Surprise chick now laying...questioning entire flock!

PeculiarChickns · Mar 7, 2016

Got a rooster and laying hens a couple years ago...was told the Rooster was a New Hampshire and the four red hens were 2 RIR and 2 sex links. We also got 2 white leghorn hybrids. Last summer, the smallest little chick surprised us by showing up in the run one day. My son swears up and down she came from a brown egg, which means she is either a sex link x NH, or RIRxNH. However, this Saturday, "Chicken Little" as we call her, started laying olive eggs!! This has me questioning our whole flock. It doesn't mean much, because the egg surprise was pretty cool, but can I get confirmation/guesses on what breeds we have?

These pics are from today, and unfortunately, several of our original girls aren't around anymore to take pics of!

Rooster/father

Chicken Little (in the back)

Chicken Little from the top

one of the other girls/possible mothers

Chicken Little as a chick/now & her light olive eggs

keesmom · Mar 7, 2016

Your rooster isn't a New Hampshire. Not with that comb or his overall coloring. What color legs does he have? He is either an Easter Egger, or an EE cross.

PeculiarChickns · Mar 7, 2016

Thank you @Keesmom!
He has pink/whitish legs.

We just went along with what we were told. I feel like we've been living a lie! Haha but I'm pretty stoked if he is an EE/EE cross.

donrae · Mar 7, 2016

I agree that blue egg gene came from your rooster. The pea comb is genetically close to the blue egg gene, they are often paired together. From the overall look of your rooster, I'm thinking he probably has one blue egg gene and one brown egg gene. So, crossing him with a brown egg layer you have a chance of either green or brown egger pullet offspring. It's cool you got green! Hatching his chicks from your white eggers will give you either pale blue or light brown/cream eggs, if I'm correct about his genetic make up.

PeculiarChickns · Mar 8, 2016

Thanks @donrae! We got 3 chicks from him last year and the earlier two we gave to a friend of a friend, then two months later Chicken Little came about. I'll have to track down the other two and see if they turned out to be olive eggers, too.

Now I'm dreaming of pretty eggs! Haha I may just have to expand our coop and run to fit more...

donrae · Mar 8, 2016

Breeding mixed breeds can sure be addictive

. You get surprises every time, it's so fun to see how they turn out. I just set 30 eggs of my mixed breed flock, I just want to see how they all turn out.

Dubrovnik · Mar 8, 2016

PeculiarChickns said:
Got a rooster and laying hens a couple years ago...was told the Rooster was a New Hampshire and the four red hens were 2 RIR and 2 sex links. We also got 2 white leghorn hybrids. Last summer, the smallest little chick surprised us by showing up in the run one day. My son swears up and down she came from a brown egg, which means she is either a sex link x NH, or RIRxNH. However, this Saturday, "Chicken Little" as we call her, started laying olive eggs!! This has me questioning our whole flock. It doesn't mean much, because the egg surprise was pretty cool, but can I get confirmation/guesses on what breeds we have?

These pics are from today, and unfortunately, several of our original girls aren't around anymore to take pics of!
Rooster/father

Chicken Little (in the back)

Chicken Little from the top
one of the other girls/possible mothers

Chicken Little as a chick/now & her light olive eggs
Some Rhode Island Reds were crossed with Araucanas many years ago to reduce the aggressiveness of the Rhodie roosters. For this reason a RIR will sometimes turn up which lays blue or green eggs.

Lady of McCamley · Mar 8, 2016

Because of the coloring of the egg, I'm going to also guess you may have a Welsummer/Easter Egger cross in the rooster...he may have some darker egg color genes to pass along as well as the 1 blue gene....unless one of your original girls had some of the Welsummer or Marans or Penedesenca (a dark layer)....likely both did (rooster and hen) to get the olive green.

A blue gene over a general brown egg typically gives a light green egg. To get the olive, somebody had to have some darker brown, likely both, as the darker brown is easy to dilute out (dark brown genetics are pretty complicated).

Be very interesting to see what happens with the rest of your girls.

Does your Red Sexlink lay a pretty terra cotta (clay pot) colored egg? I'd definitely put the roo over her if so as that might produce some very pretty colors.

I'm in the middle of my own egg coloring (got a batch to hatch in a day or so of Barnevelder over Gold Star and Marans).

LofMc

Surprise chick now laying...questioning entire flock!

More options

PeculiarChickns

Hatching

keesmom

Free Ranging

PeculiarChickns

Hatching

donrae

Hopelessly Addicted

PeculiarChickns

Hatching

donrae

Hopelessly Addicted

Dubrovnik

In the Brooder

Lady of McCamley

Free Ranging

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