Ravyn's Nest

06/08/2026

Although popular, Americaunas aren't the only blue egg breed of rooster to consider for blue and olive egg projects. Consider adding a Crested Cream Legbar rooster to your flock...

Crested Cream Legbars have homozygous blue egg genetics, making them an excellent choice (crossed with brown egg laying hens) for your Olive Egger project.

These roosters are a clean legged and straight combed breed which makes them a compatible match for popular brown egg laying hens like Wellsummers, Barnevelders, Australorpe, Rhode Island Red, Barred Rock, etc. without passing on traits like feathered feet or rose combs. The Crested Cream Legbar rooster's "crest" (head feathers) are so small they can barely be seen behind the comb. In hens, the crest is a small, compact, neat "hairdo." The breed's neutral cream, gold, chestnut, and grey coloring also pairs well with a variety of hens to make unique and pretty Olive Egger chicks.

The Crested Cream Legbar is a mid-sized breed. Roosters are around 6 pounds at maturity. They're easy on their hens and typically stand their ground with other roosters but aren't aggressively looking for a fight. The Cream Legbar breed is docile and easy to handle without being sluggish or lazy. This breed is an alert and active forager.

The Cream Legbar is a solid egg producer. While not as prolific as Australorpes or production breeds hybridized for maximum egg laying, Legbar hens consistently lay 3-5 eggs per week (varies by daylight hours) and aren't likely to go broody.

If you're looking to add one of these gentlemen to your flock for your blue egg and olive egg projects, message us 😀 We have some young purebred Crested Cream Legbar cockerels growing out nicely from our handsome rooster and hens (some pictured).

We also have many of his Olive Egger chicks (crossed with Blue Australorpe and Gold Laced Barnevelder hens) from the 5/18 hatch available.

05/28/2026

Marans and Ameracauna have become very popular breeds for crossing to create Olive Egger (OE) hybrids, but they're not the only breed options for your OE projects.

Using a Cream Legbar for the blue egg breed can improve foraging and temperament of the Olive Egger offspring. Pro tip: using a Cream Legbar hen for the Blue egg breed and combining it with a non-barred rooster with brown egg genes gives you s*x linked Olive Egger chicks...super handy!

Or, consider using a Whiting True Blue for your blue egg breed. Since Whiting True Blues are prolific layers, this cross can potentially boost egg production capabilities of the Olive Egger pullet offspring. Even better, the Whiting True Blue comes in a variety of colors which can be useful to either match or contrast the brown egg laying hen it is being crossed with!

While Black Copper Marans are lovely birds known for their very dark brown eggs, they're not the only dark egg layers. Get creative with brown egg breed selection by adding the lovely Gold Laced Barnevelder, add speckles to your green eggs with a Wellsummer. Or up the heat tolerance, foraging capabilities, and predator evasion abilities of your line by incorporating the rare and lovely Spanish breed Crele Pendesenca.

Dark brown egg layers aren't the only option either, adding in breeds that lay light brown eggs with heavy bloom that appear pink can create beautiful shades of olive eggs. Consider a Wyandotte or an Australorpe, one of the most prolific egg laying breeds also known for their size, beauty, and hardiness. Or the Orphington. While not particularly heat tolerant, the Orphington will continue laying into the colder months...and they're not only beautiful but friendly/cuddly and easy to handle.

05/27/2026

Whiting True Blues are a new breed for us. We've been getting to know this breed after purchasing some chicks and hatching eggs from a breeder in our area to add to our existing blue egg breeds. We've enjoyed learning about the breed and raising these birds. Immediately I noticed how quickly these chicks grow compared to slower growing heritage breeds. And how quickly these babies escaped the brooder box to explore the brooder room before I thought they'd need a box cover! They're a little "flighty" or jumpy and startle easily but this translates into aware/alert and less likely to be picked off by predators if free ranged during the day...and alerting other flock members to take cover, too. Despite their active nature, the chicks and juveniles aren't aggressive or pecking brooder mates - even more docile breeds in the brooder box or grow out coop/run.

Don't let the Name Whiting True Blue fool you, the chickens are neither white or blue. Okay, well, they CAN be white or blue depending on the color of the parent birds because they come in a variety of feather colors (brown, red, black, white, etc.) and patterns - even barred, lavender, and splash. They are clean legged birds but often have muffs (cute puffy cheeks). They're called Whitings because the breed was developed by poultry geneticist Dr. Tom Whiting. They're called True Blues because they lay powder blue eggs similar in color to the eggs of Prairie Blue Bells, Cream Legbars, and Ameracaunas. Murray McMurray Hatchery holds the exclusive rights to the genetic lines and Whiting True Blue (WTB) name. Chicks can be purchased from breeders or through chick orders from McMurray.

Why you might want to consider the Whiting True Blue breed of blue egg layer for your breeding program and flock:

What's special about the Whiting True Blue (WTB) is that they're prolific layers, laying approximately 250 to 300 very large blue eggs annually. The WTB rivals production breeds like Leghorns. And they're fast growing, early maturing birds that lay promptly at 5 months of age.

They're heat and cold tolerant, hardy birds. Their rose comb makes frostbite less likely in harsh winters. As mentioned, they're alert and active birds aware of their environment. Crossing the WTB to other breeds, for example, in an Olive Egger project, can increase the foraging abilities and predator evasion capacity of the hybrid offspring.

Want to add the WTB to your flock or breeding program? Message for information on purchasing purebred Whiting True trios, pairs, or single roosters with the blue egg genes.

05/18/2026

Today we're hatching:

Sapphire Gems
Whiting True Blues
Crested Cream Legbars
Unique Olive Eggers
New Project: "Sunny" Chicks or "Sunnies"

Message for purchase info.

From egg to flock, we raise, hatch, and build it all.
Chicks ● Eggs ● Black Soldier Fly Larvae ● Coops.
Built on regenerative systems & real experience.
📍Central Arkansas | DM to order or reserve

05/17/2026

Yesterday a batch of eggs went into lockdown before tomorrow's hatch date. Even though we do this 2x a month, I still feel delighted each time an egg jigggles or rolls in the incubator, or I feel the little "scrambling" of a chick moving inside the egg I'm holding, and when I hear a faint cheep through the shell. I hope I never reach a point where the arrival of new chicks doesn't fill me with awe.

05/14/2026

Meet Charlie. I'd say he's my emotional support rooster, but he's actually a little menace. Thirteen ounces of chaos. And he's the worst roommate I've ever had.

He ignores boundaries. He steals sips of my coffee. He leaves his stuff all over my bathroom floor. He leaves smudges on the bathroom mirror where he's pressed his beak against the mirror checking himself out. He sings (horribly) in the bathroom at all hours of the day and night. His singing sounds like someone is strangling a squeak toy. I think he likes the acoustics.

His days of tormenting others began in the brooder box. Yep at 4 or 5 weeks old, he'd escape the brooder box and the goslings would tattle on him. He'd hop onto the edge of other chicks' boxes and rapid-fire chatter at them, scaring them. I thought it was all quite funny. Little bird, big personality, right? His punishment? I'd scoop him up and kiss his little head and let him ride on my shoulder as I finished chick chores in the incubation and brooder room (positively reinforcing his bad behavior). And so began Charlie and the Chicken Factory, part 1.

Now, you may be wondering why I have a full grown, albeit tiny, ROOSTER living IN THE HOUSE now. Yeah, me, too. Me, too! He went out in the small Bantie coop with his hatch mates and the 5 adult Bantams. All was well. Goldie Hen could be quite strict in her schooling but Hei Hei (the head rooster) was gentle with the juvies. Becoming roommates all started when Charlie got sick. I needed to isolate him away from other birds, keep him warm, and provide frequent emergency care. It was still cold out. My bathroom was easy to heat and far from the brooder room...and away from my cats.

When Charlie recovered and returned to the Bantie coop, he was "too big for his britches." As always, this runty rooster starts fights then plays victim when the other bird owns him. And I'm too soft. I hate to hear his squeaky cries or see him getting beat up... even when I know full well he's the instigator. My problem is I'm crazy about him.

He's the crabbiest little guy. Carping incessantly when I pick him up, touch his waterer, pick him up off of my makeup case to grab blush, pet him, etc. And I think it's funny. Charlie acts like he doesn't like attention. He doesn't want anyone to know this, but he's totally a momma's boy. When he sees me, he hops across the room and into my lap. And when I'm holding him, he's all baby bird. He rubs his head gently into my neck and purrs (chicken purrs are called "trilling," how cute!). He buries his head into my hair and falls asleep. So, I put up with all his naughty behaviors to have these moments of sweetness, then ask my partner, "What are we going to do with Charlie?"

Maybe I love this bird because I'm a lot like him. Creating a problem then seeming helpless. Because my partner gently warned me that rescuing Charlie from the fights he starts might not actually be helpful...that chickens are flock creatures and don't live alone... that keeping him safe in my bathroom might damage his social skills.

My partner was right, and I knew it, but I babied Charlie anyway. Now I'm complaining that he's standing on my hairbrush and saying he must go out. But where will he go? He doesn't get along with any other bird. He's a bully to my disabled chicken. He's also a hazard to himself picking fights with grown guineas and taunting the geese (who, btw are still holding a grudge from the brooder box days).

My solution?
Enable this little tyrant, of course. Just hatch out and grow up another little Bantie flock for Charlie to have his own peeps. Omg... what was I thinking? The new Bantie babies are so sweet and cute...just a few weeks old. Do I really want this little menace raising them?

Send help!