Raising Chickens That Lay Easter Basket Eggs

{Please note – I raise laying chickens for eggs. My philosophy is generally, “You lay, you stay.” I do not keep chickens as pets for the length of their life which could easily be 8+ years. I sell the extra eggs we get to friends and family and the chickens pull their weight just like everyone else in my household. If you disagree with that philosophy, feel free to move on. I’m a farm girl. I understand we are all a part of the circle of life and embrace that philosophy within the bounds that every animal that lives on my property gets the best care possible for the extent of its stay.}

I accomplished a huge goal of mine this year – a very colorful egg basket!

I grew up on a farm where we had chickens, pigs, steers, horses, cats and dogs. I was very familiar with the farm life of a chicken. I often helped my grandfather in the barn and even to this day they remind me of him.

When I started raising chickens nearly 8 years ago I had no idea that eggs in my current egg rainbow even existed. Seriously, I was an adult that thought eggs came in only brown or white.

I started out with a flock of four brown sexlinks that I bought from an organic farmer. They were about a year old but still had a good 2-3 years left of laying time. I kept them in an A-frame chicken tractor that Mr. Farmer, my dad, and I built. I think I kept them about a year and then branched out, getting chicks to start my own flock from scratch.

I went with production layers, Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorns. See, brown and white eggs. I still had no idea.

I’m not sure when it dawned on me that eggs came in myriad colors, and all I had to do was get those chickens, but it came to me slowly. In fact, just last year I ordered all my chickens based on feather color. Genius, I am. It wasn’t until they were to start laying that I realized they all laid brown eggs, and not the rich, dark brown either. They laid the basic brown eggs. I was just a little more than annoyed with myself.

In 2017 I finally found a source for the breeds that would help me meet my egg goals. That’s a thing, you know, #egggoals. I followed several people on Instagram that continually kept those egg goals in front of me. Eggs in white (basic, I know, but still essential), pink, light brown, rich, deep, dark brown, speckled, green, olive, and all shades of blue.

I decided to go with an assortment of breeds. I was a little concerned about personality though. Believe me, chickens have personalities. For instance, the white Leghorns, not my thing at all. They’re power layers (300+ eggs/year!) but they’re flighty and skittish. A branch falls in the woods and don’t those little things just pop right up over the fence and get out! All the other chickens remain grounded but the leghorns are light and agile. You can’t catch them either! I call them the Terrier of the chicken world. They didn’t last in my barn but a couple years. In fact, I ended up getting rid of them when all three of them attacked my favorite Americauna, Lemon Meringue. They had her down flat and would’ve killed her had I not gotten up to the barn at just the right time. No more white leghorns for me.

Now, the Rhode Island Reds, they were good girls. I really loved them and kept them for years. I would highly recommend them.

So, back to the colorful egg girls. I got an assortment from Cackle Hatchery on August first of 2017. They arrived so healthy and vibrant! I was really pleased with the package. BTW, did you know that chicks come in the mail? Yep, they come in a box that you have to pick up at the post office. (Back door like. 😉 ) I’ve been told that the post office employees love them because they peep in their little box and it’s so relaxing. I know, right? That’s why I love them too.
Cackle sells an assortment of breeds that lay dark brown eggs so I chose that because a few years ago I got two French Black Copper Marans and I loved those two ladies. I still have Magney and she’s laying really well going on three years old. She’s got such a wonderful disposition and she’s beautiful to boot standing up tall with her shiny black body feathers and copper neck feathers. I honestly had no idea what breeds they would include but I’m happy that I got a BFCM like Magney, a couple French Wheaten Marans and a couple Cuckoo Marans.

I ordered some new Americaunas with the Brown Egg Layer assortment too. Americaunas lay shades of blue eggs and I absolutely love their personality. I’ve had a couple Americaunas for years, in fact, Lemon is going on 4 years old and will probably live with us for life. For whatever reason, she’s my fav and gets a free pass. She still lays every once-in-a-while but that’s okay, I got five new ones in my mix.

And, the very special chickens that I couldn’t wait to start laying are the Olive Eggers. While they aren’t a recognized breed, it makes no difference to me. Olive eggers are a mixed breed of a dark brown egg layer and a blue egg layer. There are a couple different breeds you can cross but as long as you have one of each, the baby will be an olive egger. It’s a crap shoot what shade of green you’ll get but that’s part of the fun!

I recently had one of my chickens start laying an olive colored egg with brown speckles. A treasure, for sure!

To round out the egg basket, I did keep a couple layers from previous year’s flocks. I kept a Barred Rock, a couple Americuanas, a brown Leghorn (not the same personality as the whites, at least that I’ve experienced) plus, I ordered three Columbian Wyandottes because, hello, they’re a beautiful black and white. They’ve started laying those lovely very light pinkish eggs.

It’s probably completely silly that I get SO excited about each and every basket of eggs I collect but I can’t help it. I’m a visual artist and it feeds my soul to have such beauty daily.

As far as personalities in the flock, they’re all really great. In all the years of keeping chickens, even with 27 hens in a 10’ x 12’ coop, they are all so chill. They get along really well and there aren’t many big personalities to cause trouble. I find them in the coop dust bathing in the stone dust and shavings daily. Believe me, when chickens are dust bathing they’re relaxed. It’s like a spa day!

One thing I’ve learned with keeping chickens is that it’s best to not keep aggressive chickens. (For those of you who insist you can change them, be my guest. You clearly have more time and energy than I do.) They disrupt the mo-jo of the coop and can cause stress and even injury to the rest of the flock.

I know many people swear by keeping a rooster but I’m not about that anymore. I had a great rooster years ago but haven’t had a good one since. They start out okay but eventually turn aggressive or dominant. One of the last roosters I had was the impetus for those three leghorns to attack Lemon. He went after her first and she needed to be rescued then too. So, we are rooster-free.

If you’re thinking of starting a flock of your own, don’t forget to consider the breed disposition, feather color AND egg color. What do you want your basket to look like? Do you want to be able to tell your hens apart? Is your space big enough for hens with large personalities? If your hens had to stay in the coop for an entire week without going outside (like when we get a BIG snowstorm), would they get along?

Snow days were the real test for my flock. On days that it’s bitter and windy, they spend all day inside by choice. Together. Dust bathing and hanging out with each other. That’s the best test for how well they get along and that make the daily Easter Basket all that much sweeter.

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