Easter Eggers are a very interesting, diverse and fairly “new” breed, originally bred from an Araucana and a brown egg layer. The majority of Easter Egger chicks are expected to carry a blue egg gene, have muffs, beards, a pea comb and they frequently have slate blue or greenish grey legs.
Because Easter Eggers are a mixed breed, they benefit from something called Hybrid Vigor. Their gene pool is so diverse that the chicks tend to be born strong and healthy. Another result of this diversity is that Easter Eggers have a wide range of plumage colours and patterns.
Livingseeds Hatchery currently supplies Blue/Slate, Black, Splashed and Red Easter Eggers, from which our customers could expect a number of shades of grey, green, blue, and even some tan eggs.
Easter Eggers were so named due to their diverse and decorative egg colours, which are reminiscent of decorated eggs that were used for Easter Egg hunts in the Northern Hemisphere prior to the advent of the chocolate Easter Egg. Although many different egg colours are possible from this breed, each hen can only produce one colour: if a pullet lays a green egg, she will never lay a blue or pink egg. Easter eggers typically lay between 240 – 260 eggs each year and are regarded as one of the more quiet and docile breeds. We have occasionally come across more aggressive individuals, however these are rare and not the norm.
Between the diverse egg colours, beautiful birds and their docile natures, there are plenty of reasons to add Easter Eggers to your flock.