Easter eggers

[Shnookie]

I put up an ad to sell the 6 "pure" Ameraucana hens I got from BC eggs. I advertised them as Easter eggers for $10 each (I need the space). They are poor quality examples of Ameraucanas, but lay light green eggs. They don't even look nice right now - they are finishing a partial molt and have pretty much no tails. In a short time I got replies from 4 people - one from Ontario! I got an e-mail from the buyer to say he liked them.

Maybe I should just use the Ameraucana roo with red leakage and breed some mixed up Easter eggers.

[windwalkingwolf]

I love my Easter Eggers. I can extract any colour, any pattern, any feature I want just by mixing and matching birds for a generation or two. Every bird is colourful, and different, and they're a lot of fun. I don't sell birds any more, but when I did, I never had any problem getting hens to move, but roosters were another story. You can't even GIVE them away, because everybody else also has pretty roosters they don't have room for and can't give away as well! The only two roosters I ever sold were both frizzled, and I had to sit on them quite a long time before I found buyers. I had to get comfortable with eating a LOT of chicken, which is a good idea if you plan to breed ANY breed or type, but I've found it harder with the EEs because they're pretty .
I have my "serious" breed that I breed to standard (and honestly, I eat way more of those), and my "just for fun" backyard mixes, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[TomK]

Jan...those guys i sent your way should be doing ok unless you ate them..lol

[windwalkingwolf]

Jan...those guys i sent your way should be doing ok unless you ate them..lol

Nope, I haven't eaten them yet! Rooster number 1, I'm currently waiting for his 8 kids to grow up. Got a couple weird coloured pullets and some solid blacks, and some black cockerels with red leakage out of him, but nothing as colourful as I had hoped, yet... but thanks to a couple of the moms, some are single for mottling and some are definitely going to have lemon, silver or gold leakage, so next gen should be colourful. Rooster number 1:

Rooster number 2 is my absolute favourite for looks. Possibly of any EE rooster I've ever had, Gonzo included. I am very partial to the silver on black, and I love his fat, fluffy, chunky type. Much more like a fluffy, deep Orpington, and much less like Ameraucana, which tend to pass their game heritage body type down through several generations of cross breeding. He also has a cushion type comb, which I like. Unfortunately, he is very subordinate; other roosters flog him relentlessly (he doesn't spar at all, he just runs and they follow) and the ladies shun him. I've tried locking him up with a few hens, but they REALLY don't like him He does the "do" that roosters do with hens, and they submit eventually, but fertility is low--they eject his offerings He sleeps alone, poor guy, literally none will sit next to him, ever. I assume they all know something that I don't, but I really wish I could breed this guy. I've considered isolating him and doctoring him up for the winter, and see if things are better in the Spring. My gut says no, that the other chickens know best. My head says it's probably something I can fix with a little attention, a little less competition for the best food, but that it would be a temporary fix for noone's benefit but my own. The scholar in me wants to know if his offspring might inherit his...reclusive...tendencies. I DO like to eat chicken. Rooster number 2:

[Farrier1987]

[/quote]
other roosters flog him relentlessly (he doesn't spar at all, he just runs and they follow) and the ladies shun him. [/quote]

Reminds me of me going to the bar many years ago.