NEED info on EE from Murray McMurray

[pips&peeps]

crazy:

The only advantage of an ee is that they tend to be a more productive layer in some cases than your purebred.

I don't think at this point in time anyone would cross a brown egg layer with an ee or ameraucana or araucana, unless they didn't care about egg color. The ee seems to have become a breed all in their own at the hatcheries. If you bred back to a brown egg layer, you can lose your colored egg genes and then the "novelty" is gone.

What you will want to order just depends on what you want in a chicken. Just an egglayer with cool eggs or something that your kids can take to the fair.... The Ameraucana Breeders Club site mentioned in the previous post is your best bet for information.

 

[MNKris]

I think it is economics. With the homozygous rumpless/tufted issue and 25% of the chicks dying in the shell, I don't think hatcheries would afford to breed pure. They could however, breed pure Ameraucanas and I really don't understand why they don't. Like I mentioned earlier though, our EEs lay pretty darn well.

 

[crazychickens]

I'll order some EE's. I'm just in it for the eggs.
Today I asked my 2 year old daughter if she wanted a little debbie(snack cake) she said "NO want chic chic egg!
She loves hard boiled eggs
Our cherry egger's that are only 4 months old started laying egg's.
When I first saw the eggs, I thought there so tiny, not worth the walk to the coop.
But, they are the perfect sized snack for a little girl!

Thanks for all the help, I'll add so EE's to my MM order.

 

[Anne]

EE's are great layers; laying ability will vary from bird to bird, but on average I'd say they lay a little better than purebred Araucanas or Ameraucanas. The eggs also tend to be larger. On the down side, hatcheries are not as choosy about egg color as breeders are. Overall though, I think EE's are probably the right choice for your needs.