The EE braggers thread!!!

[duluthralphie]

I just posted in the "first egg" thread, but wanted to brag on my EEs here too. I raised two of these girls from 1 day old, and added in 2 more the end of July after losing one and having to rehome a surprise rooster. Yesterday was the first egg, from little Char, and it was small and cracked but very nice. My little raptors are good girls who love treats and constantly talk their growly noises at me, and I love having them literally attached to my house under my deck (they're under high security after the one got attacked on the woods side of the yard) because I can stick my head out the door and check on them. If they see the curtain move, they come running and jump up on the roost to chat with me.

Grats on the first egg and

..

What are the "dirty" looking eggs with the first egg?

Chickens do not seem to like to leave the deck/doorstep here either. We had to but lattice around the deck to keep them out from under it. We did not want eggs under the deck. They still hang out close by and come running whenever anyone steps outside. Could be a treat coming you know!

 

[bruceha2000]

So I'd love to hear what everyone's favorite hatchery to order EEs from is and why. I like getting a variety of colors, beards, nice temperament, good laying ability, and no genetic issues.

We ordered (2) from McMurray about 10 years ago and one came without beard (one of my favorite things about EEs!) but the bearded one was very sweet, laid eggs until she was probably 7 or 8, and is still alive today. Three years ago I got some (3) from Privett. They turned out nice, lay well, but they all look almost identical, and one has some issue always laying thin shelled, almost shell less eggs, even though everyone else has enough calcium. Most recently I ordered (5) from Cackle. The birds came in beautiful colors, but even in the mall order a couple turned out with crossed beaks or bum twisted legs (not good!); they actually note that issue on their website, so they must be having problems with it.

My 4 Y/O EE Persephone came from Ideal. She is still laying 2-3 XL or Jumbo green eggs every 4 days. She moults late (late Oct or Nov) but has never laid in the winter past her first adult moult. She has AVERAGED an egg nearly 50% of the days since her first egg which I consider pretty darned good.


This was Andromeda, she came from Ideal with Persephone. She laid blue and wasn't a winter layer either. She only averaged 45% of the days since her first egg but the statistic is unfair because she was taken by a fox in April 2014 and had only 2 months of laying after her winter layoff. She laid 36 eggs in 66 days that spring, 54%. No telling what it would have been if she had been able to lay all summer.



The 2015 girls from Meyer, hatched June 8th:

Athena. She lays large green eggs. She has AVERAGED an egg nearly 62% of the days since her first egg at 30 weeks, 5 days.


Penelope. She lays medium to occasional large green eggs. She has AVERAGED an egg nearly 75% of the days since her first egg at 26 weeks, 1 day.



Eos. She lays large blue eggs. She has AVERAGED an egg 70% of the days since her first egg at 23 weeks, 2 days.


Both Ideal and Meyer were 100% on sexing all the pullets and breeds I ordered

and the birds were all healthy. As you can see, I got a total of 5 EEs and all were different looking.

Ideal stands by their claim that they are not selling EEs since EE is not a breed, therefore they are selling Ameraucana which IS an APA recognized breed and is NOT what Ideal is selling. I will not buy from them again SPECIFICALLY due to this intentional (and not at all understandable) lie. They also sell "named" sex links that aren't a breed either, go figure. Also, their website now stinks. Isn't easy to navigate. For example if you want a Black Australorp you click on "Brown Egg Layers" then on the next page find the link for "Black Australorps" which takes you to a page that has nothing but a drawing of a male and female BA which you must click to get to the order page. There is NO need for that last click since there are no other options. They have NO pictures of the birds and very very minimal description.

Meyer has a much better website, sells EE and Blue Ameraucana. They have very good descriptions of the birds and pictures. As you can see above, they gave me 3 distinctly different colored birds. They claim the EEs are broody but none of my EEs from either hatchery has ever gone broody. Their Black Australorps clearly got something mixed into their genes, probably Black Jersey Giants given the yellow legs and foot bottoms when young. They now have black legs (a BJG trait, BAs will be grey/slate) and one still has yellow foot bottoms. But they haven't gotten huge, in fact they are the same size as my smaller Ideal BA. My bigger Ideal BA could pass for a BJG based on size. And the Meyer "nonstandard" BAs are laying well. One lays Large, averaging 75% of the days since her first egg at 28 weeks 3 days. The other is laying the high end of medium to low end of large, averaging 87% of the days since her first egg at 28 weeks 4 days.

I need to get more chicks in the spring, being down to 6 of my original 12 girls and they are 4 Y/O now and I have a quandary. I would order from Meyer in half a heartbeat but 2 of the "lost" (raccoon killed) birds were Cubalayas. My daughter insists we replace them and Meyer doesn't carry Cubalaya.

 

[JurassicBawk]

Grats on the first egg and

..

What are the "dirty" looking eggs with the first egg?

Chickens do not seem to like to leave the deck/doorstep here either. We had to but lattice around the deck to keep them out from under it. We did not want eggs under the deck. They still hang out close by and come running whenever anyone steps outside. Could be a treat coming you know!

Thanks! Those are my quail eggs for the day, for size comparison. I've got 4 chickens and 12 coturnix quail. The quail have been laying since 6 weeks old, so the chickens have felt like freeloaders. lol

I've got 2 acres with half of it being wooded ridges that back to protected wilderness near the water, and my grassy yard has a 6 foot wooden fence barrier from the woods. I had a deluxe 15' x 20' coop built inside the main yard but in the corner of the fence against the woods, until something got through my top netting and killed one of my chickens and 3 of my quail. Since I couldn't protect them from whatever is in the woods in that coop, their new coop is 10x10 and 9 foot tall directly under my deck and attached to my brick house. So if anything wants to kill them now, they've got to go through a wooden fence, a divider chainlink fence (that keeps the dogs out of the garden,) 5 dogs, and then their chainlink/hardwire mesh coop. With owls and hawks patrolling the yard daily, plus coyotes, snakes, rats, and who knows what else running loose, I'm being overprotective of them. I'm working on a chicken tunnel so they can scratch in the yard, but their safety is #1 these days. We had a flock of wild turkeys disappear recently and the neighborhood doe/twin fawns has been missing or in hiding, so I know whatever may have gotten them can easily take down a chicken.

 

[memrymaker]

This is my 10 week old cockrel Jade:

Too bad we can't keep a rooster, makes me SO sad.

 

[Selsley]

This is my 10 week old cockrel Jade:

Too bad we can't keep a rooster, makes me SO sad.

nice beard
this is our 36day old EE unknown as yet, but we call it billy bones due to the black spot hidden by its wing
its an araucana buff orpington cross or "orpaucana" if you like, it has beady little eyes




it may sorta look like a french araucana (beard/muffs) but its legs are pink, it may not be a pea comb, and it has small beady eyes, it is also bigger than its araucana siblings, but other people in france will sell this as a pure araucana coz theyre dishonest, its funny to see adverts where they advertise pure araucana without pea combs, although one guy was selling araucana crosses for e30 each.

i think i read somewhere the tailless gene is dominant? we just crossed her coz one of our araucana is blatanly a cross anyway, and our orington lays the biggest eggs we have more often id say she lays at least 6.5 days a week

 

[FlyWheel]

My 4 Y/O EE Persephone came from Ideal. She is still laying 2-3 XL or Jumbo green eggs every 4 days. She moults late (late Oct or Nov) but has never laid in the winter past her first adult moult. She has AVERAGED an egg nearly 50% of the days since her first egg which I consider pretty darned good.


This was Andromeda, she came from Ideal with Persephone. She laid blue and wasn't a winter layer either. She only averaged 45% of the days since her first egg but the statistic is unfair because she was taken by a fox in April 2014 and had only 2 months of laying after her winter layoff. She laid 36 eggs in 66 days that spring, 54%. No telling what it would have been if she had been able to lay all summer.



The 2015 girls from Meyer, hatched June 8th:

Athena. She lays large green eggs. She has AVERAGED an egg nearly 62% of the days since her first egg at 30 weeks, 5 days.


Penelope. She lays medium to occasional large green eggs. She has AVERAGED an egg nearly 75% of the days since her first egg at 26 weeks, 1 day.



Eos. She lays large blue eggs. She has AVERAGED an egg 70% of the days since her first egg at 23 weeks, 2 days.


Both Ideal and Meyer were 100% on sexing all the pullets and breeds I ordered

and the birds were all healthy. As you can see, I got a total of 5 EEs and all were different looking.

Wow, with names like that they should be immortal and never stop laying! Although I would think Athena would lay olive eggs.

<Snip!>
Meyer has a much better website, sells EE and Blue Ameraucana. They have very good descriptions of the birds and pictures. As you can see above, they gave me 3 distinctly different colored birds. They claim the EEs are broody but none of my EEs from either hatchery has ever gone broody. Their Black Australorps clearly got something mixed into their genes, probably Black Jersey Giants given the yellow legs and foot bottoms when young. They now have black legs (a BJG trait, BAs will be grey/slate) and one still has yellow foot bottoms. But they haven't gotten huge, in fact they are the same size as my smaller Ideal BA. My bigger Ideal BA could pass for a BJG based on size. And the Meyer "nonstandard" BAs are laying well. One lays Large, averaging 75% of the days since her first egg at 28 weeks 3 days. The other is laying the high end of medium to low end of large, averaging 87% of the days since her first egg at 28 weeks 4 days.
</Snip!>

So then the judgement of BYC that Glinda, my black hen is an Australorp is incorrect? She does have black legs. Well, black in front anyway.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
Where did you get her? Were her legs yellow as a chick? Near as my unprofessional eye can tell, a BA and a BJG look REALLY similar other than the color of their legs. Since BJGs have yellow skin, they have yellow legs. BAs have white skin, so grey/slate legs. Black vs grey can be difficult to tell without one of each to compare. I would check the foot bottoms. If they are pinkish or light grey, BA for sure. A really good SOP BJG will be huge compared to a BA but we are talking about hatchery birds intended for better laying here, not show quality SOP breeder birds so some "variance" can be expected.

It is like the EE vs Ameraucana "debate". I don't really care that my Ideal EE isn't an Ameraucana, I'm not showing or breeding. I would, as stated, like them to admit they are NOT selling Ameraucana. Similarly, though the nice lady at Meyer said their breeders said no BJG's have been crossed into their BA's, I am having a hard time believing it. But since they are not huge (therefore potential feed suckers), are laying well and for the most part look like BAs, I'm not all wound up about it. Thus I refer to them as "non standard" BAs.

 

[Selsley]

Where did you get her? Were her legs yellow as a chick? Near as my unprofessional eye can tell, a BA and a BJG look REALLY similar other than the color of their legs. Since BJGs have yellow skin, they have yellow legs. BAs have white skin, so grey/slate legs. Black vs grey can be difficult to tell without one of each to compare. I would check the foot bottoms. If they are pinkish or light grey, BA for sure. A really good SOP BJG will be huge compared to a BA but we are talking about hatchery birds intended for better laying here, not show quality SOP breeder birds so some "variance" can be expected.

It is like the EE vs Ameraucana "debate". I don't really care that my Ideal EE isn't an Ameraucana, I'm not showing or breeding. I would, as stated, like them to admit they are NOT selling Ameraucana. Similarly, though the nice lady at Meyer said their breeders said no BJG's have been crossed into their BA's, I am having a hard time believing it. But since they are not huge (therefore potential feed suckers), are laying well and for the most part look like BAs, I'm not all wound up about it. Thus I refer to them as "non standard" BAs.

in europe the leg requirements of araucana are yellow willow or slate. having a yellow male and slate female, the off spring came our sorta yellow legged chipmonks, now at 5 weeks the legs are going darker to a greenish willow colour, but one of the chicks hatched black, with as yet, unmarked feathers and slate legs and slate coloured beak. i would say the legs on that bird, posted above, were always slate

 

[QuoVadis]

Does anyone make thier own EEs from scratch? What breeds have you used? I am interested in putting an Ameracana roo over a mixed flock sometime. The result should be (almost?) all EEs, right? I'd especially think that could be cool because if you matched them up with breeds that are good winter layers, like sussex, favorelle, brahma, etc. you could probably correct one of the biggest issues people have with EEs (taking a really long break in the winter). Plus you could choose really tame breeds to get super nice personalities.

 

[Selsley]

french strain araucana roo x buff orpington hen, think it will turn out bigger than araucanas since its already bigger then its siblings
imagine this-
to this but bearded and no tail. its a white orpington.