Considering Sapphire Olive Egger Chicken Breed? - Read This First (2024)

If you consider adding these adorable birds to your flock, you have come to the right place. We will discuss everything you need to know about the Sapphire Olive Egger chicken breed. Keep reading to learn more.

Are you a fan of rainbow-colored eggs? If yes, then you will like the Sapphire Olive Egger chicken. It is a hybrid chicken similar to Easter Egger and Olive Egger chickens in that they produce brilliantly colored eggs with a green-tinged shell.

What Is A Sapphire Olive Egger Chicken?

The Sapphire Olive Egger is not a chicken breed but a hybrid of multiple chicken breeds. If you mix chicken breeds that lay colored eggs, you will likely get a hybrid chicken that lays green eggs. A better combination will require:

• A chicken breed that produces blue eggs
• A breed chicken that produces dark brown eggs.

The resulting hybrid chicken will be an Olive Egger. But since the Olive Egger chicken is a hybrid, it will not have a single look. The Sapphire Olive Egger chicken is one of the most popular varieties of Oliver Egger chicken. It is known for having smoky-blue feathers. The hybrid usually results from a combination of either the Ameraucana or Araucana breed (an Easter Egger chicken) and a Blue Plymouth Rock (Sapphire Gem) chicken.

However, you do not necessarily have to use Ameraucana or Araucana. You can use any breed of chicken that produces blue-colored eggs.

Are Sapphire Olive Eggers Different From Olive Eggers?

The main difference between a Sapphire Olive Egger and a regular Oliver Egger is the appearance. Sapphire Olive Eggers are bluish in color and look slightly different from the Olive Eggers.

Personality And Temperament

Sapphire Olive Eggers are the type to be friendly. Their mild and docile nature makes them perfect birds for beginners or families with children.

They are practically harmless, and your kids will enjoy playing with them. If you are looking for a friendly chicken breed to add to your backyard flock, this is one of the best choices.

This docile and non-aggressive hybrid chicken will do well in a flock of chickens of other breeds.

However, you will need to make sure that the other birds in your flock are friendly and non-aggressive too.

Like roosters of any other chicken breed, you can expect your Sapphire Olive Egger roosters to be a bit aggressive. They make an excellent flock protector and will fight back to keep their flock safe.

Sapphire Olive Eggers are easy to tame and will do well both in confinement and when allowed to free-range.

Since they are good foragers, you can allow them to free-range. This will enable them to get extra minerals and vitamins.

They also have a high tendency to produce and incubate their eggs. Therefore, you can expect your Sapphire Olive Egger hen to start roosting a few days after laying.

Since they are easy to take care of, you can integrate them into your currently existing flock. They can withstand any type of environment.

In addition, Sapphire Olive Egger chickens can adjust and be compatible with different types of weather or climate.

Appearance

The size and color of a Sapphire Olive Egger chicken usually depend on the breeds that were mixed to produce the chicken.

Therefore, the appearance of this hybrid chicken may vary. Since the Sapphire Gem chicken breed is mostly used to produce Sapphire Olive Egger, you can expect to see a hybrid that reflects a Sapphire Gem.

The Sapphire Gem chicken is a combination of the Barred Plymouth Rock and the Blue Plymouth Rock. Some breeders and chicken keepers use the Blue Plymouth Rock chickens to produce Sapphire Olive Eggers. This will likely result in exotic colors, such as blues, smoky grays, and lavender feathers.

Sapphire Olive Egger hens are mostly bluish-gray in color with a single comb or a little ridge of feathers atop their heads. Their neck and head tend to be darker than the rest of their body. In addition, these birds walk with an upright stature that comes from the Plymouth Rock chicken breed.

Generally, they are medium-sized birds. A mature Sapphire Olive Egger rooster will weigh 6 to 7 pounds, while a hen will weigh 4 to 6 pounds when fully grown.

Sapphire Olive Eggs Egg-Laying

Are those adorable olive eggs any different from the regular chicken eggs? The answer is NO. Like pink or blue colored eggs, the olive eggs have the same nutrients and flavor.

However, they have an advantage in that you can use the novel color as a selling point for your backyard chicken eggs.

Many people will love the appealing appearance of the olive chicken eggs mixed into a carton of blue eggs. They may even offer to pay more for that.

Generally, Sapphire Olive Eggers are prolific egg layers. Under good care and maintenance, a Sapphire Olive Egger hen can lay around 4 to 5 eggs in a week.

This translates to about 230 to 270 eggs in a year. They will start laying eggs at the age of 5 to 6 months.

Since they are a hybrid of blue egg-laying chickens and dark brown egg-laying chickens, their eggs will be a vibrant green.

Because of that cross, you will get slightly bluish brown eggs that look green. However, some Sapphire Olive Egger hens may lay brown, pink, or blue eggs.

Health Issues And Care

Sapphire Olive Eggers are healthy birds born without hereditary health issues. They are not prone to many health issues and common poultry diseases.

The biggest concern that you will have to keep an eye on are lice and mites. These parasites can accumulate if neglected.

Therefore, you will need to check and clean them regularly. Also, can consider changing the bedding of your birds often.

The following are some of the common diseases that your Sapphire Olive Eggers may suffer from.

Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome (FLHS)

This poultry disease is commonly caused by hormonal, nutritional, or toxicological factors. It attacks the bird’s liver and eventually pushes their health to the edge.

The most common symptom of Fatty Liver Hemorrhagic Syndrome in chickens is your bird having an unusual pale comb.

It can also manifest by being lethargic, not being their energetic selves, and gaining weight. Another symptom is slowed egg-laying intervals.

Although you can treat the disease through home remedies, it is still important to visit your vet to get your chicken checked in order to pinpoint and know what you can do. Here is how you can treat the condition:

• Limit your bird from fatty foods
• Incorporate biotin-rich food in the chicken’s feed to improve their metabolism.

Diarrhea

Diarrhea is one of the most common poultry diseases and is a serious health concern that should not be taken lightly. The common symptom is the change in the bird’s droppings.

The standard color of a chicken’s droppings should be brown and partly white because of the urine.

If you notice that the droppings have changed into something foamy, yellow, and accompanied by some blood, then your chicken could be suffering from diarrhea.

You can manage diarrhea in chickens by giving your birds plenty of clean water to rehydrate. If all remedies fail, you should consult your vet as soon as possible.

Feeding

Sapphire Olive Eggers love to eat. They will peck on nearly everything they come across. These birds are good foragers.

If you have plenty of space in your backyard, you can allow them to free-range to get extra minerals and vitamins.

They will require a high-quality chick starter feed up to the age of 14 weeks. After that, you can slowly transition to a complete laying feed.

They will also require calcium supplements to aid in the formation of strong and quality eggshells.

Sapphire Olive Eggers will also not mind fresh produce such as vegetables and fruits once in a while for treats.

They will also need plenty of fresh and clean water all the time. Make sure that your birds are not dehydrated and that their water does not freeze over in the cold.

Coop Set-Up

The size of your coop will depend on the number of chickens you are raising. However, just make sure that your coop is large enough to accommodate all birds.

Overcrowding can lead to feather pecking and bullying, which should be avoided in the flock.

Every chicken will require a coop space of 4 square feet. A standard-sized nesting box measuring 12x12x12 will also be enough.

You can include one nesting box for every 4 birds. The nesting boxes will give your birds a safe and comfortable place to lay their adorable eggs.

When designing your coop, create ten square feet of run space per hen. You can also let your chickens roam in the backyard.

You must ensure that your coop is well fenced to keep off any possible predators. A durable fence will ensure that your birds are safe in their coop.

Conclusion

If you consider keeping Sapphire Olive Eggers, you know some of their benefits and where you can start to raise them successfully.

These prolific egg layers will ensure that you have a constant supply of colorful eggs throughout the year. However, they will need good care to live a long and productive life.