“Received an Order of 20 Rare Assorted Chicks as a Christmas Present to myself on Dec 30th. I had what I initially thought were Barred Rocks in the mix, two of them. Yellowish legs and the black/yellow spot head that is a barring gene clue. Its on the list, fit the look and They were (and still are!) Super chill, friendly, and relaxed even when being handled. I thought "oh, barred rocks for sure, so docile." :) and I was pleased.
4wks later.....it's a crowded brooder now! Getting ready split all the ladies into three bins instead of one. (It's winter no one goes out until at least 10wks old here) and...wait....does my barred rock have a crest growing on her HEAD?? Thats Not right! I pop her onto my lap and those yellowish baby legs are pink/tinted blue legs now... *rubs eyes* and wait a second! That's a leg feather showing! That's MARANS and Cream Legbar traits! Cue my excitement! I pick up my other "barred rock" and OMG! You sneaky little ladies! Upon closer inspection BOTH my "Barred Rocks" are Crested Cuckoo colored Olive Eggers! (Their barring patterns were looking too soft at a wk old but I thought I was crazy! Should have taken that clue to heart! Hahahaha)
Im Not crazy. Just wrong identification at 2 days old.
I'm even more thrilled with them now. They remain absolute joys, super docile and friendly and SO unique!
Thanks exclusively to MPC I have the most diverse coop of anyone I know. Every single one of these babies has been a Hoot! Great personalities and a fantastic experience guessing who is WHAT (and getting it wrong! Lol)”
“I had a sweet bird who laid lovely eggs and died at about 9 months from egg yolk peritonitis. I wouldn't mention it, but the vet said that the only chickens she'd seen who'd had this issue were olive eggers.
That was only three birds in about ten years so it could be a big coincidence. My girl was so amazing, I'm trying again. If this one keels over the same issue, I'll come back and edit this.”
“My little Olive looks just like a Cream Legbar, so if anything, I thought she might lay blue eggs. Imagine my surprise that she lays neither olive green, nor blue. I can‚Äôt say that I‚Äôm entirely disappointed. Her eggs are a pinkish shade of rose gold, so still add nice color variety to my egg basket. My chickens are pets as well, so she gets 5 stars on that. She is friendly, talkative and literally has to be in the middle of whatever I am doing. She likes to jump in my lap to be petted, but she has a sassy side too. If I walk away when she does not want me too, she will charge up behind me and attack, sometimes flying at me with her feet like a rooster! Good thing she is small and doesn‚Äôt hurt. I just laugh at her!”
“I ordered 2, received a blue and a black...they are now 4 years old and are still great layers. They are really sweet, very friendly birds. The black one's eggs are more olive colored, the blue's are a bit more on the blue tone. The inside of their shells are blue. Great addition to the flock!”
“Do you know how a lot of people name their chickens old lady names? Well our olive Egger is Maude and out of the 8 babies that we have raised this year, she is the one who has the strongest old lady vibe. She is a goofy, easy-going chicken. Not the top of the pecking order and not the bottom. She started laying almost a full 2wks before anyone else and she has been an extremely consistent layer at 5 eggs per week. They are small eggs but are a beautiful light army green color. Light olive. Maude is the least dramatic layer I have ever met and is very quick about. She‚Äôs in and out of the nesting box without a peep but she is a big talker otherwise and just sounds like a gossipy old woman. She is very obviously a cream legbar mix with her pretty brown and grayish barred feather pattern and her unusual shaped, multi-length comb. She is my husband‚Äôs favorite and I also love her very much. In our first batch of five chicks in April, my two favorites ended up being roosters that had to be rehomed. We got three more chicks in July (thankfully all girls!) That we are currently trying to integrate with our original three. Maude tends to pick at them through the fence but I think she‚Äôs worried about her place in the pecking order once they are together. Can‚Äôt blame her and we are going very slowly with the introductions so I think she will relax as they work it all out. The only reason I gave her four stars out of five is because my favorite girl is our splash marans, Honey, who is more or less perfect and who is laying her first egg as I type! I ultimately highly recommend getting an Olive Egger if you want a goofy, stable chicken who lays a ton of smaller eggs.”
“These two lay the prettiest eggs. Tumble lays a pretty med/light olive colored egg and has the Legbar headcrest. Moss lays a darker Army green that is beautiful. She‚Äôs a much fuller/big grey bird while Tumble is a dainty dark grey with slight pattern, so goes to show no bird is the same out of these babies but I prefer a mixed colored flock so I‚Äôm happy about that. I‚Äôm so thrilled with these two. They are pretty flighty though. Been that way since day one and my kids and I handle them everyday.”
“I purchased my chicks in Nov 19. Shipment went out right on time and all chicks arrived healthy.
We ordered ten various breeds of hens, one of which was an Olive Egger.
She did very well for about 3 months, then one day she had a little diarrhea & became sluggish, not moving around like normal. Over the next day or so she seemed to improve slightly & I thought she might be getting better, but the following night she passed away. Not sure what she came down with. The other girls are all ok.”
“First - Let me state that as pets - I love my Olive Egger girls. They are beautiful, curious, and mostly very peaceful girls. I have 6, and they just started laying in the last 2 weeks. The eggs are smaller than I expected (maybe they get a little bigger with production??) , and I am getting about 2/day from 6 chickens. Tried to find the features that drew me to the breed - I THOUGHT it had said they were a 5 egg per week bird, but can no longer find that information. I love em. But in terms of production - I will not be making breakfast every day just yet. :)”
