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.
Cons: Ours don't lay very many eggs, usually you can barely tell their eggs are blue, ours are all skittish.
Ours are very pretty birds, but ours egg colors aren't my favorite, and ours don't lay very often. Ours our very very skittish. Some like to free range, most like to stay in the barn and barnyard...
Cons: I've heard they sometimes can suffer from a cleft pallet.
Their eggs are large and have green shells. Everybody I sell eggs to LOVES getting the green ones. The eggs almost cannot fit in the carton! I wish I had gotten more Easter Eggers! Everyone loves Eleanor! She's so friendly too! She comes right up on my lap as soon as sit down. She also lays her eggs very quick! I saw her sit down and come right back out and there was a nice green egg right there in the nesting box. I've heard they sometimes can suffer from a cleft pallet. Eleanor did not have that problem but it's common in Easter Eggers.
Pros: Beautiful, look like wild birds
Cool eggs of various colors
Cons: Some people are put off by blue and green eggs
To my eye, Easter Eggers are gorgeous! They are wild looking birds, with subtle variations of color, each one unique and different from the others. Some are large bodied, some small, some have beards and muffs, some have smooth faces. And the eggs! So interesting to discover the color egg that each girl will lay.
My Easter Eggers have always been mild mannered and a bit stand-offish. That is not a negative at my place. I'm not a lap chicken type of girl. These hens are independent and smart, they have excellent survivability when free ranging.
I always have Easter Eggers in my flock. The other breeds vary, but always a few Easter Eggers.
Pros: Good egg production, colorful, well mannered.
Easter Eggers are the perfect breed to get some interesting colors within your flock. Plus, blue eggs (most of the time)! The EE's I've ever had, have always been great egg layers too. They lay fairly large eggs. They're a very fun breed! They are usually easy going and calm. Some have been very friendly and others can stay by you, but just preferred not to be touched. But never too skittish.
Not sure what it is, but they can sometimes chose to fly around and hop the fence when they are young. Hasn't been much of an issue when they got full size. Plus, nothing a good wing trimming cant fix.
Pros: -Very friendly, my hen even likes to be petted, my EE rooster is skittish around people but not aggressive, and is great with the hens
-Lays a consistent 6 out of 7 days a week
I love having a colorful egg basket, and adore blue/green/pink egg colors as well as their adorable fluffy beards. All of the EE's I've had have been amazing birds, both as consistent egg layers for the hens as well as great roosters. They are one of my friendlier birds, running up to me, even flying up to perch on my arm. I can't wait to get more of these awesome birds
Pros: So beautiful and unique, in looks and in egg colors
Always laying
Roosters are so caring to their hens and protect them amazingly!
Quiet birds, and pretty friendly
Mine all had pea combs and never got frostbite
Lives for a very long time
Cons: You have to be strict with the nest boxes, mine would always sneak away and lay somewhere else
Like roosting in trees and on the patio
Beards will often get messy
My two most recent EEs was the cutest couple. My rooster Fluffy and my hen Part-Stripey (my niece named it, and even though it's weird, I find it's oddly adorable!).
First of all, they were super pretty and fluffy. Part-stripey was a beautiful fluffy mash-up of gray and black, and Fluffy the rooster had the beautiful and majestic long tail feathers My hen also laid very pretty eggs, ranging from sky blue to blue-gray.
Fluffy was friendly, quiet, and protected the flock amazingly. He clearly loved his hens a lot! He did favor Part-stripey a bit much though, and she did have some bareback. I've noticed with past EE roosters that they can get a bit possessive with a single hen. Part-stripey was a bit skittish though. They are also very healthy due to being a mix and mine lived very long.
They didn't like roosting in the coop at all though. We got lazy at one point and just let them roost whenever, wherever (they were basically free-ranging 24/7 and never got hurt by a predator which is amazing)... and they chose the porch. SO MUCH CHICKEN POOP!
Part-stripey also didn't lay much in the nest boxes. We once found a giant nest where she had been laying, but it was too late, and they were all rotten. Such a waste of beautiful eggs... Their beards also got kinda messy when eating but was never honestly a problem.
Overall........ I love easter eggers!
Pros: Beautiful eggs, good foragers, nice temperaments, hardy.
Cons: None.
I love their personalities and their cute faces. Their pretty eggs are nice too. They are also quieter than some of my other chickens, for some reason. Over all they have been healthier than some of the other breeds I have kept. Nice birds!
Pros: -Everyone enjoys their egg color it's so good for anyone all ages!
-They are most definitely docile towards people are kids
-They come in all different colors, many are very unique
-Their beards are so cute and very fluffy
Cons: - You might not get a consistent look with each chicken if you are looking for specific colors
-You might not get consistent egg colors you might end up with green, blue, salmon, white, and maybe even brown
Easter Eggers' are my absolute favorite breed. There really isn't any other breed that are like them. Though they aren't quite popular in the industrial world they are fantastic hardy chickens in the backyard chicken keeping world. Their signature beards and their unique egg colors make them such a fun breed to keep. I personally love the fact that you never really know what color pallet you will be getting with them as chicks. When I have people over this is the breed of chicken that I can rely on showcasing since they are usually great with people. Highly recommend!!!
We have 5 and they are all so friendly and sweet. They come running to the coop run door as soon as they see us and follow us around the yard. Each one looks different and they are beautiful.