Poultry farming has many aspects that are all beneficial and bring a lot towards farming it. It is known that we raise poultry to obtain eggs and meat, but some do not raise poultry for this only.
Where the advantages of raising chickens outweigh these two advantages, some raise them to have a pet to play and have fun with.
Indeed, there are plenty of friendly, social chickens that do this. Some also want to get an aesthetic view by forming an egg basket with different colors of chicken eggs. Indeed, chicken eggs are not limited to white and brown colors only, as these are the famous ones.
But in fact, there are many wonderful egg colors produced by some types of chicken, such as green, blue, and pink! Let’s agree, the color of eggs does not affect their nutritional value of them, and there is no preference for one color over another. Since it’s about genes responsible for eggshell pigments only.
For example, the green color in chicken eggs, there is no specific standard breed that produces this color. But with hybridization and genetic modifications, some chickens lay beautiful green eggs.
So if you like to get green eggs, then continue reading the next lines with us, where we will give you the most important types of chickens that lay green eggs and the most important advice on raising them.
What Chickens Lay Olive Colored Eggs?
There are 2 main chicken breeds that lay olive colored eggs:
- Olive Eggers.
- Easter Eggers.
- Isbar.
Let’s deep dive into each type of them:
1. Olive Eggers
Olive Egger chicken is not a standard chicken breed in itself, but it is a hybrid breed that results from the mating of two different breeds of chicken, usually one of which is a blue egg layer and the other is a dark brown egg layer.
There are many chicken crosses that produce olive green eggs, including the most popular ones:
- Ameraucana x Maran
- Legbar x Maran
- Ameraucana x Barnevelder
- Legbar x Barnevelder
- Aracana x Welsomer
- Araucana x Maran
- Ameraucana x Welsummer
- Legbar x Welsummer
- Aracana x Barnefelder
- Whiting True Blue x Welsummer.
Therefore, there are no specific official standards for the characteristics of this chicken, as its features depend heavily on the breed of parents that have been crossed. But in general, these hens lay about 3-4 eggs per week, at a rate of 140-200 eggs per year.
Also, olive Eggers are often medium in size, not large chickens. Roosters weigh about 7 to 8 pounds, while hens weigh about 6 to 7 pounds. Since the strains that are crossed to obtain olive Eggers are generally dark in color, the resulting olive Eggers often have black or gray feathers.
Olive Eggers have great genetic diversity giving them a wide range of personalities and variations. But in general, they are known to love roaming and foraging.
So it is preferable to give them their upbringing in a wide yard if available. As they walk around, eating a variety of foods, and exposure to sunlight which enhances their continuous production of healthy eggs.
Their genetic diversity also comes in their interest from many aspects, not only in laying eggs in beautiful colors that backyard chicken breeders love. It also gives them strength and more acclimatization so they tolerate the extreme cold and also adapt to the heat.
Temperament
Olive Egger is their parents’ assessment as her mood cannot be accurately predicted. However, her temperament can be predicted depending on the breeds and temperament of the parents. Often the strains that are used to cross the Olive Egger have a good temperament.
So the Olive Egger is therefore in a good mood. They are known to be docile and non-aggressive chickens. They are also highly intelligent and social traits that make them an excellent choice for the backyard, especially in the presence of children.
Where your kids will enjoy chattering and lounging around them. But they must be protected so that they are not subject to bullying by aggressive dominant strains.
Health care
As we mentioned, Olive Eggers has tremendous genetic diversity because it comes from different crosses. which makes it healthy and resistant to many diseases. It is not subject to serious health problems.
The important point to consider is that mites and lice are the biggest concern for this species. These chickens must be checked and monitored constantly as it is difficult to notice the tiny mites because they are small and are likely to be easily overlooked.
So you must check your chickens periodically and clean them so that parasites do not accumulate, as mites and lice grow quickly if left without cleaning.
2. Easter Eggers
Easter egg chickens are not an officially recognized standard breed but rather a mixture of two other chicken breeds. It comes from several crosses, but all of them must have a hen that carries the ocean gene, which is responsible for the blue color of the eggs.
The Araucana and Amiraucana are the most common breeds of chicken crossed to produce Easter chickens.[1]
These chickens come in a wide variety of colors. The interesting thing with them is that the chicks do not remain in the color they started with, but you will be surprised by the colors of their feathers changing as they grow, and the patterns of their feathers also change. They have cute little beards and cheeks.
Easter Eggers are medium-sized chickens and tend to be small. Where you usually do not find large weights, where the chicken weighs about four pounds, and the rooster weighs about five pounds. You can sometimes find heavier weights from Easter Eggers.
Easter Eggers are one of distinctive chickens that lay many different colors of eggs. It may lay green, blue, pink, white, creamy, and dark brown eggs. This means that if you raise several hens of Easter eggs, they may fill your basket of eggs with a variety of beautiful colors.
But this does not mean that one chicken lays different colors of eggs, but rather that it lays a certain color and remains fixed on it throughout its productive life.
For example, if she starts laying green eggs, she will continue to lay green eggs throughout her life. Diversity results from raising several chickens from Easter Eggers, often from different breeds, not just certain two.
They are excellent egg layers as this Easter hen lays about 4-5 eggs per week at a rate of 280 eggs per year! So you can rely on it to provide your family’s needs for eggs, or even sell it if you have a large number of these chickens, as their colored eggs will attract many people.
Easter eggs are not good mothers, as it is not known that they go to the broody to sit on their eggs until they hatch.
Temperament
Easter Eggers are a calm breed known for their friendly, social nature. So they are a great addition to backyard chickens because they get along well with humans, love to play with children and tolerate being held and even cuddled.
But they must be protected from decisive breeds, who will seize, peck, and bully her meekness. It may be best to separate them from any quarrelsome strains so as not to be prey to them
Health care
These hybrid strains are often strong and healthy and do not have any serious health problems, except for parasites, so they must be controlled so that they do not suffer from any more serious symptoms of parasites, especially in their early years.
They have good health and have a wide variety of tolerances to extreme climates from desert to snow.
3. Isbar
Isbar chicken (also Ice Bar) is one of the newly developed hybrid breeds. Where the Catholic monk Martin Silverwood crossed different strains in the fifties of the last century, which resulted in this strain, which lays green eggs.
It is believed that Friar Martin Silverroad crossed Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshire Reds for getting his bar chicken.
It is a medium-sized chicken, with a hen weighing up to 3.3 pounds, and a rooster weighing 5.5 pounds.
Isbar chickens produce eggs even during the winter. They are known to produce all year round and can adapt to different weather conditions. Isbar chickens start laying eggs at five to six months of age. Some hens may be late in producing eggs in the seventh month. But overall they are great egg layers.
Isbar hen can lay about 4 to 5 large eggs per week, at a rate of about 200-250 eggs per year. She lays beautiful attractive green eggs that have a distinctive green color.
The shade of the eggs can sometimes shift from a pale green to a delicate olive. Some eggs may also have attractive brown spots. It is remarkable that Isbar chickens produce eggs during the cold winter months as well, due to their hardness and ability to adapt to the cold.
These chickens are good foragers and love to run and explore constantly as they are intelligent and agile birds that love to be kept constantly busy. So they will be able to get varied and delicious food by themselves.
Temperament
A cute and well-loved chicken due to its friendly and docile demeanor. Their easygoing, sociable personalities make them firm favorites for backyard breeders. They love to run towards you if you come to them and will be very happy if you come to them with treats.
The important advantage they have is that although chickens are meek and can be subjected to bullying, they are aggressive breeds. However, their roosters are very brave and will never back down if their hen threatens them. They always remain alert to sound an alarm in case of any danger.
Health care
Asper chickens have strong immunity and are often healthy. But inbreeding may cause immunity problems. Where the health, performance, and growth of chickens are affected and they have a low immune system. It makes them less resistant to bacteria and viruses, especially those that cause chronic respiratory diseases or CRD.
Infection of chickens with these respiratory problems leads to symptoms of coughing and sneezing and then develops into other serious health complications. Therefore, you must work to prevent them from the ground up in order to avoid these health problems.
Preventing inbreeding, reducing the stress of your birds, and vaccinating them will be good preventive measures to protect your chickens.
