The Olive-Egger thread!

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

I am trying to get a feel for the approx/egg per week and average size for the Easter Egger. Would love to have one in our flock

 

[aart]

I am trying to get a feel for the approx/egg per week and average size for the Easter Egger. Would love to have one in our flock

Since they are bred from various crosses, they can vary in size and productivity.
Most are mid-sized and laying can be sporadic and/or inconsistent.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

so, would it be better to stay with an EE or Americana if I wanted to make sure I had somewhat consistent laying?

 

[aart]

so, would it be better to stay with an EE or Americana if I wanted to make sure I had somewhat consistent laying?

Neither.

Most Americana are EE.(note the spelling)
Even pure bred Ameraucana are not great layers.

Get production breeds if you want consistent laying.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

I realized I spelled that incorrectly! I am going to have girls that are better producers in the flock. My EE/Ameraucana/Olive Eggers are for my want of colored eggs and cool birds
So, given that, would you steer clear of the Olive Egger?
Thank you so much for the help,
Jenny

 

[aart]

I realized I spelled that incorrectly! I am going to have girls that are better producers in the flock. My EE/Ameraucana/Olive Eggers are for my want of colored eggs and cool birds
So, given that, would you steer clear of the Olive Egger?
Thank you so much for the help,
Jenny

It depends on your goals.
If you want lots of eggs consistently get productions breeds.
If you want colored eggs, realize they might not be great producers.

I have hatchery EE's(they are called Americana or Ameraucana or Araucana - but they are not).
I can't afford pure bred Ameraucanas and they are very hard to find anyway.
Some of my EE have laid a good blue and I have hatched their eggs for OE as I have a Welsummer cockbird. They all do OK, but can be inconsistent as they get older.

 

[magdelaine]

I realized I spelled that incorrectly! I am going to have girls that are better producers in the flock. My EE/Ameraucana/Olive Eggers are for my want of colored eggs and cool birds
So, given that, would you steer clear of the Olive Egger?
Thank you so much for the help,
Jenny

As said above, they can vary so much. I had one OE until she was re-homed recently; I bred her myself and she was a great layer of a small, dark olive egg BUT she was congenitally blind. I kept her because she laid 5 days a week, better than any of my others. My favorite OEs are those bred from my Birchen Marans because they are jumbo egg size layers, but I'm lucky to get 3 eggs a week from them, my Marans, or any of my Ameraucanas. If you are going to have other "production' birds, they will make a great addition to your flock.

 

[Little Coop on Salt Creek]

The feed store we were going through who was going to special order for us has Ameraucanas now and I was thinking I would order EE later. But you are saying they are all the same, right?

 

[aart]

The feed store we were going through who was going to special order for us has Ameraucanas now and I was thinking I would order EE later. But you are saying they are all the same, right?

Most hatchery 'Ameraucanas' are really EE.
What hatchery are they ordering from?
There's one that legit, but I can't remember which one...will look for it.

ETA: It's Meyers https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1151261/are-my-hens-really-ameraucanas/40#post_18067507

 

[Catandherchicks]

I realized I spelled that incorrectly!  I am going to have girls that are better producers in the flock.  My EE/Ameraucana/Olive Eggers are for my want of colored eggs and cool birds
So, given that, would you steer clear of the Olive Egger?
Thank you so much for the help,
Jenny

Both of my OEs took the winter off and are just now coming back on line, sporadically - maybe 3/week. My little EE has been laying six days in a row, takes a day off and then back at it all through winter. @aart gave the goods if you want quantity. But since you said you want different colored eggs, can't hurt to have an OE or two. Some crosses may be more productive than others.
(Just IMHO)