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Chickens That Lay Green Eggs – What Chickens Lay Green Eggs?

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There are so many chicken breeds in the world, that it should come as no real surprise that there are chickens that lay green eggs.

Afterall, there are other colored egg layers, frizzle chickens, bantam chickens and all sorts of other fun types of chickens.  So, getting green chicken eggs is not too much of a stretch.

We have all kinds of different breeds in our layer flock, and when we started getting our flock together, we intentionally added in some chickens that lay green eggs.  We wanted to get all the different possible egg colors from our chickens.

Chickens That Lay Green Eggs – What Makes Green Eggs?

If you have read about how chickens make blue eggs, you may have a bit of an idea as to how green chicken eggs may come about.  All eggs start out white in color.

The egg color differences then come about by pigment being added to the shell during the time that the egg passes through the chickens oviduct.  When and what kind of pigment is added determines the ultimate color of the egg. (source)

Most chickens that lay green eggs have a blue egg base that then gets a brown egg tint put over top at the end of the egg formation process. (source) This results in green chicken eggs!

What Chickens Lay green Eggs?

1) Isbar

Isbar’s may be the one purebred chicken that lays green eggs.  They were developed in Sweden and lay varying colors of green eggs, sometimes with brown spots.  Isbar’s are considered a rare breed.

Another interesting fact about Isbars is that they are autosexing – this means that you can tell the sex of the chicks at hatch.

2) Easter Egger

Easter Eggers, while commonly referred to as a breed are not a purebred chicken.  They are simply a cross of a blue egg layer with a brown egg layer.

Easter Eggers are above average year round layers of medium sized green eggs.

3) Favaucana – Faverolles x Ameraucana

Favaucana’s are one of the types of chickens that lay green eggs which is also technically an Easter Egger.  You can make your own Favaucana’s by breeding faverolles and Ameraucanas.  Or, you can order them at some hatcheries like MyPetChicken.

4) Olive Egger

Technically speaking an olive egger is a type of Easter Egger.  Olive eggers are, as you can probably guess by their name one of the chickens that lays green eggs which are a dark olive green in color.

Olive Eggers are a cross of a chicken that lays blue eggs with a chicken that lays a dark brown egg.  The blue egg has the brown tint added on making the egg appear olive green.  To get darker olive colored eggs, simply mix in chickens that lay darker chocolate colored eggs.

Why Would you Want Chickens That Lay Green Eggs?

The main reason to get chickens that lay green eggs is just to add a little fun and color to your egg basket.  Also, if you are trying to make money raising chickens colored egg layers are always a popular choice for chicks to sell.

Another cool thing to having chickens that lay green (or other colored) eggs in your flock is it can help you tell which chickens are and are not laying.

Are Green Eggs different than other eggs?

Green chicken eggs are obviously different than other eggs in color.  That’s the whole point, right?  But in terms of taste, nutrition and all of the actual egg components, no, green eggs are no different than other eggs.

How Long Do Chickens Live? The Life Cycle of A Chicken

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If you have your own chicken flock, or maybe you’re just starting to raise baby chicks, you may start asking yourself “how long do chickens live?”  Afterall, you will want to be prepared for how long you will have your chickens, right?

When we started thinking about getting chickens, one of the first questions that we asked was that of “how long do chickens live”.  We wanted to know how long we might have our first chickens as well as how often we may need to replenish our layer flock.

So, how long do chickens live?

First, let’s just talk the simple, easy answer.  In general, it is accepted that the life cycle of a chicken is an average of 8 year.

So, that’s all right – 8 years is the answer to the question how long do chickens live.

Not, so fast.

Other factors to consider when thinking about the question – how long do chickens live.

First, although the life cycle of a chicken may average 8 years – that is just how long can that chicken live in general.  Most chickens these days, especially ones in backyard flocks probably live much shorter lives.

Why?

Well, predators are a really big issue for chickens.  I can’t tell you how many times we get messages from people who have purchased silkies or pullets asking if we have more available because something got their birds.

So, predator issues can most certainly bring the average down when answering how long do chickens live.

Another factor in how long the life cycle of a chicken will be is their care.  There are a lot of people jumping into backyard chickens.  Which is great – they can experience fresh eggs (which are SO good), as well as have some adorable pets.

However, most backyard flock enthusiasts aren’t going to run their chickens to the vet (like they might their dog) if they get sick.  And the fact is, chickens can be fragile at time.  Baby chicks need certain care.  Adult chickens can get all sorts of things like Marek’s or respiratory diseases – sometimes simply from wild birds flying through.

That’s not to say that raising chickens is SUPER hard, it really isn’t that bad 😉  However, when issues do arise, the likelihood that chickens are getting top notch medical care is just not realistic.

So, clearly, health and medical care will play a large role in the answer to the question how long do chickens live.

Does Breed Type Affect the Answer to the Question How long do Chickens Live?

Yes!  Chicken breed definitely can play a large role in how long a chicken will live.

For example, just out of purpose, most meat breeds are not going to live very long.  Not only are they butchered young, but most are bred to grow big, fast.  This fast growth often times can cause significant health issues if they are alive much after butchering age.

Also, there are production breeds, like sex link and leghorns.  These breeds, sort of like meat breeds, are bred to have large eggs and to produce like gangbusters quickly.  This means they start laying early and lay super often (5 – 7 times a week usually).

This constant egg laying can ultimately take a toll on their overall health and potentially cause health issues.  Which can cause them to have a shorter life span.

So, again, how long do chickens live?

As you can see, the answer to how long chickens live really can vary.  Of course, we can answer that question by looking at the average life cycle of a chicken.

That answer, as we have reviewed, is about 8 years.

However, that answer is not really the end all, be all as there are a lot of other factors that will be at play.  Particularly, breed, medical care, health and potential predators.

In our flock, we do have a few girls who have reached the 6 year age range now and still seem to be clucking along just fine 🙂  However, unfortunately, it is more common to loose some chickens earlier in life due to predators and other issues.

For More on Chickens:

Frizzle Chicken
Chicken Breeds

 

How Long Do Chickens Lay Eggs?

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If you have decided to start with backyard chickens, you are probably trying to learn all that you can about your new animals!  Most people keep chickens for eggs, so you might be wondering – how long do chickens lay eggs?

When we got our first chickens, we did research on the different chicken breeds and we learned what to look for when our chickens would start to lay.  However, at the start of our chicken keeping adventure, we did not ask how many eggs does a chicken lay.

How Long Do Chickens Lay Eggs?

After having our chickens for a little while, one Spring we found that we had much less in the way of eggs than we had in previous years.  We knew how often chickens typically lay eggs and we just weren’t getting that many.

Hmm, we started to wonder why we had a decrease in egg production.

As we started to go through the list of decreases, we realized that it was not a matter of health or environmental components.  Rather, it was the pure age of our layers.

How Many Eggs Does a Chicken Lay?

When looking to find out the answer to how long do chickens lay eggs, the real question is how many eggs does a chicken lay.  You see, chickens are born (or hatched) with a set number of eggs.

This means that a chicken can only lay up to the amount they they are hatched with.  Many times other factors – health, predators etc – prevent them from laying all of their eggs.

Good egg production chickens will lay between 200 and 300 eggs for their first two years.  After their first two years they will start to drastically decrease the amount of eggs that they lay.

A chicken doesn’t just stop laying eggs, but there are signs to look for to see if your hen has either stopped production or is close to stopping production.  So, once your hen hits the two year mark she may still lay some, but it will not be as steady as her prime years.

So is there an exact science to answering the question:  How long do chickens lay eggs?

No, there is not absolutely precise answer to the question of how long do chickens lay eggs.  You can make the assumption that after age two, egg production is likely to dramatically decrease.

Figuring out how long your chickens will lay eggs, you should also take into account the breed.  Breeds that are mass producers tend to lay much heavier in the beginning of their lives and therefore have much more dramatic slow downs as they get older.

Breeds that are a more moderate producer may continue to be a low to moderate producer a bit after the two year mark because they have not completely depleted their egg reserve in the first two years.  They will definitely slow down their laying at two years though.

Flock Reduction due to how many eggs a chicken lays

One of the variables that effects the average numbers when talking about the question of how long do chickens lay eggs is that most commercial egg producers cull their layers around age 2.  As we have discussed, there is a production drop off at that age and for commercial producers that makes it not economical to keep those hens around.

In terms of backyard chickens, many backyard chicken keepers will keep hens around whether or not they are pumping out the eggs.  Also, backyard chicken keepers sometimes have heavy producing breeds like sex links and leghorns, but often times have dual purpose breeds and other more moderate producers.

As we discussed above, these more moderate producers will produce longer since they are not laying all their eggs by age two.  We have some older girls in our layer flock – aged about 5 – who still give us an occasional egg.

So, exactly how long do chickens lay eggs?  They lay really well from point of lay until around age 2.  But moderate layers can continue to produce decently until older ages 4 or 5.

Make sure to take these facts into account when deciding which chicken breeds you want to get.  Do you want mass producers that will dry up around age 2?  If so, will you cull them and get new birds then?

Do you want moderate producers that may lay less eggs overall, but will lay longer and will lessen the need to cull and replace as often?

For More on Chickens

Frizzle Chicken
Chicken Breeds

Frizzle Chicken – Curly Feathered Chicken You NEED in Your Flock!

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Frizzle Chicken.  The very first time I heard this bit of chicken terminology, I thought what the heck is a frizzle chicken??

Frizzle Chicken

To explain what a frizzled chicken is in a simple way, they are a curly feathered chicken.  A frizzle itself is not a specific chicken breed though.

There are several breeds that can be a frizzle chicken.  Frizzle cochin, polish frizzle chicken and frizzle silkie (also known as a sizzle) are just a few examples.

Frizzle Chicken Genetics

So, if a frizzle is not a specific breed, what exactly causes a chicken to be a frizzle?  A frizzle is a chicken which does not have “standard” or “normal” feathers.  Instead of it’s feathers laying flat, they curl up and out from their body.

This frizzling, so to speak, is caused by an incomplete dominate gene.  This means that a chicken only needs to carry one copy of the frizzle gene in order to show frizzling.

Frizzle Chicken

Some birds will show more frizzling than others.  This is due to the fact that the frizzle gene also has a modifying factor to the gene which can control the extent to which their feathers will appear frizzled (source).

Frizzle Chicken Characteristics

A frizzle chicken will tend to have most of the same characteristics of the actual breed that it is.  For example a frizzle silkie will tend to have the same black skin, 5 toes and friendly personality of a typical silkie chicken.

Frizzle Chicken

The main difference or defining characteristic of a frizzle chicken is, of course, its curly or frizzled feathers.

(don’t forget to keep your chickens fed and watered properly)

Frizzle Chicken Breeds

Many chicken breeds already have a frizzle version of their breed.  As already mentioned, some of the most common frizzle chicken breeds are:  Frizzle cochin, Polish frizzle chicken and frizzle silkie.

Cochin and Polish come in frizzle standard and frizzle bantam.  Silkies are a bantam breed and do not have a standard size in general.  Bantam breeds are basically “mini” size chickens.

Frizzle Chicken Care

Taking care of a frizzled chicken is pretty similar to taking care of a “regular” chicken.  However, there are some important points to consider.

Due to the fact that they do not have “normal” feathers, it can make them a little different to care for.

First, due to being a frizzle, they cannot really fly.  Their feathers are not made the same and therefore, do not have the same characteristics allowing them flight.  This means that they may need a shorter perch.  Also, they may not be as well equipped to get away from predators – so they may do better in a predator proof run than being free ranged.

Frizzle Chicken

Second, since their feathers are curled and not “standard”, they do not have quite the same insulation as normal feathered chickens.  We have frizzled chickens in our flocks here in Virginia and they seem to do just fine in the cold and snow of winter.

However, we do make sure that they have a very cozy, draft free chicken coop with lots of buddies to pile up with and stay warm.  Our frizzles (like our silkies) will tend to all pile up together for warmth, especially when it is cold out.

Frizzle Chicken Breeding Basics

Breeding frizzle chickens is really quite fun.  They are such a unique looking chicken with their curly feathers.

When you breed frizzled chickens, you never want to breed two frizzle chickens together.  The result of breeding frizzle to frizzle can result in a double frizzle chicken – meaning they have two copies of the frizzling gene.  We call these frazzles.

Frizzle Chicken

Frazzles do not often live very long or healthy lives.  Having two copies of the frizzle gene makes their curled feathers very brittle.  They tend to break off.  They are often times bald in places.  And their overall health tends to suffer.

Due to this, we recommend setting up breeding pens where you either have a frizzle rooster over normal/standard feather hens.  Or, you can set up your breeding pens to have a normal/standard feather rooster over frizzled hens.

Frizzle chicken breeding results:

If you breed Frizzle to Normal/standard it will result in 50% frizzled and 50% normal/standard feathered chicks.

Whereas, if you breed Frizzle to Frizzle will result in 50% frizzle, 25% normal/standard, 25% frazzled feathered chicks.

Frizzle Chicken

When frizzle chicks hatch, you cannot really tell that they have a different feather type.  It is not until they are a few weeks old and have started blowing their chick fluff that you will start to see if they have feathers that have a curl.

(your chickens are going to love a nice new coop)

Frizzle Chickens for Sale:

If you are looking for a frizzle chicken, a few of our silkie colors have the potential to have frizzled feathers.  Our mottled, crele and silver patterned pens all have the chance at having frizzled chicks.

Overall, if you are looking for a fun, unique addition to your flock, adding a frizzle chicken is a good choice.  Most frizzled chickens make great pets as most of the frizzle chicken breeds are also friendly.

For More Chicken Stuff:

Frizzle Chicken
Chicken Breeds

Frizzle Chicken

Chickens That Lay Blue Eggs – Adding Blue Eggs to Your Flock

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Whether you are just getting into chickens or have had them for a while, you may think that eggs come in just one or two colors.  Usually, when you think of chicken eggs, you think of white eggs or brown eggs.  However, did you know that there are chickens that lay blue eggs?

When we first found out that there are blue egg chickens we HAD to have some – IMMEDIATELY.  I mean, how cool to have a different, fun color in your egg basket, right?  We ran out to find out right away what chickens lay blue eggs.

There are so many different chicken breeds out there that I guess it shouldn’t be too terribly surprising that there are some chickens that lay blue eggs.  However, I still get excited when we go out to collect eggs and get some brilliantly colored blue eggs.

Chickens That Lay Blue Eggs – How do they do it?

Ok, so you may wonder, for chickens that lay blue eggs – how do they do it?  Afterall, the majority of chickens do lay white or brown eggs.  So, what makes a blue egg chicken different?

Without getting too “scienc-y”, chickens that lay blue eggs basically deposit that blue color onto the eggs.

You might be interested to know that all chickens eggs start out as white (source).  Chickens that lay white eggs just simply lay the eggs in that original form.

Chickens that lay blue eggs start with a white egg and basically puts on a pigment, called oocyanin onto the white egg turning it into a blue egg.  This color change happens as the egg is being formed in the chickens oviduct. (source).

So, essentially, chicken egg color is sort of similar to skin color in that the pigment put into it will dictate the tone and color.  Like when you tan – melanin is produced in your skin creating a darker “tan” color.  Not exactly the same process, obviously, but sort of a similar idea.

What Chickens Lay Blue Eggs?

Now that we know that there are chickens that lay blue eggs and we know how these blue egg chickens make their eggs, what chickens lay blue eggs?

Of course we need to know the answer to this so that we can add blue eggs to our egg basket!

1) Araucana

Aracuanas are one type of chicken that lays blue eggs.  They are a more unique chicken breed and are not super common.

Aracuana chickens are usually rumpless and have tufts, so they are definitely an interesting addition to any flock.

2) Ameraucana

Ameraucanas are also chickens that lay blue eggs.  They are more common that Araucana’s, but they are also often confused with Easter Eggers.  There are many differences between Araucana, Ameraucana and Easter Egger chickens.

Ameraucana’s have muffs and beards and come in a whole variety of colors.  They are really pretty decent egg layers.  So, they make a good addition if you are looking for a solid backyard flock bird.

3) Cream Legbar

Cream legbars are a fun breed that of course is also one of the chickens that lay blue eggs.  They are not a super common breed, but they are popular among many chicken owners.

Due to the fact that they are a little less common, they do also tend to be a little more expensive.

However, their cost is definitely worth it as they not only lay blue eggs, they are also an autosexing chicken breed.  That means that you can tell pullet from cockerel at hatch!

Cream Legbars are also usually friendly birds who are good egg layers and good foragers.  This means they will give you a decent amount of eggs without eating too much feed.  If you are looking for one of the most interesting chickens that lay blue eggs, this breed may well be it!

4) Easter Eggers – sometimes.

Easter Eggers are one of our personal favorite chicken breeds.  They come in a variety of colors and patterns.  And they often times have interesting features like muffs and beards.

Easter Eggers are not a true breed however.  They are a hybrid or mix of chicken breeds.  Due to this fact, it is not guaranteed that they will all lay blue eggs.  Easter Eggers are also one of the chickens that lay green eggs.

5) Super Blue Egg Layer or True Blue Egg Layer

There are several “newer” blue egg chickens that are also hybrids – similar to Easter Eggers.  However, unlike Easter Eggers, these blue egg layers have been bred specifically for blue eggs only and high production.

Most of these Super blue Egg Layers (amongst other names) combine a high production bird like a leghorn with a true blue layer like a cream legbar.  The result is one of the breeds of chickens that lay blue eggs in a high volume.

Blue Eggs – do they taste the same as “other eggs”?

We have reviewed what chickens lay blue eggs.  So now that you know what breeds to get to have blue eggs, you may wonder if blue eggs taste the same as other eggs.

Yes, the simple and easy answer is yes!  Chickens that lay blue eggs, as we discussed above are producing the exact same egg as a chicken that lays white or brown eggs.

The only difference is the pigment that is laid into the egg during the shell formation.

Now that you know all about chickens that lay blue eggs, which blue egg layer will you be adding to your flock?

For More on Chickens

Frizzle Chicken
Chicken Breeds

How Often Do Chickens Lay Eggs?

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If you are thinking about getting started raising chickens, or perhaps you are raising your first baby chicks you will likely want to know the answer to the question “how often do chickens lay eggs”.

You might already have some ideas about your new backyard chickens and their egg laying.  Perhaps you know what the signs your chicken will start to lay eggs soon are. Or how to help increase egg production. You might still want to know how many eggs does a chicken lay a day?

How Often Do Chickens Lay Eggs?

Well, we wish that we could give you an easy answer to how many eggs does a chicken lay a day.  However, the fact is that it is not simply cut and dry.  There is no magic answer that will apply to all chickens and all situations.

However, if you want to about how often do chickens lay eggs you should first look at chicken breeds.  The type of chicken or chicken breed that you have has a HUGE impact on how often a chicken lays eggs.

There are breeds that are specifically for egg laying and those breeds will lay much more often than chickens that are meat birds, dual purpose chickens or unique/rare chickens used as pets.  For example, a production bird like a sex link, leghorn or RIR may lay up to an egg a day during peak production.

Do keep in mind, when thinking about how many eggs does a chicken lay a day, there is one answer that applies to ALL chickens – no breed will every lay more than one egg per day.  Chickens need a certain amount of time, sunlight etc to go through the process of producing an egg.

Ok, so we know that the chicken breed plays an important role, what other factors need to be taken into consideration?

Seasons and How Often Do Chickens Lay Eggs?

You might be wondering what in the heck seasons have to do with how often a chicken will lay an egg.  If so, you will be surprised to find out that seasons can and do actually play a large role!

Our first year with chickens (we got them as 2 year olds), we were slammed with eggs through the spring.  In the summer we had a decent amount.  Then Fall hit and suddenly the yard looked like someone had had a massive pillow fight!  Along with that, our eggs went from about a dozen a day to maybe one or two.

What in the world is going on??  Well, in the Fall, chickens molt (lose their feathers and then grow in new ones).  And molting is a big cause of decreased egg production.

Not knowing any better, we thought that their production would pick right back up.  So we waited impatiently and got excited as their feathers grew back in.

However, Fall leads into Winter.  Winter is known for much shorter days which equals several hours less of sunlight.  As mentioned above, a major factor in the egg production cycle is a need for a certain amount of hours of light.

So, as you can see, seasons can play a really large role in the answer to how often do chickens lay eggs.

Age/Health and it’s impact on the answer to How Often Do Chickens Lay Eggs

How old a chicken is and it’s general health and environment are also big factors in answering the question how often do chickens lay eggs.  You see, chickens are born with a set number of eggs.

Depending on the breed, the start to lay anywhere from 16 weeks to 9 months of age.  The first 2 years of laying are usually the most productive.

After the age of 2, chickens will start to lay less and less frequently.  This is due to a depleted egg store.

Health is also an important factor.  Laying eggs is a taxing process.  The chicken has to use a lot of energy to create the egg and lay it.

Therefore, chickens who have any health strain such as mites, a simple cold or even stress (a move to a new flock or other issues) can really shut down their production.

So, How Often Do Chickens Lay Eggs?

Although there is no one single answer that will hold true for all chickens in all situations, we do know that in terms of how many eggs does a chicken lay a day the answer is no more than one.  So, the most you will get from one chicken in one week would be 7 eggs.

You will only have a chicken laying as often as once per day if they are in prime laying age (2 or under), prime health, Spring time and are a production type breed.

If you are looking at the average chicken – so not a breed that doesn’t lay well at all and not a breed that is a mass production bird – that is average age and average health, you can probably guess at about 3 – 4 eggs a week.

For More on Chickens

Frizzle Chicken
Chicken Breeds