Green Queen Chickens: A Fun and Productive Addition to Your Flock
Ready to add a dash of color to your backyard chicken coop? Green Queen Chickens are here to help. With their ability to lay beautiful green eggs and their reputation for being highly productive, these hens are the perfect addition to a flock of brown and white layers.
The Green Queen is a specific type of Easter Egger that lays green eggs. It is a hybrid, not a purebred, so it will never be show chicken. But if you’re like most people, that doesn’t matter. And this breed gets just about everything else right.
The green queen
Lays 4-5 large green eggs per week
Can be gray, brown, or black and white, often fluffy
Friendly and relaxed: not flighty
Good free rangers
Good heat and cold tolerance
Table of contents
🕰 The history of the Green Queen
The Green Queen is a type of Easter Egger bred to produce many large, green eggs. Easter Eggers are hybrids but Green Queens are one specific type of that family.
This is a relatively new variety.
They were created by Meyer Hatchery, who does not reveal the lineage of the breed, but it is certainly a combination of a blue layers and brown layers. I would guess that the brown layer genes are largely Cinnamon Queen (which is itself a hybrid), because of the name and the number of eggs they lay.
Green Queens vs. easter eggers
The biggest difference you will notice between this variety and an Easter Egger is the number of eggs. They will consistently lay many large green eggs per week. Easter Egger hens will sometimes be prolific layers, but not always, and the color you get is always a mystery.
Most chicken keepers have heard of Easter Eggers, which are not a breed, exactly, but a collection of chicken “mutts” that lay green and blue eggs. You could order a dozen Easter Egger chickens and receive hens that look different and lay different colored eggs, although they will all lay varying shades of blue and green. With Green Queens, you know what you’re getting.
🐥 A bird that can look like anything
Unlike many chicken breeds, Green Queens don’t have a standard look, making each bird unique and adding a fun element of surprise to your flock.
Easter Eggers can come in just about every color and pattern imaginable. From solid black, white, or buff to multi-colored or speckled, the sky’s the limit. Some might have feathers that mix blue, gold, and brown, while others could sport a splash of white against a primarily black body. Their feather patterns can also vary, from laced to partridge to mottled.
Even their size can range, with most falling into the medium-to-large category. Their combs, too, can differ, with pea combs being the most common, but single combs also appearing in some birds.
One of the most charming features of Easter Eggers is their “muffs” or “beard” – fluffy feathers around their face that give them a distinctive, quirky look. Their legs can be slate blue, green, or even yellow, often adorned with feathering.
Green Queen personality
These birds are generally known for their docile and friendly nature. They tend to be easygoing and get along well with both their human caregivers and other members of the flock. They’re not typically aggressive, which makes them a good choice for families with children or for mixed flocks with other gentle breeds.
Like most chickens, they’re active and curious, showing interest in their surroundings and willing to explore all over when free-ranging. They also tend to be less flighty than some breeds, which can make them easier to handle.
Green Queen roosters have a reputation for being gentle, but I have not personally experienced this. Ours was as aggressive as any other variety. But if you’re looking for a gentle rooster it might be worth a try.
❤️ Caring for green queens
First things first, providing a secure and comfortable living space is key. These birds need a coop that keeps them safe from predators and shelters them from harsh weather. Each chicken should have at least 4 square feet of space inside the coop and 10 square feet in the run.
When it comes to their diet, a balanced poultry feed is essential. This usually includes a good quality layer feed that provides all the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Don’t forget to supplement their diet with kitchen scraps and let them forage for bugs and plants; they love it and it’s great for their health!
Green Queens, like all chickens, need access to clean water at all times. And, because they’re such fantastic layers, providing a source of calcium like oyster shell in a separate dish can help ensure strong eggshells.
Regular health checks are also important. Keep an eye out for any changes in their behavior, eating habits, or egg production, as these can be signs of illness.
Last but not least, remember that Green Queens are social and active birds. They enjoy the opportunity to free-range and they appreciate interaction with their human caregivers. So, get out there, enjoy their company, and they’ll reward you with a colorful basket of eggs and lots of entertainment!
🐔 Answering your questions
The short answer: genetics. It is in their blood and they will always lay green eggs. It doesn’t matter how you feed them, treat them, or anything else.
Here’s the long science answer:
Green Queen Chickens have inherited a special gene known as the ‘oocyan’ gene. This gene causes the hen to deposit a green pigment called biliverdin onto the eggshell as it’s being formed.
Here’s where it gets even more interesting. All eggs, no matter the breed, first start as white. If a chicken lays brown eggs, it’s because the hen adds a pigment called protoporphyrin IX later in the egg formation process. Now, in the case of our Green Queen Chickens, they have inherited both the gene for a blue eggshell and the process for a brown eggshell coating. So, they lay an egg with a blue interior and then add a layer of brown, which gives the egg its distinctive green color. (Boring, I know.)
It was invented by their breeder… to sell more chicks!
Yes, anything is possible when dealing with hybrid varieties. Occasionally, one will revert back to the genes of its parents and lay brown or blue eggs. This is unusual, but it can happen. (This would be apparent with the first egg laid… eggshell color is set at birth and does not change throughout a chicken’s lifetime.)
👩🌾 More favorite chicken breeds
- White Leghorns are the best white layers, despite some personality flaws.
- For productive brown egg layers, you can’t beat Cinnamon Queens!
- For true blue, my favorite is Cream Legbar.
By Katie Shaw
Katie lives in Virginia with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens. She loves creating simple tutorials for sourdough, bread, and soap. Her recipes, articles, and YouTube videos reach millions of people per year.
