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Prairie Bluebell Egger (with Egg & Chick Pictures!)

Thinking of getting Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks? We have ACTUALLY owned them since 2019 (unlike some of the other websites writing about them) and absolutely love these sweethearts! They are a fantastic hybrid that enjoy robust health, free range easily, and avoid predation well. We have lots of pictures of their unique feather colors, chicks, and gorgeous blue eggs! Here is what you can expect from this beautiful hybrid chicken:

five blue shelled Prairie Bluebell Egger eggs on a white background

Pictures of Prairie Bluebell Egger Chicks & Blue Eggs

Prairie Bluebells are a hybrid Easter Egger type chicken developed by Hoover’s Hatchery. True Araucanas (blue egg layers) were crossed with Leghorns (white egg layers) to produce guaranteed offspring that will always lay a blue egg, like the Araucana, but will lay lots of eggs like a Leghorn.

Prairie Bluebell Egger blue gray chick lays blue colored easter egger eggs bright vibrant blue laying hybrid chicken breed neon blue eggs — A blue (gray) Prairie Bluebell Chick from Hoover’s Hatchery Summer 2019.

five Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks from Hoovers Hatchery December 2023 next to two blue eggs — Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks purchased from Hoover’s Hatchery that arrived December 1, 2023. The jumbo powder blue egg in front was laid the day before by my 4.5 year old Prairie Bluebell Egger hen “Dottie” who was purchased from Hoover’s Hatchery in 2019.

Do Prairie Bluebell Eggers really lay big blue eggs?

My experience with Prairie Bluebell Eggers is that they tend to lay a USDA Large (60 gram), Extra Large (64 gram) or Jumbo (70+ gram) egg most days of the week! If you want to add blue eggs to your carton, I would urge you to consider the versatile and varied Prairie Bluebell Egger.

Prairie Bluebell Egger eggs blue eggs in white pulp carton from Prairie Bluebell Egger hens hoover's hatchery extra large XL jumbo chicken hen eggs for baking huge blue egg layers neon vibrant bluest darkest blue — Some of these oversized Prairie Bluebell eggs barely fit in the egg carton cup!

How Many Eggs Per Year?

Prairie Bluebell hens can lay an astonishing 280 eggs per year. Compare that to dual purpose breeds (200-260 eggs) and Leghorns (280-300 eggs) and you’ll discover they have an incredible feed-to-egg ratio that nears commercial poultry levels.

Special Note: I feel that the Hoover’s Hatchery website is stating low-average stats when they say Prairie Bluebell Eggers lay 240 medium blue eggs. All of my Prairie Bluebell Egger hens laid large to jumbo eggs 6-7 days per week while young, taking a skip day on day 7 or 8. Here is how I’m calculating eggs laid: 52 weeks per year – 8 weeks for molting = 44 average laying weeks. 44 weeks x 6 eggs per week = 264 eggs. 44 weeks x 7 eggs per week = 308. The average of 264 + 308 ÷ 2 = 286 average yearly egg count.

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks adults pullets hens from Hoovers Hatchery 2019 adult splash feather color Easter Egger Araucana Leghorn hybrid laying lays vibrant bright blue chicken eggs blue egg breed chick colors — This is “Dottie”, who shipped from Hoover’s Hatchery in Summer 2019, shown here in September 2023 at 4 years old. She still lays HUUUUGE blue eggs multiple days per week! I am so fond of her big blue eggs that I have bred additional Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers from her.

2023 Update: My favorite Prairie Bluebell Egger hen has just turned 4 and is STILL laying jumbo blue eggs 3-4 days per week!

June 2024 Update: Dottie turns 5 this month! (Hatched 6/25/2019)

Prairie Bluebell Egger eggs in a white bowl on a kitchen counter bright blue egg mix with welsummer easter egger eggs vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — This bowl of eggs on my counter in September 2020 is mostly full of blue Prairie Bluebell Egger eggs.

What feather colors do Prairie Bluebell Eggers come in?

Prairie Bluebells can come in every color. And I mean every color! Blue, black, splash and wild type/partridge is the most common. As we have begun breeding these birds, we’ve had very unique gray and gold, light smoke and frosted white chicks hatch out. (Literally chicks with white down, not yellow, that feather out a vibrant splash color.)

Pictures of Prairie Bluebell Egger Chicks:

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks in light blue, lavender, light smoke feather down colors rare blue egg laying pullet hen females pea comb vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — A light blue (gray) and light smoke colored pair of Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks hatched here at the Silver Homestead in Magnolia, Texas

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks in a straw nest vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — This two-tone gold and gray pullet is stunning! She’s an F2 Prairie Bluebell, hatched April 2020. (The splash and blonde chipmunk on the right are, too. The gold chick with fluffy cheeks is an Americana/Easter Egger.) Our gray & gold faced birds came from a black Prairie Bluebell hen with some rust color barely showing around her neck. They inherited a single Blue dilute gene from dad.

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks in a basket vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — This basket of Prairie Bluebell cuteness hatched here in August 2020. Blue, black, splash, wild type and completely unique colors are all possible! Such a beautiful assortment means chicks would sell very quickly if you chose to breed them.

three Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks in an outdoor wire-bottom grow-out pen, one pullet chick has bright white down and feathers growing in while two other chicks are black feathered — This F2 Prairie Bluebell Egger pullet shows off her bright white down and plumage. Her hatch mates are both black Prairie Bluebell Eggers. She was one of our chicks with bright white down – not yellow – at hatch.

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks from Hoovers Hatchery December 2023 in rare colors — Chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery order received December 1, 2023.

Expected Feather, Comb & Egg Genetics Among Prairie Bluebell Eggers

All Prairie Bluebell chicks have a pea comb and are carrying at least one blue egg gene. Second generation (F2) Prairie Bluebell chicks can carry two blue egg genes or, potentially 25% of the time, two white egg genes. They can have either clean/smooth or fluffy faces and look very much like large bodied Americana or Easter Egger hens.

NEW UPDATED INFO! A phone call to Hoover’s Hatchery in November 2023 (as I was expecting Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks to arrive) revealed that now almost all of the lighter colored and chipmunk patterned Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks are expected to have yellowish colored legs. (Darker chicks may still have grayish legs.) This makes identifying the Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks in a mixed shipment with Americana chicks (who have greenish tinted legs) much easier!

Hoover’s also seems to be selecting for clean-faced breeding stock since their website now shows all clean faced adults and all the chicks I received in 2023 were clean faced.

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks from Hoovers Hatchery December 2023 Easter Egger Araucana Leghorn hybrid lays vibrant bright blue chicken eggs blue egg breed chick colors — Look closely at the leg colors on the splash and lighter chipmunk chick colors and you’ll see the yellowy leg color Hoover’s Hatchery told me to look for. The blue chick had slightly darker legs and a cute rusty patch on her face. I am absolutely thrilled with the colors I was shipped! View pics of the Americana chicks who came in the same December 2023 shipment to see their greenish tinted legs.

Pictures of Prairie Bluebell Egger Adults

Prairie Bluebell hens Prairie Bluebell Egger feather colors chicks images pictures egg color wild type splash pullets — Sweet Pea (splash) and Sweet Tea (brown) Prairie Bluebells pause for a picture with their sisters.

Excellent Predator Avoidance

Thanks to their Leghorn ancestry, Prairie Bluebells are incredibly athletic. 7 foot fences are easily reached with a quick jump-and-flap, putting them safely out of reach of stray dogs. Hawks are always a problem but clever, sharp-eyed Prairie Bluebells can move rapidly, meaning they are less likely to fall victim to birds of prey. Blue (gray) and brown Prairie Bluebell Eggers are especially elusive to predators, having the advantage of natural camouflage in addition to the hybrid’s speed, agility and vertical flight abilities.

Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs

Broodiness

I was surprised when two of my Prairie Bluebell Eggers went broody in the summer of 2020. One was determined to hatch eggs and successfully did so. The other was fairly easy to break. The rest have shown no desire to sit on eggs so I would rate broodiness as being mild. You’re likely to have one or two individual hens show once-a-year interest but in general they just want to lay lots of eggs for you.

How Blue Are Prairie Bluebell Egger Eggs?

Prairie Bluebell Egger powder blue eggs in a white dish — Prairie Bluebell eggs may photograph slightly green but in real life they are a beautiful, bright powder blue!

two pictures side by side, both featuring the same white bowl on the same wooden bench holding 6 blue eggs, one from 2019 showing what Prairie Bluebell eggers laid then and one picture taken in 2024 with brighter blue eggs showing what the hybrid lays now — I re-created my 2019 image using the same dish on the same bench on an overcast day trying to mimic the same lighting.

the same image as above but levels have been adjusted so the wood and white dish have identical coloring, showing the 2024 eggs really are brighter blue — A color correcting filter has been applied to the 2024 image on the right to attempt to achieve the same light levels as the original.

Re-Creating My Popular Prairie Bluebell Egger Eggs Image

When my newest pullets began laying in May 2024, their eggs looked more vibrant what my 2019 flock produced. I still own the white bowl & bench used in the original photo so I set about to take a comparison pic to see if I was right. On the left, it is obvious that one 2019 hen was laying a brighter blue egg than the others. The May 2024 eggs (laid by the chicks that arrived in Dec 2023) are all a much brighter shade of blue than what the 2019 birds laid, similar to the one 2019 brighter laying hen. Right side image is from my Cannon camera. 2019 image was an iPhone camera. It is my guess that Hoover’s Hatchery has improved their breeding stock by selecting to hatch from the brightest blue eggs.

Often Sold Out

The Prairie Bluebell Egger hybrid was introduced to the public in January of 2019. A year later, during the Chick Buying Panic of Spring 2020, Prairie Bluebell pullets were selling for $6.44 each. By early summer 2020 the flood of orders meant that every hatch through Halloween had already sold out. 2021 saw an increase in the per-pullet price to nearly $7.50 each and again the trendy hybrid seemed to sell well. The 2023 catalogue had sexed females at $8.09 each and in 2024 the prices are $8.58 female/$7.78 straight run. New back yard chicken keepers cannot resist blue eggs and their popularity shows no sign of waning!

Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — Prairie Bluebell Egger and Olive Egger hatching eggs. The olive egger hen that laid the 3 darkest olive eggs is a Cuckoo Marans x Prairie Bluebell cross. **Click the image to read about breeding Olive Eggers USING Prairie Bluebell Eggers!**

Order Prairie Bluebell Egger Chicks Well in Advance

If you are wanting to add these beautiful birds to your flock, place your chick order very early in the spring months.

Prairie Bluebell Egger rooster rare feather color Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — A handsome Prairie Bluebell F2 roo in gold and blue tones. (His color is often called Gold Birchen.)

If Using a Local Breeder:

You might be able to find a local breeder offering Prairie Bluebell Eggers. This hybrid is not expected to breed true. But using roosters known to be carrying two blue egg genes produces guaranteed blue layer F2 Prairie Bluebells. Since most breeders are crossing F1 males and females, there is a 25% chance you could end up with a white laying “Easter Egger” hen. (But if you like a varied egg carton, this is no problem!)

Prairie Bluebell Egger chicken breeding chart graphic what you get with a prairie bluebell egger rooster male cockerel breed him to flock of girld hens pullets females rainbow egg basket breeding color chart chicken egg color by breed olive egger speckled easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer laying Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — If you end up with a Prairie Bluebell rooster (which has egg genes similar to a Blue Easter Egger roo), here is a simplified visual of the egg colors he can produce when bred to various hens. All offspring would be considered Easter Eggers except for offspring from dark brown laying hens, which would be expected to produce some olive eggers. Egg colors shown are representative of the range of shell colors you could get. Our Prairie Bluebell Olive Eggers laid these egg colors.

Consider 24% Chick Starter

I happened to feed my Prairie Bluebells 24% Chick Starter crumbles, which I now believe resulted in them laying such large eggs. (I repeated the experiment with my Whiting True Blue chicks and received similar results.) The combination of 24% Chick Starter for the first 2 months then 22% Grower feed until lay has resulted in hens who lay extra large and jumbo eggs for me.

2023 Update: 24% chick starter crumbles are now difficult to find. I mix 30% Game Bird crumbles with 20% chick starter crumbles in a 1-to-1 ratio to make a roughly 25% protein feed I give my chicks.

Prairie Bluebell Egger eggs whiting true blue easter egger stunted eggs from low percent % protein feed Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — My blue layer chicks received 24% chick starter feed and their huge eggs prove it. The peach Easter Egger came from a breeder who had fed 18% chick crumbles. The egg is a hatchable size but is not extra large. The olive egger was hatched by a first time broody hen who was not very good at finding food for her chicks. This pullet ate mostly 16% layer crumble (because the adults greedily ate any chick crumbles I offered) and her eggs are permanently stunted, too small to hatch. Learn from my mistake!

Prairie Bluebell Easter Egger blue eggs Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — Extra Large & Jumbo Prairie Bluebell eggs.

Breeding Olive Eggers using Prairie Bluebells

Are you loving the olive shades some hens are laying? Using a dark laying Marans rooster over Prairie Bluebell hens produces some nice looking olive shades! If you use a roo carrying medium-brown genes, the result is pistachio & sage shades. Here are pictures of what our own crosses lay:

Prairie Bluebell Egger crossed with Cuckoo Marans rooster to make Prairie Bluebell hybrid olive eggers that lay pistachio eggs prairie bluebell olive egger egg pics pictures breed hybrid make colored egg layers Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — We used a Cuckoo Marans who hatched from a #4 shade egg over Prairie Bluebell hens to breed these F1 Olive Eggers. The hens laid light olive shades which lighten to the vibrant pistachio shades shown here during the heat of summer. (Hens had been laying all season from December onwards when these eggs were collected in August 2021.)

Prairie Bluebell Marans cross olive egger green layer prairie bluebells Prairie Bluebell Egger crossed with black blue copper Marans rooster to make Prairie Bluebell hybrid olive eggers that lay pistachio eggs prairie bluebell olive egger egg pics pictures breed hybrid make colored egg layers Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — Here is an interesting image showing how our olive egger breeding progressed after starting with a Prairie Bluebell hen.

Using Prairie Bluebell Eggers to breed olive eggers, a row of olive egger eggs breeding colored egg layers Prairie Bluebell Marans cross olive egger green layer prairie bluebells Prairie Bluebell Egger crossed with black blue copper Marans rooster to make Prairie Bluebell hybrid olive eggers that lay pistachio eggs prairie bluebell olive egger egg pics pictures breed hybrid make colored egg layers Prairie Bluebell Egger blue eggs and olive eggs together in a teal pulp egg carton olive egger vibrant bright blue egg layer heterozygous easter egger guaranteed blue egg layer breed pullet hen rare feather colors blue eggs — Click the image to learn more about breeding olive eggers!

I hope this article helps you be more informed about adding pretty Prairie Bluebell Eggers to your flock!

Frequently Asked Questions About Prairie Bluebell Eggers:

Do Prairie Bluebell Eggers lay the brightest blue eggs?

My experience has been that most Prairie Bluebell Eggers lay a very pretty powder blue or “regular” blue egg. My Whiting True Blues, which are a homozygous blue egg gene purebred carrying 2 copies of the blue egg gene, lay eggs that are more blue than most of my 2019 Prairie Bluebell Eggers, which are expected to carry only 1 blue and 1 recessive white egg gene. Here are Prairie Bluebell Egger eggs next to Whiting True Blue and a Blue Easter Egger egg, all laid mid-season:

Do Prairie Bluebell Eggers all lay jumbo eggs or medium eggs?

The chicks I raised in 2019 all laid large to jumbo sized eggs. They did NOT lay the “medium” size Hoover’s advertises. USDA Medium egg size is average 50 grams. My hens all laid eggs that were at least 60 grams. “Dottie” has laid jumbo eggs all her life, which have always weighed 69-74 grams.

What Prairie Bluebell Egger chick colors does Hoover’s Hatchery ship?

My two chick shipments from Hoover’s Hatchery contained an absolutely gorgeous assortment of splash, blue, and chipmunk. In my first 2019 shipment I received 1 black chick, 1 brown chipmunk, 2 splash and 2 blue; with a male being one of the two blue (gray) chicks. In my 2023 shipment I received 1 splash, 1 blue with a rust patch on her face, 1 clean faced golden chipmunk chick, 1 cream chipmunk and 1 gray + brown tinted chipmunk. (Chick pictures from my 2023 shipment are shown above!)

Are Prairie Bluebell Eggers Clean Faced or Bearded?

They can be both but it seems Hoover’s is leaning towards breeding for clean faces. Prairie Bluebell Eggers are a hybrid, not a purebred, so there is no true breed standard. My experience has been that the chicks from the hatchery in 2019 were 50% clean faced and 50% bearded but the chicks that arrived in 2023 were 100% clean faced.

What do adult Prairie Bluebell Egger hens weigh?

I have found adult body size among the hens to be variable, which is expected among hybrids. Most of my hens weighed between 4.5 and 5 pounds as adults. One wild type hen, who had been a smaller chick and grew into a small frame adult, weighed 3.7 pounds but still laid a large size egg. My experience has been that the Hoover’s Hatchery’s website description of 4-5 pound adult hens is accurate with outliers possible.

What breeds were crossed to make the Prairie Bluebell Egger hybrid?

Hoover’s Hatchery 2019 catalogue disclosed that Prairie Bluebell Eggers were “created by crossing (purebred) Araucanas and White Leghorns”.

If I breed Prairie Bluebell Eggers, what chick colors can I expect?

Since the hybrid began by Hoover’s Hatchery crossing purebred Araucanas with White Leghorns, there is a beautiful mix of genes that chicks can inherit.

The White Leghorns in the Prairie Bluebell Egger ancestry carry the dominant white feather gene, which a chick must inherit 2 copies of if it is to be solid white. The dominant white feather gene is a color inhibitor; it works by suppressing production of eumelanin, the black feather pigment. It does not affect the red feather pigment pheomelanin. I have had 2 chicks hatch with brilliant white down who may have inherited two copies of this inhibitor.

My overall hatching experience has been that you should expect a mix of chipmunk (wild type), blue, black, and splash F2 Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks if you breed them. Specific chick colors will depend on the rooster you are using. (For example, a splash Prairie Bluebell Egger rooster will not be able to produce black offspring.) As a general rule, cream chipmunk colored chicks are often the ones who can produce the widest range of uniquely colored offspring later, since they typically are carrying one of various dilution genes, such as Silver dilute.

I have been VERY pleasantly surprised to find the genes “hiding” in my Prairie Bluebell Eggers and they have produced a rainbow of absolutely beautiful chicks!

You Might Also Enjoy Reading:

Using Prairie Bluebell Eggers to Breed Olive Eggers

Identify Male & Female Chicks (no matter the breed or hybrid!)

Sell Hatching Eggs: Income from 10 Hens + 1 Roo

Click the image to view DOZENS of colored egg pictures with each egg labeled by breed!

Pin for Later

a splash feathered hen standing in grass with a half dozen vibrant bright turquoise eggs in a white carton with text that reads Prairie Bluebell Egger blue egg breed color layer chicken

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Comments

Shelley Hastreiter says

April 25, 2021 at 10:17 am

Hello! You mention the Bluebell chicks lay XL-Jumbo, but the Hoover’s site states they lay medium eggs. Any insight?

Reply
- Tay Silver says
  
  April 25, 2021 at 10:36 am
  
  Hi Shelley!
  
  The Prairie Bluebell pullets I got from Hoover’s Hatchery all laid at least USDA large sized eggs, with 3 of the 6 girls laying 73 to 84 gram jumbo eggs the size of duck eggs. My guess is that Hoovers is setting buyer’s expectations low. No one would complain if they ended up with a hen laying massive eggs but since egg size is variable among all hybrids, they probably went with the lowest common denominator to reduce customer complaints.
  
  Edited to Add: I now believe the 24% Chick Starter I fed my Prairie Bluebell chicks helped some of their eggs pass the 70 gram size. I’ve added that info to the page so others can repeat the experiment if they would like!
  
  Reply
  - Chicken Fan says
    
    January 27, 2022 at 3:36 pm
    
    When you say to breed a two blue gene Roo with a blue bell to get an F2. Does it have to be a Blue Bell Rooster, or can it be a cream leg bar or an Ameraucana?
  - Tay Silver says
    
    February 3, 2022 at 9:08 am
    
    Prairie Bluebells are a hybrid, not a true breed. If you are wanting to correctly breed an F2 Prairie Bluebell, you would need to cross a Prairie Bluebell rooster with a Prairie Bluebell hen. An estimated 75% of the offspring will lay a blue egg and 25% will lay a white egg. Of the F2’s, there will be 25% of chicks who inherit 2 blue egg genes and are actually homozygous blue. You can test breed to discover if your F2 Prairie Bluebell roo is this type and then use him to breed guaranteed blue laying Prairie Bluebells going forward.
    
    If you want to breed guaranteed blue laying Easter Eggers from your Prairie Bluebells, use any homozygous blue gene rooster such as the Cream Legbar, true Ameraucana (from a breeder only) or Whiting True Blues.
  - Phil says
    
    January 31, 2023 at 11:01 pm
    
    Can you share what brand or mix of chick starter you used?
    
    I have 15 coming late next week and I am getting everything ready.
    
    Thanks!
  - Tay Silver says
    
    February 1, 2023 at 10:20 am
    
    Hi Phil!
    
    Tractor Supply used to carry a Dumor brand 24% protein chick starter crumble but I have not seen it regularly in stock since 2020. For my chicks I buy a bag of 30% game bird crumbles and 20% chick starter crumbles then mix them at a 1:1 ratio to create a 25% protein mix. It worked well for me last year and the olive egger pullets fed this mix are large bodied and laying nice sized eggs, one of them laying jumbo like her Prairie Bluebell great-grandmother. The OE cockerels fed this chick mix are now HUGE – some of the largest males I’ve ever raised and I’m looking forward to their offspring being equally hefty.
  - Phil says
    
    June 10, 2024 at 11:08 am
    
    About 18 months ago I received 20 Prairie Bluebell chicks along with 5 French Black Copper Marans. I had planned in advance and found the 24% Gamebird/Showbird feed by Manna Pro from Petco online and had it shipped. I was able to get 50 pounds delivered for around $75. That lasted them 42 days. I purchased 20% locally after that at Tractor Supply. I could have used the Meat Bird mix and probably done just as well, but I followed the higher protein regimen until they were 12 weeks old. At that time I moved over to the Feather Fixer layer crumbles at 18% until they started laying then went to the 17% Layer Pellets.
    
    When they started laying, the eggs were on the small to medium range, but within a month or two the eggs came up to Extra Large to Jumbo.
    
    I am SOOOOOO glad I came across the information you gave above! Even the Copper Marans eggs are jumbo, and they seem to lay 3 to 4 per week regularly.
    
    Thank you for sharing your research, and helping us get better quality eggs from our chickens! I can say that the experience with the Prairie Bluebell breed has been excellent. I lost several due to random issues, but overall, they have been extremely healthy and active birds. I sold a couple and still have a dozen layers. Between them and 4 BCM’s, I get 12 to 18 eggs per day. I swear some of the Bluebells lay more than 1 egg a day sometimes!
    
    I clipped their wings from a fairly early age so now that they have their full feathers they don’t try to fly much. I have had no trouble with them flying over the 4 foot fence even. I do have them finding small weak points and crawling through though, but that is easy to find and fix.
    
    These chicks also go through way less feed than the flock of Deleware and Australorp chickens I had 5 years ago. It appears to be roughly half the feed for the same number of chickens. I think they forage better and just eat less of the feed/scratch.
    
    Again, Many Thanks to Tay Silver for a great bit of information, and if you are wondering if you really get bigger eggs with higher protein chick starter, it worked for me!
  - Tay Silver says
    
    June 16, 2024 at 2:06 pm
    
    Phil, thank you SO MUCH for sharing your experience! This type of real-life information being shared among chicken keepers truly does help! I, too, have continued to feed a higher percent protein to my chicks. I mix the 20% chick starter crumbles with 30% game bird feed in a 1 to 1 ratio to make a roughly 25% protein feed blend. My first Rhode Island Red hen fed this mix was laying eggs so HUGE that I realized when I used them to serve as a “grocery store brown egg” comparison color, her XL eggs made other normal sized eggs look like pullet eggs! Whoops!
    
    The higher percent protein feed trick is such handy information and thank you for sharing that even just feeding it until 12 weeks old still produced jumbo egg layers because that saves money in the long run while still delivering the big eggs we want!
J Claggett says

March 24, 2022 at 8:12 am

Thank you for the great page. I’m raising 6 praerie bluebells I received from Hoover’s. I’m thrilled with the variety of colors. One of mine has feathered feet which surprised me…have you run into feathered feet bluebells?

Reply
- Jennifer Scott says
  
  March 1, 2024 at 4:20 pm
  
  Hi! I have a dark almost black and chipmunk colored bluebell chicks. Any idea what color hens they’ll be?
  
  Reply
  - Tay Silver says
    
    March 2, 2024 at 8:32 am
    
    Hi there!
    
    The almost black chicks can feather out either black or a dark charcoal gray (blue). Brown chipmunk chicks can feather out in a wide range of brown, brownish-gold or brownish-gray tones with hints of black, gray and gold accents, depending on the feather color genes she inherited. Cream colored chipmunk chicks are usually carrying a silver dilute gene and tend to feather out in shades of silver/light gray with accents of white and gray. You are going to love watching them grow and feather out! They’re a lovely hybrid!
Lizzie L says

April 22, 2022 at 5:09 pm

Hi there!!!

First flock is in my brooder now at 11 and 3 days old.

I have them on 24% starter but am having a hard time finding 22% grower feed anywhere.
Most are 18-20% range.

What kinds have you used in the past and where did you purchase?

All I can find is duck and goose starter not grower and that’s 22%, says only use first 3 weeks for ducks. Maybe that’s ok to use I’m not sure.

Thanks in advance!

Reply
- Tay Silver says
  
  April 27, 2022 at 1:06 pm
  
  Hi Lizzie!
  
  I have used the NatureWise Meat Bird crumbles (22% protein) which you can buy from Tractor Supply:
  https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/naturewise-meatbird
  
  If all else fails, you can buy a bag of 20% Chick Starter and a bag of Purina Game Bird Crumbles 30% protein feed. Mixing 1 cup of each together will create 2 cups of roughly 25% grower feed that is perfectly fine to feed chicken chicks! I have also done this, since 24% Chick crumbles were impossible to find in 2021 in my area, and the chicks grew well without any issues.
  
  Reply
Kathy says

April 26, 2022 at 2:17 pm

I have an all-white prairie bluebell egger. She’s 3 weeks. Is she going to stay white feathers?

Reply
- Tay Silver says
  
  April 27, 2022 at 1:01 pm
  
  Hi Kathy!
  
  If the pullet inherited the dominant white feather gene, she will likely keep her all-white feathers. However I have found that many all-white Prairie Bluebell chicks do end up being splash and eventually get a cute smattering of black polka-dot like feathers among their white ones. The pullets I have hatched who were very bright white as chicks ended up with a few faint, almost blue (gray) feathers tucked in among their white but they are considered a splash. (I suspect there is an additional dilute gene at play in the chicks with white down and brighter white feathers with the faint black/blue splash feathers that appear as they near laying age.)
  
  Reply
Dar says

September 7, 2022 at 3:46 am

Can you tell me if my hen was a Prairie blue bell splash! If I sent photo’s? Hoover guessed her as a Prairie Blue Bell Splash however I am now in desperate area of trying to find and locate a replacement and figure out cost as my neighbors dog was found laying on my coop floor eating one hen and killed the other two! She was so pretty and so sociable that’s all we want!

Reply
- Tay Silver says
  
  September 12, 2022 at 11:03 am
  
  Hi Dar!
  
  Prairie Bluebells do come in splash so your hen very well could have been one! Prairie Bluebell Eggers are a hybrid made by Hoover’s so the best place to get more is to order directly from them. I am so sorry to hear about your neighbor’s dog killing your birds. If you are able to purchase a started pullet from a breeder, expect to pay a minimum of $25 for a 4 week old and $40-$50 for a point-of-lay hen around 4-5 months old. Splash is a desirable color so they tend to sell first.
  
  Reply
Christina Hagerman says

June 9, 2023 at 12:58 pm

-from ‘website’ image-
I can’t remember what this chick (about 9 weeks old) was supposed to be, but the lady at Tractor Supply suspects her to be a Prairie Bluebell… Can you give your guess to it it’s correct? She’s also developing a few red splashes on her wings. She started out looking like a tiny grey cotton-ball. Thanks

Reply
- Christina L Hagerman says
  
  June 9, 2023 at 12:59 pm
  
  oops. link didn’t show:
  https://www.deviantart.com/clhtjh/art/Need-the-breed-965984095
  
  Reply
Jennifer hura says

December 8, 2023 at 2:34 pm

Hello, I have a prairie bluebell roo, about four months old. Got him as a baby chick from tractor supply to put under a broody hen. He is mostly gray with a peacomb, and some rust color on his hackles.
However, his earlobes are white, does that mean he does “not” have both blue genes? Do you have a site reference to get him tested? Thank you!

Reply
- Tay Silver says
  
  December 11, 2023 at 6:36 pm
  
  Hi Jennifer!
  
  Ear lobe color is not linked to the blue egg gene. It is not possible to look at a chicken’s outward characteristics and tell if they are carrying one or two blue egg genes. You are correct that your rooster would need to be genetically tested to determine if he is heterozygous or homozygous for the blue egg gene!
  
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Laura says

October 4, 2024 at 7:18 am

Hello, First time chicken owner here. I bought three day-old prairie bluebell eggers. Day 2 one of them passed. The second one turned out to be a rooster, and the last one is approximately 19 weeks old and i believe is laying white/light pink eggs, soft shell. She also has no/very small wattle or comb. Is this normal? are the first eggs typically not blue? Thanks for you help, im so lost.

Reply
- Tay Silver says
  
  October 4, 2024 at 2:14 pm
  
  Hi Laura!
  
  The first eggs laid by Prairie Bluebell Eggers should be blue. If your hen is laying soft eggs (like a water balloon egg), there is no shell so it won’t be blue. If she is laying a white or lightly tinted egg, she is not carrying any of the dominant blue egg genes.
  
  If you purchased the chicks from a breeder who is crossing Prairie Bluebell Eggers together, there is a belief that some Prairie Bluebells may be heterozygous for the blue egg gene (only carrying 1 copy). When two of these heterozygous birds are bred together, there is a 25% chance of producing a white egg layer. This may be what has happened.
  
  If the chicks came from Hoover’s Hatchery or Tractor Supply, who purchases Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks from Hoover’s Hatchery, there may have been an accidental mix-up where a white egg layer breed chick was put in the PB chick bin. Prairie Bluebell Eggers come in such a wide variety of feather colors that this could easily happen.
  
  Prairie Bluebell Eggers should have a pea comb so observing her comb and egg color can give us more clues:
  Does your hen have a straight comb? If she has a straight comb, I think an accidental chick mix-up is to blame.
  If the hen has a pea comb but is laying a white egg, I think she may be one of the 25% white egg layers that could be bred by crossing PB who are heterozygous for the blue egg gene together.
  If the hen has a pea comb and is laying a lightly tinted egg, I think she may be a “peach” laying Americana or Easter Egger who accidentally got mixed up with the Prairie Bluebell Egger chicks. If the hen is fluffy faced (bearded) and lays a very lightly tinted egg that is pinky or almost white and has a pea comb, I think peach laying Easter Egger is the most likely answer. Hoover’s Hatchery has been breeding clean faced Prairie Bluebell Eggers for a while and the chicks I got directly from them in 2023 were all clean faced.
  
  I hope this helps you solve the mystery!
  
  Reply