What kind of chicken lays blue eggs

This breed is directly linked with the Araucanas that were imported in the s. Ameraucanas were developed in the s by breeders that liked the blue or tinted eggs of the Araucana but wanted closer head feathering and a plump, well-feathered body.

This is a dual-purpose breed that can be used for both meat and eggs. Unlike the Araucana, Ameraucanas have a tail and they have muffs and beards, not tufts. Some hatcheries accurately call their stock by the Easter Egger name. Others, as indicated, call their stock Araucana, Ameraucana, or Americana. This is a hybrid bird that lays blue, green, rose or even brown eggs. Although the name refers to a holiday basket of colored eggs, your Easter Egger will not lay different colored eggs each time it lays an egg.

Whatever color egg it lays first is the color it will continue to lay for a lifetime. Easter Eggers are a fun bird to have in a backyard flock. Olive Eggers are beginning to build in popularity as people like to have all sorts of egg colors in their baskets.

They are a hybrid chicken that can come from a variety of breeding combinations. Most hatcheries use Marans dark brown egg layer , Ameraucanas, Welsummers dark brown egg layer , and Cream Legbars in their pairings.

Crossing a brown egg layer with a blue egg layer can result in an olive green egg. And depending on the depth of the brown egg layer used, the deeper the olive color. Like the Easter Egger, Olive Eggers come in many different feather color combinations. Some can have crests, some can have feathered legs, some have pea combs, and others have single combs. This is a rare and relatively new addition to the blue egg laying scene in the United States.

They are not recognized by the American Poultry Association. Cream Legbars were created by R. Punnet, a renowned geneticist, in the United Kingdom in the s. Careful breeding of Araucanas with other breeds produces certain feather patterns. Friendly, smart, cold- and heat-hardy, they lay well in the winter, with colorful eggs that range from blue, green, rose or brown to sage, olive or cream. Their eggs also tend to be quite large, Torres says. Leghorn genetics introduce Type A body and temperament traits.

Marans are calm, easygoing birds of medium size and Type B build. With a Type B build, Welsummers are great foragers that lay large chocolate-brown eggs with darker speckles and do well in heat and cold. Because eggshells are predominantly calcium carbonate, hens also should have access to calcium. Brown, blue, speckled and shades in between: colorful eggs make a splash at market.

Wyatt, a creative writer with more than 20 years experience. She has more than stories and articles as well as numerous books to her credit. She writes about a broad collection of topics including coffee farmers and cliff dwellers. Find her online at www. It is still quite rare in the United States and is not yet a recognized breed there.

In , the Cream Legbar Club was established to encourage the keeping of Cream Legbars and eventually get the breed recognized by organizations like the American Poultry Association. Read more about Cream Legbar Chickens. If a chick inherits either gene from both parents, it will die before hatching.

He thus crossed his Araucanas with chickens from several different breeds. The American Poultry Association recognized the Ameraucana as a legitimate breed in The Ameraucana can be either a bantam or a large fowl, and the males are heavier than the females. In bantams, the females weigh between 24 and 26 ounces, while the males weigh between 26 and 30 ounces. In large fowl, the females weigh about 5. The Ameraucana comes in eight colors: white, wheaten, silver, buff, brown-red, blue wheaten, blue and black.

Its pea comb and wattles are both red. It gets along well with both humans and fellow chickens. It is independent and enjoys free-ranging. The Ameraucana has a life expectancy of about seven or eight years. Read more about Ameraucana Chickens. The ones that lay blue eggs inherited the gene for blue eggs from an Araucana or Ameraucana ancestor. Read more about Easter Eggers.

China is home to two breeds, the Dongxiang and the Lushi. The Dongxiang is known for also having black skin, muscles, and even organs. The Lushi is described as small, with the hens weighing under three pounds and the cocks weighing not quite found pounds. It is said to lay pink eggs as well as blue eggs, so it may be the Chinese version of an Easter Egger. Keith Bramwell. It is said to be a cross between a white Leghorn and an Araucana. It resembles a Sumatra hen and has a pea comb and yellow legs.

He wanted a bird with superb hackle feathers that also produced blue eggs. Hackle feathers, for the record, are the feathers around the neck. In roosters, the hackle feathers are long, thin, and can be quite impressive. When a rooster gets ready to fight, it will raise its hackles to make itself look larger and more fearsome. People used to claim that blue eggs had more protein and less cholesterol than did eggs of other colors.

This a myth. In terms of calories, proteins, and cholesterol, all eggs have the same nutritional value, no matter what color the shell is.