Need Advice, not the chicken I was promised.

[Birdsong 82]

$15 ?! We just got to Easter Eggars from a local feed store and they were only 399. Is that her usual price out there

 

[Birdsong 82]

That is extremely bizarre. They kind a look like Easter Eggars as babies. Kind a look like my Siana star chicks. But they kind a look the same at that red chicken is neither of those. That is too weird

 

[bobbi-j]

I was charged $15 per chick

Wow! I don't remember exactly what mine were, but I want to say $3.50 or so, directly from the hatchery.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Easter eggers aren't an actual recognized breed. They are still cross bred birds. Breed enough of them together for a few generations and you start to get characteristics from the base breeds coming out of them. I think hatcheries need to rethink their breeding, but you really can't complain if you mixed breed bird doesn't look like other mixed breeds. Most hatchery descriptions state brown eggs are possible out of them.

As stated most lay people at feed stores don't know the differences between an Ameraucana and an Easter egger, and they use the names interchangeably. Hatcheries should know better but often try pulling a fast one by saying they are the same but they aren't.

 

[New2Chicks97]

Oh, don't I know it. The problem was is the buff orpingtons the barred rocks and all of the Easter Eggers are in one bin. 90% sexed. I'm not a novice when it comes to chickens at all been raising them my entire life. I knew the buff orpington at 10 days old was not a buff orpington but I wasn't too concerned about that. When the Easter Eggers never developed a beard I thought that was okay because there are cases where some do not have beards. But today, at 5 days short of being 5 months old the supposed Easter Egger lays a brown egg. I know they lay at 7 months not five. I just have no idea what the hell these chickens are.

Not necessarily. A couple of my Easter Eggers have started laying at 5 months. One is my favorite little girl who lays the pale blue egg. So I think they probably vary depending on what their parents were maybe?

 

[MROO]

Even though it stinks, I seriously doubt the mistake was intentional. The Americauna/Americana/Easter Egger thing is a common misconception. Most people think that they're all the same thing, so they are often (aka usually) mislabeled.

Feed store people do not necessarily know chickens. Most are sales people, not farmers or livestock specialists. They don't know the difference between the peeps they sell. I was once assured by a very nice young man that he was, "pretty sure that the striped chicks were barred rocks." There were four bins with "striped" babies in them. One contained mallard ducklings!

It might be a good idea to politely let the feed store know that the birds were labelled wrong, but it's not really their responsibility to guarantee the egg color. You never know, though. Most will go a little extra distance to keep a customer happy.

 

[Erica2397]

They weren't labeled as Easter Eggers they were labeled as ameraucanas. So I think since they were supposedly certified purebred that that was the cost of them. I don't know tack on extra fee from the store and you got $15. Who knows. I'm just venting at this point because my girls love there chickens and I don't really see the need to get replacement Birds.

 

[PachecoPeeps]

I was charged $15 per chick

I just wanted to say how insane that price is. I paid $15 per chick for guaranteed female cream legbars. In this part of California I have never seen any feed store charge more then $4 for Easter Eggers. I could see $15-20 per chick for real americaunas but they would have been sold as wheaten, black, blue, etc.

I’m so sorry you are having to deal with this. It’s sucks not getting the breeds you want. I hope your other pullet lays a colored egg! And as stated above I would cross that place off your list to buy chicks in the future.

 

[Erica2397]

At least she turned out to be a hen, and your girls will recover. How wonderful she's laying beautiful brown eggs.

I can appreciate your frustration, so definitely inform the store and hatchery. But these are living creatures, and they're doing what they're designed to do: produce eggs.

I think this hangup on color places the quaintness and Pinterest worthiness of chickens before the animal. It's distracting — and for children to feel devastated?

That's where I begin to feel my own sense of frustration.

I agree, all of my hens are great, sweet and gentle with the kids, I don't want to replace them or sell them to someone else because I know they have a good life here and they are very well taken care of. And I understand mistakes happen. I just feel miffed because the manager at the store brushed It Off and told me to bring in a receipt and he'd give me a partial refund like it was no big deal. But to me and the girls who wanted to show chickens next year these were going to be there bread and butter, per se. It's just tough being told you're getting purebred certified and not receiving what you paid for.

 

[Zinjifrah]

I quite like this site for an explanation of EE's - https://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/12/ameraucana-vs-araucana-vs-easter-egger.html

They really are a crapshoot; you never know what you'll get, comb-wise, color-wise, fluff-wise or egg-wise.