# Our first Green one...



## PurpleHeartJarhead (Mar 23, 2014)

One of our Easter Eggers finally gave up her first egg, a nice, medium sized, pale olive colored egg. So cool!


----------



## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

Good for you! 
When I bought my chicks this spring, they were out of easter eggers. I couldn't get any this year, but maybe I'll get a few this coming spring.


----------



## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

Aurucanas? Aurucana crosses?


----------



## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

My first green one...


----------



## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

LMAO!!! I remember my first yellow one..
BAH you got me started!


----------



## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

RevWC said:


> My first green one...


Well Rev, you can't deny that one, it looks just like you. :wave:


----------



## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Sounds like the green ones ours lays. 

The novelty has worn off for me... 
I want those hens gone and would like to replace them with better hens.


----------



## PurpleHeartJarhead (Mar 23, 2014)

LincTex said:


> ...would like to replace them with better hens.


Better how? Do yours not produce?


----------



## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

PurpleHeartJarhead said:


> Better how? Do yours not produce?


I want good dispositioned hens. I like the Barred Rocks, Buff Orps and Australorps the best, with the Brahma roosters by far the gentlest. I would rather have a Buff Orp roo, but would be fine with a Buff/Brahma mix roo.


----------



## PurpleHeartJarhead (Mar 23, 2014)

LincTex said:


> I want good dispositioned hens. I like the Barred Rocks, Buff Orps and Australorps the best, with the Brahma roosters by far the gentlest. I would rather have a Buff Orp roo, but would be fine with a Buff/Brahma mix roo.


I see. Ours are actually pretty calm, we have two. They aren't friendly, like "hey pick me up and pet me" like our Barred Rocks, but they aren't mean. They are fairly middle of the road.


----------



## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

I love green eggs and ham!

I remember when I traded for some hens and one was a white egg layer. I thought there was something wrong with her. 

Easter eggers are mixed breeds that lay colorful eggs, usually of Ameraucana with others. Kind of a barnyard mix but with the egg color. They're usually good chickens and dual purpose. Generally, if they have green legs they will lay green eggs. 

I specifically raise (for trade and barter) RIR, Barred Rock, Australorp, Ameraucana and Buff Orpington right now. I've also raised B&W Jersey Giants, Black Orpington, Speckled Sussex, Wyandotte, Delaware and a few others. Barnyard mixes are usually the hardiest and best layers but the full blooded ones sell/trade better so I keep some of each.


----------



## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

Now that it's getting cold, and this is my first year of having laying hens, what about frozen eggs?

My hens don't lay on the eggs. They lay the eggs and get out of the nest. My nest boxes are the kind that once an egg is laid, it rolls out, into a separate place. It's old, and some of the floors are bent and don't work properly, but even the nests that have eggs, no one is laying on them.

So, when I leave in the morning, it's still dark out. When I get home, it's almost dark. I hurry up and feed, water, collect eggs, and give everybody treats. (Rabbits, chickens & dog) Since it's gonna be below freezing this week, are my eggs gonna be frozen when I collect them? And what do I do about it?


----------



## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

jeff47041 said:


> Now that it's getting cold, and this is my first year of having laying hens, what about frozen eggs?
> 
> My hens don't lay on the eggs. They lay the eggs and get out of the nest. My nest boxes are the kind that once an egg is laid, it rolls out, into a separate place. It's old, and some of the floors are bent and don't work properly, but even the nests that have eggs, no one is laying on them.
> 
> So, when I leave in the morning, it's still dark out. When I get home, it's almost dark. I hurry up and feed, water, collect eggs, and give everybody treats. (Rabbits, chickens & dog) Since it's gonna be below freezing this week, are my eggs gonna be frozen when I collect them? And what do I do about it?


I check mine twice a day on the really cold days

Yes, they can and will freeze. It doesn't usually make a mess, you will just see a split shell with frozen whites in the gap. If that happens, I just feed them to the dogs.

I keep two brooder heat lights in the coop, so generally I don't lose any to freezing unless its one of those below zero days.


----------



## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

jeff47041 said:


> Since it's gonna be below freezing this week, are my eggs gonna be frozen when I collect them? And what do I do about it?


I hard boil them,
Crush/mash them with shells and all...
Let the "mash" dry for a while on a cookie sheet so it's not quite so mushy...

...and feed them right back to the hens again. 
They need the protein and calcium.


----------



## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

jeff47041 said:


> Now that it's getting cold, and this is my first year of having laying hens, what about frozen eggs?
> 
> My hens don't lay on the eggs. They lay the eggs and get out of the nest. My nest boxes are the kind that once an egg is laid, it rolls out, into a separate place. It's old, and some of the floors are bent and don't work properly, but even the nests that have eggs, no one is laying on them.
> 
> So, when I leave in the morning, it's still dark out. When I get home, it's almost dark. I hurry up and feed, water, collect eggs, and give everybody treats. (Rabbits, chickens & dog) Since it's gonna be below freezing this week, are my eggs gonna be frozen when I collect them? And what do I do about it?


You might try putting hay or an old towel or blanket squinched up to form a nest where the eggs are going to end up.

Your hens are quite normal, they don't sit on the eggs unless they're broody.

I have a medieval set up and get a lot of frozen eggs in winter but I just feed a lot of eggs anyway so I just use the frozen ones for feed for the hens, cat's and dogs. I make my own dry and wet cat and dog food as well.


----------



## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

LincTex said:


> I hard boil them,
> Crush/mash them with shells and all...
> Let the "mash" dry for a while on a cookie sheet so it's not quite so mushy...
> 
> ...


This is what I do as well.


----------



## PurpleHeartJarhead (Mar 23, 2014)

*Lucky so far, on two counts...*

This is our first winter too. Did I say that previously??? In any case...

1st...our EEs are now laying regularly, we have two, and we are getting two eggs a day, most days. They were the last to start laying, but when they started, they were of a very nice size right away, medium-large, by weight.

2d, I didn't insulate the coop when I built it. There are no heat lamps. Just a regular incandescent bulb so they get their 14 hours or so of daily light. There is a mixture of straw and wood shavings on the floor (deep-litter). We use 5 gallon buckets as nesting boxes and wood shavings as a nesting material. We have not yet had any eggs freeze, even when we get a surprise egg that was dropped overnight. Our birds usually are done laying between 10am and 2pm.

We have had below zero nights a couple of nights consecutively now and many below freezing nights and nothing has been frozen. I have no broody hens either, they all just drop and go.

Anyway, good winter-laying to everyone!


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

LincTex said:


> I want good dispositioned hens. I like the Barred Rocks, Buff Orps and Australorps the best, with the Brahma roosters by far the gentlest. I would rather have a Buff Orp roo, but would be fine with a Buff/Brahma mix roo.


Australorps- about 200 eggs a year per hen.

Brahma- about 150 eggs a year per hen.

Buff Orp- about 180 eggs a year per hen.

I like your picks.
But what would you do with more then 15 or 20 of these hens?


----------



## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

As far as breeds go, I’ve had several. I’ve had none that lay like ISA Browns. Originally they were a cross between a Rhode Island Red hen and a Rhode Island White rooster. They are incredible egg layers, usually around 300 eggs their first year. They are not long lived for this reason. They literally lay themselves to death.

Tractor supply usually has pre-sexed hens (chicks) of this breed but they don’t go by that name. Usually they have no breed name. Most white with brown spots and streaks. I’ve learned to spot them as chicks and pick up a few most years.

Here is a mix of ISA Browns and RI Reds from ’13 (1st pic). The reds are red, browns –white and light brown (mostly brown). As chicks they have a lot more white feathers.

This year I crossed ISA’s and Australorps. I got white and black/red chicks. They haven’t started laying yet… Time will tell. Thats and ISA hen with them...

My niece said she got some Ameraucana hens. They haven’t started laying yet either. She’s excited and can’t wait for her first green egg!

Freezing… I found that cutting down on the number of laying boxes decreased freezing problems. Last winter I had over 25 hens that were laying. I used 2 nests. There was always a hen in each, sometimes 2 or 3 lol.


----------

