Color Genetics Question

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ArcticMermaid

ArcticMermaid

Chirping
Jun 7, 2015
101
10
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North Carolina
I have a pure breed blue Ameraucana (P.S. stock) and I have 6 pure breed White Leghorns (can't remember breeders name but not hatchery stock). My question is if I bred these together what color chicks would I get. What color eggs could I expect out of those chicks if I grew them out.

I want to try and create something like the Cheshire Blue Chickens from the UK that lay sky blue eggs. Here are the pictures of a pullet and an egg.



 
Many people are crossing Leghorns with either Ameraucanas or Cream Legbars for prolific blue egg layers... seems to make a nice layer of blue eggs... I believe the eggs are a nice blue, but paler than the Am's since the crosses only get 1 blue egg gene...
 
The UK birds are based on the UK Aracauna, which have the crest. If you're looking for a crest, you'd probably want to use a CCL instead of an Ameraucana.

But look up Super Blue Egg Layers, or SBELs. They're also being sold as Sapphires. Basically different Leghorn/Ameraucana or CCL crosses.

Your white leghorns will give your offspring mostly white coloring, with flecks of other color (probably blue, in this case). They'll lay light blue eggs.

I've crossed plain ol EE with brown Leghorns in the past and been very, very happy with egg size, color and rate of production.
 
Commercial white leghorns carry genes that inhibit brown egg color and genes that block the biosynthesis of brown pigments. Blue egg color pigments and brown egg color pigments are produced from the same precursor called heme. Based on my own work with commercial egg laying white leghorns ( Ideal poultry birds) and blue egg laying easter eggers; the white leghorns are genetically bred to eliminate the heme bio-synthetic and metabolic pathway. If this pathway is inhibited to some degree the blue egg color in the F1 offspring will be much lighter in color. This was my case with my research that I carried out for 6 years. Back crossing with white leghorns produced hens that layed almost white egg shells; the female BC1 offspring produced egg shells with a very light tint of blue.
 
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