The EE braggers thread!!!

[flower]

Harvesting surplus and older birds is very practical but hard work unless you do it often and have help. There are posts on BYC which include folks experiences and recipes.
Not harvesting them is a waste. American Indians say prayers and thank the animal for giving up his life to help you sustain you and your family.

 

[gapeach717]

i would eat them, but, I live in an HOA neighborhood that already frowns on chickens so I am kind of an outlaw to begin with, but as soon as I know they are boys they have to go. I gotta keep crowing to a serious minimum. I have a gentleman who will take them to is 30 acre farm and give them a good life...unless he runs low on chicken! at least then they are going to have a nice life and eventually feed someone and things will stay silent as possible at my house. Now one day I will have my own good land for a bigger flock and will eat my boys, but not for a few years still.

 

[Peach2u]

Yes I too got misinformation about Ameraucanas the first year I started with chickens. I wanted the breed. I found a farm in the area that said they had them. I get there and no parents on site just a bunch of chicks he ordered from a company. I forgot the hatchery name. So I said ok and picked out a few. Later I ended up with 2 pullets. Hoping for green/blue eggs I got brown from 1 green from the other! I started looking and reading and found out I have EE's. I learned not all was as it seems. But I liked thoses sweet hens. The next year I found a breeder in Deleno, TN. I checked out her flock. Then I bought 15 chicks. Turns out I got 3 pullets ;-P So then I just pick up 12 EE's from a guy in AL. I got 4 pullets that time. Then we moved to the country where we started up a chicken project. I bought a splash maran rooster. Then I picked up 5 black copper marans. Only 1 pullet. Are you keeping count? 8 hens out of 32 chicks.
Last year was a bad year I ended up with 24 too many roosters

This year I collected only the green eggs and chocolate eggs to be hatched out by a broody(14) and incubator(46) And 20 BCM chicks all due in 6-7 days. I am hoping for better luck this year out of my own chickens. Half pullets would be good lol. I will be getting rid of all the roosters again as well as any pullets that have combs. They will make great laying hens of olive and chocolate colored eggs. I only kept the xlarage and up to hatch. But I just want to keep a small flock under 30. Goal is to have all blue chickens that lay blue, green, olive and chocolate eggs. A few years of select breeding should get me there. Blue EE's and blue copper marans are hard to find in my area.

 

[gapeach717]

Omg I would be so sad if I get that many boys!!!!

 

[Kassaundra]

peach2u, you are so scaring me, I have 15 straight run ordered just am waiting for delivery. I was bracing myself for half boys, but had not given much thought to those ratios, until now!

 

[Peach2u]

sorry, I was just unlucky. I almost think that they picked out the pullets and I got the strait run out of what was left lol.

 

[Sueg4332]

last year bought 12 E pullets right ( 6 roosters 6 pullets. just sold 3 of the pullets because laid light tan eggs. and theres another pullet in there that lays a tan egg. he leaving too. Pretty little hen buffs and nice rose combs. I kept a rooster from that group hope him passes a blue gene. Have eggs in bator should hatch a week before Easter.
Got some ameraucana eggs to hatch Easter . want some blue egg layers. o hope they hatch...
My OE barred are laying beautiful olive eggs. Love my barred EEs OEs
Chickens are so addicting

 

[GoDawgs]

I'm really irritated with my Easter Eggers. I loved them when I purchased them last spring, when they first started laying. I got 3 - 4 eggs per week from each, and I love those pretty eggs! Then they started molting in October and hadn't laid since. FIVE months with no eggs???? What the heck is going on? They are well fed, well watered, clean coop, get plenty of calcium, act happy and look healthy.

I have them listed on Craigslist and on here to give them away, but that makes me sad because I love their pretty eggs Do I have bum Easter Eggers? Do you think the seller was untruthful about their age? Any ideas?

 

[blueferral]

My girls are going on 2 years old. They are laying 6 eggs a week, each. (knock on wood) Sorry to hear yours are not

.

 

[Peach2u]

I too had about the same thing happen. I bought 10 Ameraucanas from a guy on craigslist. They where suppose to be 1 year old. I really didn't want them cause they where beat up. He had 64 roosters in with those 8 hens. They where all bald and under size. So I bought them and said if they don't lay in 4 months it's freezer camp. Five months later they all look fat and happy. But some didn't lay. So I separated them 2 at a time in a chicken tractor for a week and weeded out he ones not laying. I have 2 left and they lay about 3 eggs a week. The funny thing is last month I sold my RIR, golden comets and cali white on craigslist. And guess who comes to buy them? Yes, I told him what I though of his hens lol. He said he got them from someone else in a trade and was told they where 1 year old. At least he got to see 2 of the hens I got from him. He was impressed with the size of Roca. and he bought mine. All my chickens are treated as pets to a point. Fat healthy chickens make Xlarge yummy eggs! I have to say out of all the farms I've gone to over the last 3 years getting chickens. Mine live like queens. The bird feeder is their buffet. They stand under it most of the day just waiting for the birds to drop something. When I let them out of the coop in the morning the first place they run is the bird feeder. Then in the heat of the day they go sit under the bushes by the creek. Making a dam is on the list this summer when the water goes down and it drys up. Then later on a well to pump water in it all year.