In American usage, an Easter egger or Easter-egger is any

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

or mixed-breed

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

resulting from the breeding of a bird carrying the blue egg (oocyan) gene with one that lays brown eggs. Eggs from such a bird may be any shade of blue or brown, or occasionally pink or pale yellow. These birds do not constitute a

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

, and so are not recognized by the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respons ...

or the

American Bantam Association The American Bantam Association is a poultry fancy association for breeders of bantam poultry. It publishes the ''Bantam Standard'', with detailed descriptions of all the bantam breeds and varieties that it recognizes; in most – but not all � ...

. They may be marketed as "Americana", but are quite different from the

Ameraucana The Ameraucana is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was developed in the United States in the 1970s, and derives from Araucana chickens brought from Chile. It was bred to retain the blue-egg gene but eliminate the lethal alleles of the p ...

, a recognized breed.

Characteristics

Hybrid birds of this type may be of any

color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

. They are commonly muffed and bearded, often with a pea-

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

; the wattles may be small or absent. The legs can be grey, yellow, or greenish. Blue Easter Egger.jpg Easter Egger pullet.jpg Easter Egger Chickens in Canada.jpg Cory's chickens 26 - Easter Egger pullet (28489308730).jpg

References

Chicken crossbreeds {{bots, deny=Citation bot