Should I add some EE's to my flock?

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I love my three EE ladies. They just turned 30 weeks and 2 have been laying for a bit more than three weeks. I'm getting about 9-12 eggs a week. One, Shania, still hasn't started laying. She is *FINALLY* squatting and paying attention to the nest box but as yet has not contributed.

I would definantly recommend them. After all, even if they mature later, in theory you should just get more eggs in future years.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Quote:
For those qualities, I'd say EE would fit the bill rather nicely.

-Production rate may vary depending on what hatchery you order from, and my first ever chickens have only been laying since Jan 4, but so far my most reliable layer (and the first to lay) has been one of my 3 EE. I get 4-6 green eggs from her a week, she lays daily for 4 or 5 days, then skips one day and goes right back to laying. I've heard others complain about poor laying, but I've also heard a lot of others who like me have very reliable layers. My second EE just started laying today, so we'll see how she shapes up as a layer in the weeks to come. And their eggs are pretty decent sized too. My first one's first egg was 1 1/2 oz and her eggs are up to 1 3/4 oz now every egg (except the occasional 2 oz, and one double yolker that was 2 1/2 oz) and my second one's first egg was 1 3/4 oz. They're not much smaller than the grade A large store bought eggs. My SLW on the other hand I don't think has started laying yet even though her comb has been red for weeks. I am getting one brown egg about 3 times a week that I think is from my SS, and it's not nearly as big as my EE eggs (started at 1 1/4oz and now sometimes gets up to 1 1/2 oz).

-I think that EE have as much of a chance of being friendly as any of the other breeds you are considering. I ordered 5 EE, and kept 3. The 2 that I gave away were very flighty, but all of my chicks were pretty flighty at that age and I do not know how they turned out as they matured. Of the 3 I kept, one was pretty flighty right up until just before she started laying (the first to lay) but is now fairly friendly. One of the other 3 was the most friendly as a chick (it was the main reason she got to stay) and while she did go through a flighty stage I would never say she was "unfriendly" at any point. She likes to visit with me when I'm outside. The third one has always been very friendly (although due to a deformity she has also been handled more often than the other two) and is often underfoot when I'm outside.

-Since EE's have no standard to breed to, there is no serious consideration for color (not that hatcheries have much consideration for correct color or pattern anyway). Many of them will look very similar, but no two will look the same. Of the 5 chicks I got, every one of them looked different as chicks. Once they feathered out, there were 2 (the 2 I gave away) that looked so similar I couldn't tell them apart. But the 3 that I kept are different enough in color that I can easily tell them apart at a glance.

The one caveat that I can think of is that there seems to be a higher than average incidence of cross beak in hatchery EE than many of the other breeds (based on my search of the forum archives for cross beak). My one EE has a pretty severe cross beak, but so far she eats ok. She is always the first out of the coop and runs straight to the milk jug feeders because she has a hard time eating out of the hanging feeder in the coop. And she is smaller than the others. And I'm not sure what's going to happen when she starts to lay. But she is very sweet and doesn't seem to be in any pain and none of the others pick on her, so as long as she can make it we'll see how far she goes. Others have had cross beak birds that have gone on to lead very normal lives and even become top hens and among the most reliable of layers.