Olive Egger™ Chicken

Beauty, charm, output! After twenty five years of chicken-keeping I’ve found my “heart hen” at last. In our small flocks I’ve raised all kinds of laying breeds, from various bantams to sex-links to a half dozen or so heritage types, and have to say our Olive Eggers are my hands-down favorite. I love my Cackle Hatchery OEs for their beauty, charm, independence, trusting nature, unique egg color and remarkable egg-to-hen size ratio. I’ve had my OEs for nearly a year. I ordered three females on special, and received four (thanks, Cackle!), including one roo. About the Roo: Doodledoo has grown into a gorgeous, feisty and very protective rooster. He tolerates my husband, who *never* handles his hens. With me, it’s another story. One day Doodledoo watched in horror and panic thru the plexiglass coop door as I did a routine mite-check and preventative dusting of his hens’ bottoms with diatomaceous earth. When a few of them—the barred rock, black star and Wyandotte—squawked an objection, that was IT: I was henceforth The Enemy, and Doodledoo began attacking me on sight. In the yard I was subject to ambush at any time. So I began packin’ “heat”: a spray bottle of water; a stick to tap his tail with; earnest threats of a trip to the processor… Nothing worked until I eventually tumbled on the advice of an experienced flock herd who said, “never let a mean roo bully you or he’ll keep doing it; if he tries to, hold him down.” Well, that maneuver did the trick! Wearing thick gloves I’d just grab a leg when he leapt, and then pin him down to the ground on his side for a minute or so (it may or may not have been a little hard for him to breathe during that minute). After a few days of this treatment Doodledoo came around. Now he just eyes me warily, but will cede ground and walk away if I give him a moment to think things thru. So Doodledoo can stay:) There. ‘Nuff said about my OE roo! My Olive Egger *hens* are the cutest, sweetest birds ever! Right from the start they’ve behaved…’differently.’ When I pick them up they relax in my arms and wait to see what will happen next. I can flip them gently this way and that to dust their bottoms, and they patiently, trustingly put up with it. They never seem to struggle or flap in a panic like other breeds. Out in the yard they are filled with curiosity and an ‘aware’ independence. They explore further, and seem to have their own agenda regardless of what the rest of the flock is doing. They are interested in what we’re up to tho, and if we’re inside they may hang around the door and just peer in the window after us. They are visibly more petite than our other birds but lay eggs just as big or bigger. Today a random olive egg and a Wyandotte egg found in the same nest box both weighed in at exactly 2-1/8 ounces. My OEs have the most beautiful, sleek plumage; I much prefer it to the frumpy, ruffled look of Ameraucanas, for example. The OEs are perhaps not as flashy as some breeds, but are dressed instead in protective coloration, which is a real asset considering their tendency to actively explore and forage. I love their remarkable, bright salmon breast color and how it blends to a subtle russet brown and then into dove grey wings as velvety smooth and tight as those of a wild cedar waxwing. They move so gracefully as they forage, too; their large, upright, dark grey tail turns and sways like a giant sail or rudder. Their feathered topknot and floppy red crest lends them a jaunty look that is so adorable it just melts my heart! So by now you can guess how I felt when tragedy struck a couple of weeks ago, and a security breech (due to human error) led to the loss of our barred rock and two of my three OE hens to a hungry raccoon. I. Was. Devastated. Doodledoo too! He called and grieved for days. As I type, I watch my remaining OE busily scratch and peck all by herself in the garden, while Doodledoo and his mixed flock roam elsewhere. It’s sad to know that for the moment we are left with only one source of beautiful green eggs to offset the various soft browns in our egg cartons. For two weeks I agonized over what to replace the lost hens with (and also how to augment our flock in this time of global pandemic). I wanted to research every possibility before settling on my choices. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I thought of getting both Welsummers and Cream legbars—the two parent breeds of my Cackle Hatchery OEs. But in the end I decided that only a new batch of OEs—along with some Welsummers for their dark brown eggs—will do. I’m sure the Cream Legbars are just as charming as my OEs, but somehow plain blue eggs just don’t do it for me. I much prefer the rich, earthy, varied olive tones of the OEs’ eggs. Plus, people I share my eggs with get such a kick out of telling their grandkids they’ll be eating green eggs! Just like those in the “Green Eggs and Ham” story by Dr. Seuss. If I had the room I’d get some of every breed on Cackle’s list. But given their beauty, charm, petite size and and remarkably big, green egg output, Cackle’s Olive Eggers are the clear winner with me.