The EE braggers thread!!!

[Duramaxgirl]

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Do you mean something to cross to you Ameraucanas to make EEs? My EEs lay very large eggs 6 days a week in the summer.

Or just buy hatching eggs out right. What breed mix are your EEs? My sister has some rainbow layers from MM. But I don't want to get that many right now... I was just wondering as to the best cross. If with my ameraucanas would I want to cross them with a RIR for better egg production? I hope this isn't a stupid question.

 

[SunnyDawn]

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I assumed your question was hypothetical but I couldn't resist teasing a little. Sorry.

I have 34 chickens right now and 49 in the bator (although 2 are not growing very fast and will probably not make it). The grown flock consisits of black ameraucanas (for breeding), BC marans (also for breeding) lots of EEs, a couple of Orps (blue and buff), RIRs for production, wheaten ameraucana hens (I only have a black roo for them right now so I sell these chicks as "EEs" since they are not an accepted mix), welsummers, barnevelders and sex-links for production.
Other than a brown leghorn I'm not sure what lays a white egg that's a good size and is great for production. If you don't care about egg size or laying frequency there are quite a few white egg layers listed on Hendersons Breed chart. http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
There are probably brown and blue varieties listed there and not all of the unique white egg laying breeds lay a small egg.

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Thank you, puredelite! Yes keeping the pea comb small with an even set of 3 rows is quite a challege. Buttercups have probably been used extensively for this purpose and that is probably why many ameraucanas lay a smaller egg when their eggs are supposed to be average to above averaged size. I am really interested in egg color more than SQ. The only reason I breed pure breeds is for resell. If it were up to me I would concentrate on egg color only and never worry about SQ.

So of course I perked up right away when you mentioned your gal that lays such a nice blue egg! Are you going to be selling hatching eggs from that mix? I am all about egg color so I would be very interested in getting some eggs or chicks from you if you do sell some. I actually prefer chicks since I've not had good luck with hatching shipped eggs. I think my PO is too hard on them.

PM me if you are.

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Good luck with your hatch TNBarnQueen! I look forward to seeing pics of your babies!
I had to laugh when you mentioned getting into trouble when you went out too soon after surgery (not at you of course). I had spinal fusion awhile back and had to have extensive care from the whole family while I healed and (being a person who's used to my independence) I got a little testy from all the hovering everyone was doing. One day when I was trying to shower, my DH popped his head in for the sixth time in as many minutes and asked, yet again, if I was ok. Well I hollered at the poor guy and yelled that I just wanted 5 minutes to myself and to please leave me alone so he and the kids left the house (quickly). Yea you probably guessed it! I fell and there was no one to hear me yell for help.

I decided to listen to the universe's lesson that day and appreciate the fact that my dear Hubby worries about me.

I hope you have a super fast recovery from this point on!

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The 2 breeds I know of that are used for production (they lay large eggs and lay often) are the Rhode Island Reds and the Leghorns. I like the RIRs. I think they are more interesting birds but if you want to keep the blue color use a leghorn. This mix will give you bigger eggs that lay more often but as puredelite mentioned above it will not produce an acceptable ameraucana mix. Still I think the eggs from such a mix would be beautiful more frequent and nice and big. Be aware that when you mix large egg layers with smaller egg layers you may produce a bird that is more prone to prolapse and other health problems associated with laying too large an egg. You might be better off to start with meraucanas that already lay a large egg (most of my black and wheaten ameraucanas do, once they are mature anyway).
Yes RIRs would probably give you an olive egger that lays a large egg frequently but, as mentioned before by many folks, there are no guarantees as to egg color where EEs are concerned. That's why they are sooo much fun! Most other "breeds" have so many rules! EEs are a blast cause you can do just about anything! AND you get a super colorful egg basket as a reward! Have you thought about posting a new thread and asking folks in your area if they want to split a large order of rainbow layers from MM?


Wow! I almost filled up an entire page with this looooong post!!!

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
Do you mean something to cross to you Ameraucanas to make EEs? My EEs lay very large eggs 6 days a week in the summer.

Or just buy hatching eggs out right. What breed mix are your EEs? My sister has some rainbow layers from MM. But I don't want to get that many right now... I was just wondering as to the best cross. If with my ameraucanas would I want to cross them with a RIR for better egg production? I hope this isn't a stupid question.

I have 5 EE hens from Welp Hatchery and several Buff Orpington x Welp EE roosters and a 2 Buff Orpington x Welp EE hens. In April I will be pairing my EE roosters with the original Welp hens and hatching around 25 chicks. My Welp hens lay very good but there eggs are not very uniformly shaped. The F1 hens lay very nicely shaped green eggs. An RIR should be an excellent breed to cross into your EEs.
Here is are some of my F1 roosters:

Here are the F1 hens:

 

[Duramaxgirl]

Quote:
Or just buy hatching eggs out right. What breed mix are your EEs? My sister has some rainbow layers from MM. But I don't want to get that many right now... I was just wondering as to the best cross. If with my ameraucanas would I want to cross them with a RIR for better egg production? I hope this isn't a stupid question.

I have 5 EE hens from Welp Hatchery and several Buff Orpington x Welp EE roosters and a 2 Buff Orpington x Welp EE hens. In April I will be pairing my EE roosters with the original Welp hens and hatching around 25 chicks. My Welp hens lay very good but there eggs are not very uniformly shaped. The F1 hens lay very nicely shaped green eggs. An RIR should be an excellent breed to cross into your EEs.
Here is are some of my F1 roosters: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/71540_febuary_32011_022.jpghttps://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/71540_january_13_2011_046.jpg
Here are the F1 hens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/71540_january_13_2011_019.jpghttps://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/71540_chickens_november_034.jpg

That last hen is so cute! My sister is getting a NH rooster so maybe I'll borrow him for my ameraucanas.

 

[vegaschick]

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Hey, what's wrong with Vegas chicks?!? LOL!!!




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I know exactly what you mean. Some folks take this way too seriously! I have both pure ameraucanas and EEs and I love 'em all. Ok, first off all ameraucanas originally come from EEs. An EE is basically a mutt bird (like me, lol) that carries the blue egg and pea comb gene. An EE can lay any color egg, blue, green, pink, brown... An ameraucana should lay a blue or blue/green egg.
Both have pea combs. Ameraucanas must conform to the standards which means slate/black colored legs (EEs usually have green legs but this varies), bay eyes, standard colors (some of which have not been accepted by the APA, like lavenders), have beards and muffs... I have black and wheaten ameraucanas and none of them lay a perfectly blue egg. My EEs however are definitely green layers except for the couple that lay a brown egg.
Since all ameraucanas are originally from EEs they all have the potential to lay an egg that is not blue, even though the blue gene is dominate, because all it takes to get a recessive gene to pop up is for both parents to carry the recessive gene and all ameraucanas do. Maybe most breeders are so touchy because they know that their birds are not perfect yet (as a breed I mean). That's why I like them though, they are a challenge.

Here's a link that has more info (+ more links to even more info). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameraucana
Hope this helps!

Thank you for this explanation. It is very helpful. I have a question. I was told my "Ameraucana" was really an EE, which I fully believe the experts on here. I would love to know why on her. She has blackish gray legs, not green, but she lays olive eggs. (Does laying olive eggs make her an EE)

Here is her picture. Again I believe the experts, I would just like to know what about her makes her an EE not Ameraucana. Does that make sense?

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/babyrnlc/chickens/chicken-3.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/babyrnlc/chickens/chicken-4.jpg

One thing more about this...what makes Ameraucanas (AM) purebred as opposed to EE's is the ability to breed true. With AM's you should have birds with the same markings/patterns and coloration whereas with EE's anything goes. Yours may LOOK like an AM but most would assume her not to be UNLESS you got her from a breeder, because otherwise how would one know if SHE bred true. As Sunny stated, there are many people working very hard to create and adheer to a certain standard as listed on the AM breeders website. Even those purebred birds that don't meet those standards are considered EE's. Those breeders can get a bit testy when we get birds from the feedstore or a hatchery sold as Americanas (note the spelling) or Auracanas that don't/won't/can't conform to the standard that they are working so hard for. So pretty much if you have to ASK if it is an AM it is most always an EE. The hardest part is that the hatcherys sell EE's (with various feather colors/patterns and various egg color) as AM's which should have standard or set colors of both feathers and eggs(ie. no brown, gray, pink, tan, etc.) This leads to lots of disappointed owners that thought what they had was an AM and the real breeders of AM's get so tired of constantly having to explain the difference to those misled new owners. Trust me when I say that most of us have been where you are. Most of us found out the hard way that we had EE's but, personally, they are my favorites. I love that I can tell them apart, that it's a surprise what that chick will look like and what color of egg she (hopefully) will lay. To me, variety IS the spice of life! Here's the thread that discusses the differences between the different breeds. BTW your hen is a beauty!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=128806

And Sunny, if you come to Vegas, I'm gonna need you to bring some of those black AM X wheaten AM eggs with you! That would be a cool mix!

 

[Hennypen]

I had an "oops" and my wheaten ameraucanas got bred by other breed roosters. I've been keeping the pure bred ones as they hatch but now that i have excess mixed breed chicks I need to place them.


All of the chicks came out of bright blue eggs (from "peachick" Ameraucana) (except for the dark headed chick) in the photo.

My question is: Will these hens (when old enough) lay blue eggs / green eggs / or brown eggs?

Pic of day old chicks:

 

[babyrnlc]

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Hey, what's wrong with Vegas chicks?!? LOL!!!




Quote:
Thank you for this explanation. It is very helpful. I have a question. I was told my "Ameraucana" was really an EE, which I fully believe the experts on here. I would love to know why on her. She has blackish gray legs, not green, but she lays olive eggs. (Does laying olive eggs make her an EE)

Here is her picture. Again I believe the experts, I would just like to know what about her makes her an EE not Ameraucana. Does that make sense?

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/babyrnlc/chickens/chicken-3.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g149/babyrnlc/chickens/chicken-4.jpg

One thing more about this...what makes Ameraucanas (AM) purebred as opposed to EE's is the ability to breed true. With AM's you should have birds with the same markings/patterns and coloration whereas with EE's anything goes. Yours may LOOK like an AM but most would assume her not to be UNLESS you got her from a breeder, because otherwise how would one know if SHE bred true. As Sunny stated, there are many people working very hard to create and adheer to a certain standard as listed on the AM breeders website. Even those purebred birds that don't meet those standards are considered EE's. Those breeders can get a bit testy when we get birds from the feedstore or a hatchery sold as Americanas (note the spelling) or Auracanas that don't/won't/can't conform to the standard that they are working so hard for. So pretty much if you have to ASK if it is an AM it is most always an EE. The hardest part is that the hatcherys sell EE's (with various feather colors/patterns and various egg color) as AM's which should have standard or set colors of both feathers and eggs(ie. no brown, gray, pink, tan, etc.) This leads to lots of disappointed owners that thought what they had was an AM and the real breeders of AM's get so tired of constantly having to explain the difference to those misled new owners. Trust me when I say that most of us have been where you are. Most of us found out the hard way that we had EE's but, personally, they are my favorites. I love that I can tell them apart, that it's a surprise what that chick will look like and what color of egg she (hopefully) will lay. To me, variety IS the spice of life! Here's the thread that discusses the differences between the different breeds. BTW your hen is a beauty!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=128806

And Sunny, if you come to Vegas, I'm gonna need you to bring some of those black AM X wheaten AM eggs with you! That would be a cool mix!

I knew nothing about chickens when we got her. We aren't breeding we just want eggs. We got her from a guy that has a bunch of chickens and he got his from breeders. He is my sil's father. We wanted to buy two hens to get some eggs while we waited for the chicks to grow up. He just gave us some of his young hens. We got her and a dark cornish. They both lay great and that is all we really wanted. I was just confused because everytime someone shows a picture of a blue Ameraucana, it looks just like her, so I was wondering how people could automatically say she was an EE. I figured the olive eggs.

That is a great explanation. While there is a "chance" she is an Ameraucana, the odds are she is an EE. Again, it does not matter to me. I actually love them. And we won't have any roos, no plans on breeding or showing, so as long as they give us some pretty eggs, I am good lol.

 

[SunnyDawn]

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Hey, what's wrong with Vegas chicks?!? LOL!!!

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No problem!

 

[Liamm_1]

Here are my 3 EE's, 13 weeks old:
Cockerel (11 pullets out of 10 isn't bad lol), he's turning out to be quite pretty in my opinion. Might keep him if he behaves himself.

Goldie is the cockerel's girlfriend:

This is Flygirl. Ever since in the brooder, she loves to fly up onto the roost, as well as onto me, when I'm doing chores in the run. Which is cute, except when the run is muddy/poopy lol
She *is* a pullet, right?

Cockerel taking his gf Goldie out to lunch:

 

[Kassaundra]

Not an expert, but flygirl looks like a girl to me. Very pretty and handsome.