Temperament of EE Chickens?

[ClareScifi]

I would love to hear what your experiences have been with the Easter Egger breed of chicken. Do they tend to have sweet, non-nervous personalities? Any insights about them you care to share with me will be appreciated.

 

[Ducks and Banny hens]

To answer, first I must let you know that EEs are not a breed - their Hybrids between true Ameraucanas, and ,well, ANYTHING else. So, there isn't a set temperament for them. It depends on what the other (non-ameraucana) parent was.

 

[Theeggboxtoo]

I have had a lot of EE's, and all but 1 have had amazing personalities! They are sweet, loving, and curious.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Sweet and timid...low on the pecking order. A little flighty- don't like to be handled. But they wanted human contact and came up to us.

 

[Imp]

I have found mine to be a little aloof, but not scared, curious, and extremely quiet.

Imp- They give me the impression that "Still waters run deep".

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone have an EE of this type pictured below:

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=gold...8&tbnw=168&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
2x

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
This is a common misconception. Ameraucanas were developed from EE's, not the other way around. Many if not most hatcheries use Ameraucanas to make EE's, which I think is where the misconception started. This article gives a pretty good history of how they were developed according to the Ameraucana Breeder's Club.

http://www.ameraucana.org/history.html

I totally agree with you that they are not a breed. They are simply chickens that should have the blue egg gene and not all of them even meet that standard. Appearance, personality, size, egg laying ability, any of their other traits depends on what other chickens are in their ancestry.

I think this is a fun comparison between Ameraucanas, Araucanas, and EE's. I did not create this. You can look at the source and make your own determination of its credibility. To me, it says there are no standards for EE's. They can be anything.

http://apa-abayouthpoultryclub.org/Edu_Material/Easter Eggers vs.pdf

The only EE I've ever had was my best egg layer. She laid a big green egg at the crack of dawn practically every day. She went broody, hatched some chicks, and weaned them at 3 weeks age. She even started laying about 2-1/2 weeks after the eggs hatched, before she even weaned her chicks. Personality-wise, she was mild mannered and at the bottom of the pecking order. I don't think this behavior is what people tend to think of a typical EE.

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I have 3 EE's; 2 I bought full grown and one "americana" chick (roo) that i raised to adulthood. All mine are tame, even tamer than the bantam cochin and the orpington hen that i raised from chickhood. I have had 3 roos altogether, and i am at a loss as to whether they can be pet material. They are great pets without hens, but once you get them..... Mine will jump in my lap, but then other times will not hesitate to spur me. He is affectionate but over protective of his girls, with roos it's best to buy adults then you know for sure how they will act. But he is very gentle with chicks i brought home, after supervised visitation until i trusted him he would feed them and stand between them and the hens who were not so nice (hens don't like newcomers in general). He also finds food for my girls and makes them nests and sings about it. My hens jump right into my lap too. One lays a light blue egg and the other lays a pink one.
Another gentle breed is favorolles, they are also low on the pecking order. They also have the beard, and have extra toes! I think mine are mixed with them possibly. In this breed there is the salmon, and i believe blue wheaten color.
If you want to be friends feed them bananas; they go nuts! just not everyday. I have not found it to slow down egg production at all. Takes care of the shyness in a jiffy. Chicken candy. Other breeds i have tried start out as friendly chicks, but after 3-4 months get really wild all of a sudden.

 

[hdowden]

What are Easter Egg chickens?
The Ameraucana Breeders Club defines an Easter Egg chicken or Easter Egger as any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene, but doesn’t fully meet any breed descriptions as defined in the APA and/or ABA standards. Further, even if a bird meets an Ameraucana standard breed description, but doesn’t meet a variety description or breed true at least 50% of the time it is considered an Easter Egg chicken.
if an ameraucana isnt one of these colors than its an ee: Black, Blue, Blue wheaten, Brown red, Buff, Silver, Wheaten, and White
http://www.ameraucana.org/faq.html#TWO