doesn't meet SOP for any breed. You have those two things, you have an EE--no matter what it looks like. After all these birds are mutts. An EE is a mutt with a fancy name like Labradoodle is a name for a fancy mutt dog, but they are still a mutt. In fact, I have an EE that looks almost exactly like a Production Red right now--she has yellow legs, a red body, no beard or muffs, and a modified "noodle" pea comb. Lays green eggs.
If you're going to argue that those "green eggs" are really blue, I'd have to disagree with you. Even the Ameraucana Breeder's Club lists green egg colors on their color chart. In fact, getting rid of green is one of the toughest challenges a breeder faces.
One of the nicest things about EEs is that some will lay blue eggs and some green. This photo is a bit washed out, but you can clearly see green eggs in the back and blue in the front (white in the center).
