What's the difference between an Olive Egger and an Easter Egger?

Both are **hybrids (not APA breeds) that carry a blue-egg gene** and neither breeds true. An **Olive Egger** is a targeted **blue-layer × dark-brown-layer** cross aimed at olive eggs. An **Easter Egger** is **any mixed bird carrying a blue-egg gene**, so a flock lays a spread of blue, green, olive, and sometimes pink. The Olive Egger is the aimed version; the Easter Egger is the grab-bag version.

Is an Olive Egger just a type of Easter Egger?

In a loose sense both are blue-gene hybrids, but an Olive Egger is a specific, directed cross — a true blue layer bred to a dark-brown layer to produce olive — whereas 'Easter Egger' is a catch-all for any blue-gene mix of unknown parentage. If you buy a random Easter Egger hoping for olive, you may get blue or green instead; an Olive Egger cross is bred on purpose to land on olive.

Which one lays darker or more olive eggs?

The **Olive Egger**, reliably. Because it's a deliberate blue × dark-brown pairing, and because breeders **back-cross to a very dark Marans** to stack more brown coating, Olive Eggers reach the deepest, mossy olive. Easter Eggers can lay olive, but most lay blue or green, and olive is the exception rather than the goal.

Do either of them breed true?

No — neither is a stabilized breed. Two Olive Eggers scatter their chicks across blue, green, olive, and brown layers, and two Easter Eggers are even less predictable. To reliably get olive you pair a true blue layer with a dark-brown layer and then back-cross toward the dark-brown side, rather than breeding hybrid-to-hybrid.

Can you show an Olive Egger or Easter Egger?

Not as a breed. Neither is APA-recognized and neither has a Standard of Perfection, so there's no breed class for either. Both are welcome in 4-H, youth, and county-fair egg-display or 'other exhibition' classes judged on egg color and uniformity. To show a bird under the APA, exhibit a recognized breed such as the Ameraucana, Marans, or Welsummer.

Which should I buy for a colorful egg basket?

If you want a varied basket cheaply and easily, **Easter Eggers** are the practical pick — inexpensive, hardy, friendly, and productive, with blue and green plus the occasional olive or pink. If you specifically want deep olive eggs, add an **Olive Egger**. Many keepers run both.

Olive Egger vs Easter Egger

Verified September 2026

The short version

Both are hybrids, not APA breeds, and both carry the dominant blue-egg (oocyan) gene — the difference is how targeted the cross is. An Olive Egger is a deliberate blue-layer × dark-brown-layer cross (e.g. Ameraucana × Marans): the blue base gets a heavy brown coating, and blue under dark brown reads olive. An Easter Egger is any mixed-breed bird that happens to carry a blue-egg gene, so across a flock they lay a rainbow — blue, green, olive, and sometimes pink or tinted (one color per hen). Neither breeds true. Pick an Olive Egger if you specifically want olive eggs; pick an Easter Egger if you want a cheap, hardy, colorful egg basket.

Attribute	Olive Egger	Easter Egger
Egg color	Olive green — a blue base under a heavy brown coating; ranges from light sage to deep, mossy olive	Varied — most lay blue or green; some olive, pink, or tinted/brown (one color per hen)
APA breed?	No — a hybrid cross, no Standard of Perfection	No — a hybrid type, no Standard of Perfection
Breeds true?	No — a cross; olive-to-olive scatters offspring across blue, green, olive, and brown	No — a single dominant blue gene over random brown/feather genes gives unpredictable chicks
Color predictability	Higher — a targeted blue × dark-brown pairing aims at olive; back-crossing deepens it	Lower — 'rainbow' is the point; you can't know a chick's egg color in advance
How it's made	Blue-egg breed (Ameraucana/Araucana/Cream Legbar) × dark-brown breed (Marans/Welsummer)	Any blue-egg bird × almost any other chicken, usually a brown-egg layer
Availability & price	Less common; often sold at a premium by egg-color breeders	Very common and inexpensive — a hatchery/feed-store staple
Primary purpose	A dedicated olive-egg project bird	An easy, colorful all-purpose backyard layer
Showing	Not a breed class; egg-display/hatching-egg classes only	Not a breed class; 4-H, youth, and egg-basket classes only

The verdict

Choose an **Olive Egger** when olive is the goal — you want the darkest green eggs and are willing to pay more or run a directed cross (blue parent × dark Marans, then back-cross) to get them. Choose an **Easter Egger** when you want an inexpensive, hardy, friendly layer and a varied basket, and you're happy with blue-or-green as the likely outcome and olive as a bonus. If you're breeding for color rather than just collecting it, start from a true blue layer and a dark-brown layer (an Olive Egger cross) rather than an Easter Egger of unknown genetics, whose blue base may actually be green and throw off your result.

Same gene, different goal

Both birds are built on the same foundation: the dominant blue-egg (oocyan) gene, which lays blue pigment through the full thickness of the shell rather than as a surface coat. What you see on the outside depends on how much brown pigment is painted over that blue base after the shell forms — blue plus a light brown coat reads green, and blue plus a heavy brown coat reads olive.

The Olive Egger is the targeted version: you deliberately pair a true blue layer with the darkest dark-brown layer you can find so the offspring stack a heavy brown coating on the blue base and land on olive. The Easter Egger is the accidental version: any mixed bird carrying the blue gene, so whatever brown-coating genes it happened to inherit determine whether it lays blue, green, or (less often) olive. Same mechanism — one is aimed, one is a grab bag.

Why neither breeds true

Neither is an APA-recognized breed, so neither is stabilized. Mating two Olive Eggers scatters the offspring across blue, green, olive, and brown layers, which is why serious olive breeders don't breed olive-to-olive — they back-cross an F1 hen to a very dark Marans rooster to concentrate the brown coating instead. Mating two Easter Eggers is even less predictable, because a single dominant blue gene sits on top of a random assortment of brown-coating and feather-color genes.

The practical upshot for buyers: you cannot reproduce a specific bird from either, and you cannot show either as a breed. If you want a showable blue- or dark-brown-egg bird, exhibit the purebred parents (Ameraucana, Marans, Welsummer) in their own classes.

Which to buy

If olive eggs are the whole point, buy or make an Olive Egger and select for pigment — a genuine blue base on one side and the darkest-laying Marans or Welsummer you can get on the other. If you want an easy, cheap, colorful flock and aren't fussy about hitting a specific shade, an Easter Egger delivers blue and green reliably with the occasional olive or pink as a bonus. Many keepers end up with both: Easter Eggers for the everyday rainbow basket and a small Olive Egger project for the deep-olive eggs.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between an Olive Egger and an Easter Egger?: Both are hybrids (not APA breeds) that carry a blue-egg gene and neither breeds true. An Olive Egger is a targeted blue-layer × dark-brown-layer cross aimed at olive eggs. An Easter Egger is any mixed bird carrying a blue-egg gene, so a flock lays a spread of blue, green, olive, and sometimes pink. The Olive Egger is the aimed version; the Easter Egger is the grab-bag version.
Is an Olive Egger just a type of Easter Egger?: In a loose sense both are blue-gene hybrids, but an Olive Egger is a specific, directed cross — a true blue layer bred to a dark-brown layer to produce olive — whereas 'Easter Egger' is a catch-all for any blue-gene mix of unknown parentage. If you buy a random Easter Egger hoping for olive, you may get blue or green instead; an Olive Egger cross is bred on purpose to land on olive.
Which one lays darker or more olive eggs?: The Olive Egger, reliably. Because it's a deliberate blue × dark-brown pairing, and because breeders back-cross to a very dark Marans to stack more brown coating, Olive Eggers reach the deepest, mossy olive. Easter Eggers can lay olive, but most lay blue or green, and olive is the exception rather than the goal.
Do either of them breed true?: No — neither is a stabilized breed. Two Olive Eggers scatter their chicks across blue, green, olive, and brown layers, and two Easter Eggers are even less predictable. To reliably get olive you pair a true blue layer with a dark-brown layer and then back-cross toward the dark-brown side, rather than breeding hybrid-to-hybrid.
Can you show an Olive Egger or Easter Egger?: Not as a breed. Neither is APA-recognized and neither has a Standard of Perfection, so there's no breed class for either. Both are welcome in 4-H, youth, and county-fair egg-display or 'other exhibition' classes judged on egg color and uniformity. To show a bird under the APA, exhibit a recognized breed such as the Ameraucana, Marans, or Welsummer.
Which should I buy for a colorful egg basket?: If you want a varied basket cheaply and easily, Easter Eggers are the practical pick — inexpensive, hardy, friendly, and productive, with blue and green plus the occasional olive or pink. If you specifically want deep olive eggs, add an Olive Egger. Many keepers run both.

Sources

Cracking the mystery on chicken eggs (egg-shell color genetics) — Texas A&M AgriLife (AgriLife Today) (Official / government)
How to Breed Olive Eggers (F1, F2, and back-crossing for color) — Silver Homestead (Reference)
Ameraucana or Easter Egger, What's the Difference? — Meyer Hatchery (Hatchery)