I have kept 3 easter egger hens for the past 5 years. They have all been a pleasure to have in my flock. They all lay decently sized blue eggs. The main issue i have with this breed is that they completely stop laying in the winter time. Another issue is that they are clingy- but that doesnt bother me very much because i enjoy their attention. Others have found it annoying though. One of my EE hens may or may not have stolen a hamburger from my mother. Overall- i consider them a good breed. They dont really earn their keep with eggs but they make up for it in the personality department- if youre just keeping them as a hobby then i recommend them. i could go on and on about the antics my birds have gotten up to.
Pros: Fun colored eggs, cute fluffy cheeks and beard, friendly, forager, easy care
Cons: Moody and gets annoyed at others often, flys over my gate, mutt chicken breed, vocal
I rate the easter egger 7/10. I rate it this because I own a EE and it is well behaved but it isn't friendly towards others. They are sometimes loud but are very loveable and beginner friendly.
Pros: Friendly
Cool egg color
Interesting color varieties
Cons: Small eggs
Stop laying in cold weather
I originally bought my Easter Egger under the breed "Americauna" I have one 5 year old EE, and (probably) two 8 week old EEs, one of which is a frizzle. My older EE has always been friendly and doesn't mind being held. Although the breed is cold hardy, she hides in the coop in cold weather unlike my other chickens and stops laying early in the winter. Although I love the blue/green color, the eggs are on the small side. I they all have unique colors and muffs, and I would strongly recommend this breed.
Cons: -Can be skittish at times
-Can get sick often and easily (in my experience)
-not a real "breed"
Easter eggers are great. I've had them since the beginning of having chickens (well actually, I started off with ameraucanas, but after breeding more and more, they eventually are classified as 'easter eggers')
They are usually friendly and have amazing personalities. Overall, a great first breed to own.
I have two, a 4 year old, and a 1 year old. The 4 year old has cheek floof and a beard but my 1 year old has no beard or floof. They are both adorable and sweet!
Pros: adorable little fur tufts on their cheeks (unique to some easter eggers)
come in a multitude of different colors
Cons: it is common for Easter eggers to have cross beak problems as the same problem occurs in Ameraucana’s (not that I mind. My baby is adorable whatever problem her beak may have :) )
mine is an escape artist and a little on the flighty side . . . but that's something any chicken owner deals with no matter the breed
My easter egger has a cross beak but she has such a lively adorable thing with so much personality. Every time I forget to feed her(i feed her separately from the rest of the flock so she has a chance to eat better), she jumps to the top of her coop and flies out of the enclosure, and runs up to the porch, and sits waiting for me to remember. Lovely birds would recommend 10/10. Can't wait for her to start laying blue/green/pink eggs.
Pros: Many different varieties (as they’re not a breed)
Quirky, I love the pattern and color variations
Lay blue, green, and sometimes pink, eggs
Cons: Not very nice to other hens (my experience)
Often mistaken as Ameraucana’s
I love all the variations of this “breed”
EE are mixes, which are bred specifically for mating colored eggs.
I love my EE Yuki, and though I’m not angry at her (who could ever be angry at chicken?) I do get very frustrated that she was sold as an Ameraucana. It also annoys me that hatchery’s sell them as “Americana’s” or some other atrocious spelling.
Ok, enough about that. Yuki is the head of the flock, so she’s not the nicest to the others, but that’s ok. Yuki lays green eggs.
Pros: Good egg layer, quirky personalities, gorgeous feathers and beards
Cons: Mistaken for Ameraucanas, Araucanas, etc. Also kind of flighty.
I really like my Easter Eggers (whom I thought were Ameraucanas the first few months of their lives). They have the funniest little quirks and are super floofy. One of the two has finally started laying a pretty sage-green egg every other day and loves to announce it. (She is very loud) They both are kind of flighty and love to fly the coop. Aside from the noise and flightiness, they are some of the best (and most adorable) chickens I've owned.
Pros: Great layers of beautiful eggs, beautiful, friendly and make great pets.
Cons: Often confused with Ameraucanas or "Americanas", but that's not really their fault.
I bought mine at a store as "Americanas". I later found out that they were Easter Eggers, but I have no inclination to get rid of them for not being a recognized breed. They are friendly and make me laugh a lot. The eggs I get are different shades of green and blue, more beautiful than the sky. I love my EEs, everybody should have some.
Pros: Great layers; friendly birds that get along with others; colored eggs are popular
Cons: None that I can think of
As I said, Easter Eggers have become one of my favorite breeds in my flock; I definitely have more of them than any other breed. My grandkids love the colored eggs (they recognize the green and blue as "Grandma and Grandpa's" eggs). They are great layers with funny personalities.
I have one girl, "Amelia" who earned her name because she was what I call a "high flyer" who would come flying out of her coop every morning and would almost fly over our fence out of the chicken yard.
Sadly, one morning she got too rambunctious and took off before I had the door to her coop open; she'd done this before but this time she busted one of her air bladders in her chest. Folks - including our vet - recommended me "putting her out of her misery." I didn't have the heart. So we nursed her hoping on the outside chance her bladder might heal. It never did, but that hasn't slowed her. She started laying eggs again and is the last surviving member of her brood. Needless to say she is a special bird.
They aren't my friendliest breed in that I have others who love to be held, but they like to follow me around in the yard as I go about my business. More importantly, they get along with others in the flock and are good producers. As I said, they are one of my favorites.
Pros: Posted description states medium egg productivity, but mine lay an egg every day, with a very occasional exception.
Cons: Important to bear in mind when purchasing birds called "Americaunas" or similar. Some major feed stores that sell chicks like to sub these birds and dub them this name.
Pros: Mellow, comes in many colors, sweet, calm, good mother.
Cons: Roosters can be on the aggressive side.
My sister and I had two Easter Eggers (we called them Araucanas because the feed store probably sold them as such) when we were kids and both hens were great pets (one was buff orange, the other brown with gold neck feathers). We let our chickens free range then and my EE hatched out a batch of chicks once or twice. I recall one time when a large hawk landed on a fence post to check them out. We heard a ruckus and came running outside to find the hen jumping up at the hawk to scare it away. The babies were nowhere to be found, but after the hawk left momma chicken called them out from the shrubs where she'd told them to hide. She'd also allow us to hold them and play with them without a fuss. Great mother hen.
Now I have two Easter Eggers who are about 3 months old. One is gold and brown and she will let me hold her but prefers to just hang out around me or sit on my shoulder. The other one is mostly white with some rusty-dusted feathers and smoky gray neck feathers (really neat color) and she will come up to me and ''whine'' until I pick her up and give her snuggles. So very different personalities, but both very tame and comfortable with me.
The only reason I state the roosters are aggressive is because we adopted one from some friends of ours and he was always terrorizing us as kids, and the other was a street chicken on my block who terrorized the neighbors (but I was older at the time and simply picked him up to show him I wasn't afraid of him. After that, he was reluctant to attack me). Things might have turned out differently if I had been the one to raise either of the boys from eggs (most of the roosters I've raised since eggs or day-old have turned out great).
Some of the best Birds I have had they lay better than my Rode island Reds, are so sweet and gentle, they forage well over a large area I love this breed.
I absolutely love my EEs! They are sweet and smart. They have learned tricks for treats and were easily trained to go into the coop as raised them in the house as chicks. I had 11 and would lay up to 9 eggs a day most days. My girls lay pink, blue, green, and "taupe" colored eggs. I recently lost 5 of my flock due to a bobcat attack and am currently incubating more. I would love to introduce a roo to my flock because I would be devastated if I lost any more of my "originals" and want to carry on that bloodline as they are all sisters. They are great with my niece and nephew. I think they are a must for any flock.
Pros: Gave information that explained what an Easter Egger really is
Cons: couldn't find any off hand
Great description. We wanted to have colored eggs in our breed selection we picked the Ameraucana to our growing flock we got 43 40 Hens 2 Roosters and a tiny little one who we say is a surprise as we cant tell yet at 11 weeks we do hear someone in the coop trying to crow and we think it is our little surprise. this is our primary set up. our Main Hen house holds 100 Hens side coop holds 20 and we have separated coop/runs for each breeds roosters.
Cons: Not the best layers, can be noisy, variabilty
I have to say Easter Eggers are probably my favorite "breed", I love all of the randomness of the colors and how much each chick is a surprise as to what it'll look like. I had 3 Easter Eggers in my original flock of 10 (which sadly had to be rehomed when we moved), and now have 7 more EE chicks out of 21 total.
Of the original 3, 2 were the friendliest of the flock and were happy to be handled, and the other one was the least friendly of the entire flock and would scream and run if you ever managed to get close enough to touch her. That's what I mean about variability, it's lovely in the colors of the birds and the eggs, but if you want consistency then this is not the breed for you. The new chicks are still too young to assess but no one has the same color pattern.