What can I expect from an EE?

[JLT9807]

My EE laid her first egg today!!! It was a pretty bluish/green egg and rather small. She is the first one we've ever had so I was wondering how often they lay eggs?

I'm calling her EE based on things I've read here on BYC. I purchased her at a local feed store and she was advertised as an Ameracauna (sp?).

 

[mrsbos]

Since EEs are considered "mutt" chickens, I'm not sure it's possible to pin down specific characteristics that would apply to all of them. I bought my EEs (advertised as Ameraucanas) at a local feed store last August. They started laying pastel olive and pastel blue eggs around 5 months old, and at 8 months old I"m getting nearly an egg a day from each of them. It's been great!

 

[AKsmama]

She'll lay about one egg a day, probably

Chickens lay on a 25 hour cycle, so they do skip a day every once in a while, but in general, you'll get an egg a day. They do stop if overly stressed, broody, sick, injured, and during molting.

 

[kittycooks]

Quote:
I love EE's, they tend to have docile personalities, olive legs, puffy checks and lay those pretty colored eggs. They are not registered by the APA as show chickens for 4H; they are a mix of the Araucanas and Americacanas. As mrsbos mentioned they are mutts because the breed lines and colors were not kept "pure".

My last flock was all EE's, my current flock has one. (I ordered two but one was a roo, not allowed in my suburb) They are friendly, intelligent and sweet. I too get 5-6 eggs a week from "Bunny", my EE hen.

 

[TinyLittleFarm]

I also get about 6 eggs a week. Mine just turned a year old, and I noticed a nice increase in the size of her eggs in the last couple months. They're huge now!

 

[dewey]

Congrats on the first egg! They should be great layers for you. Their colored eggs have always been my favorite. The first eggs are smaller, and the eggs get bigger. My grandkids will get naturally colored eggs for easter this year.

 

[franklinchickens]

We love our EE's - we have 2 - one lays blue and one lays olive. Generally 5-6 a week though when one of ours molted, we didn't see an egg for 2 months. Now she's laying them in the compost bin! But now that it is spring, we're seeing about an egg a day. They are both very friendly, like to be held and try to get in the house to hang out with us. Much friendlier than our wyandotte's.

 

[tuesdays chicks]

My ee pullets have been great layers since they started had 1 lay an egg for 2 weeks straight the other started with some production glitches which fingers crossed has stabilized, but I think they have RIR in their genes, it will definitely depend on whats in the mix.

 

[gryeyes]

My two oldest EEs, mother and daughter (my first GrandChick), lay very nice, large green eggs. Two more, sisters, "step-sisters" of my first GrandChick - same daddy, different mom - lay nice green eggs. I also have two bantam EEs who lay equally nice green eggs, just smaller.

I used to just include 2 green eggs in every carton of 12 eggs I sold, but now I have so many green eggs I've upped the count to four! And I was swimming in green bantam eggs until one of those gals (Angel) went broody. She hatched 8 chicks just today. (Two died of misadventure before I got out there to sequester the new family from visitors.)

They're really good layers.

My first GrandChick is the result of my dominant rooster, an EE, fertilizing the egg of my once-upon-a-time only EE hen, both feed store chicks. Samantha is practically the spitting image of her egg mother, Rebecca. That's probably because both parents are EEs. My BO hatched the egg, though, because Rebecca has not ever gone broody. The next two EEs are a cross of that same EE rooster and a Delaware hen. The bantams are feed store chicks.

 

[7&8]

I loved my EE's. Of my mixed flock, mine were the quickest, most curious birds - very fun to watch. They did not like to be caught, but were very quiet when once caught. They maintained good weight, i.e., did not feed for the sake of feeding like the Orpingtons!

They were peacekeepers in the flock, always sensitive to stronger personalities. They would dart as soon as they saw a stink eye developing. And they were the most faithful layers; from the time they began laying one layed a large, light blue egg and a the other, a light green egg every day without fail. Sadly, Reynard foxed my flock last week and got the two EE's. But not before they had laid their last eggs.

I hope to find a few Auracanas or EE's from a local breeder to replace them.