Sex- linked Information

[windyridgefarm]

Easter Egger, not Ameraucana. Two very different things.

An Ameraucana should have two copies of the 'muff' gene, while an Easter egger/ olive egger can have one or two.
So if the roo is an ameraucana all chicks should get one copy and have the muffs, while an easter egger can give half or all muffs.

 

[triplepurpose]

Cool! Thanks so much for the clarifications!

FYI he was sold as an "Ameraucana," but I sort of have some doubts as to the purity, since the size of the muffs/beards on his female counterparts vary a little and one is basically muff/beard-less, and one lays olive, not blue eggs, and feather coloration varies a lot among them too. Which is not to say they arent a nice strain of chickens! But thats why I hedge by calling him EE not Amcana...

I look forward to trying the cross once we have mature doms. I'm thinking they could be really fun chicks if it works out...

 

[windyridgefarm]

Cool! Thanks so much for the clarifications!

FYI he was sold as an "Ameraucana," but I sort of have some doubts as to the purity, since the size of the muffs/beards on his female counterparts vary a little and one is basically muff/beard-less, and one lays olive, not blue eggs, and feather coloration varies a lot among them too. Which is not to say they arent a nice strain of chickens! But thats why I hedge by calling him EE not Amcana...

I look forward to trying the cross once we have mature doms. I'm thinking they could be really fun chicks if it works out...

Depends where you got him from. The hatcheries sell EE crosses as ameicaunas,ameraucanas araucanas,Easter Eggers and Rainbow layers The one that lays olive eggs makes me pretty sure they are EE. Dont get me wrong I love EE they are calm friendly and good layers, They just arent Ameraucanas (and shouldnt be sold as such) and dont breed true. They are the Cockapoo of chickens and should be loved for what they are.
Just dont sell me a Cockapoo and tell me it is an akc Poodle.

 

[junebuggena]

Depends where you got him from. The hatcheries sell EE crosses as ameicaunas,ameraucanas araucanas,Easter Eggers and Rainbow layers The one that lays olive eggs makes me pretty sure they are EE. Dont get me wrong I love EE they are calm friendly and good layers, They just arent Ameraucanas (and shouldnt be sold as such) and dont breed true. They are the Cockapoo of chickens and should be loved for what they are.
Just dont sell me a Cockapoo and tell me it is an akc Poodle.

Except that hatchery Easter Eggers aren't really mixed breeds. They just haven't been bred to meet a breed standard.

 

[windyridgefarm]

Except that hatchery Easter Eggers aren't really mixed breeds. They just haven't been bred to meet a breed standard.

If An EE can lay blue, olive, brown or pink eggs as the hatchery chickens do they are from crosses and the genetics are mixed with those of other breeds. There is a brown egg layer in the mix somewhere.

If I have a Poodle that does not meet the breed standard it is a poodle? NO. I would still love him, I just wouldn't go around telling people he was a poodle, or sell his puppies as poodles.
(sorry for taking this off topic)

 

[donrae]

Cool! Thanks so much for the clarifications!

FYI he was sold as an "Ameraucana," but I sort of have some doubts as to the purity, since the size of the muffs/beards on his female counterparts vary a little and one is basically muff/beard-less, and one lays olive, not blue eggs, and feather coloration varies a lot among them too. Which is not to say they arent a nice strain of chickens! But thats why I hedge by calling him EE not Amcana...

I look forward to trying the cross once we have mature doms. I'm thinking they could be really fun chicks if it works out...

You might PM username lazygardener. She's got a nice EE cock over some Dominique hens (among others) and seems very happy with her chicks.

I believe her rooster is more of a black breasted red coloring, so the leakage on the chicks may be a bit different, but overall she'll have a good idea what you're looking at.

 

[junebuggena]

If An EE can lay blue, olive, brown or pink eggs as the hatchery chickens do they are from crosses and the genetics are mixed with those of other breeds. There is a brown egg layer in the mix somewhere.

If I have a Poodle that does not meet the breed standard it is a poodle? NO. I would still love him, I just wouldn't go around telling people he was a poodle, or sell his puppies as poodles.
(sorry for taking this off topic)

Hatcheries are breeding from stock that was imported in the early 1900s. Those original birds were not pure blue layers, but laid a range of colors. Hatchery stock predates the creation of both the Araucana and Ameraucana breeds.
You have to remember, that the originally imported birds were never a proper breed, but had already been heavily crossbred with birds that Europeans had brought with them to South America, by the time those 'Araucana' were brought to the U.S.

 

[windyridgefarm]

Hatcheries are breeding from stock that was imported in the early 1900s. Those original birds were not pure blue layers, but laid a range of colors. Hatchery stock predates the creation of both the Araucana and Ameraucana breeds.
You have to remember, that the originally imported birds were never a proper breed, but had already been heavily crossbred with birds that Europeans had brought with them to South America, by the time those 'Araucana' were brought to the U.S.

I hear you, just as poodles originated from several other breeds interbred to create the breed. At some point the traits were stabilized and defined to become a new breed. The original project crosses would not be considered to be members of the newly defined breed, as they would not meet the breed standards and would not breed true to type. Every breed has its origins, usually a mix of several other breeds used to acquire the desired trait of the new breed.

 

[triplepurpose]

i honestly think part of the problem may be the stigmatism that people tend to place on "mixed breed" animals.

i mean, purebred lines are great in many ways, but rationally speaking any chicken is only as good as what in can do. so purebreds are good in that they can be used to produce offspring with consistent traits, whatever those may be, but simply being purebred alone doesnt inherently make them a better chicken in every way. and every breed in existance started as some kind of mutt or landrace. and thats how we continue to create new breeds and varieties. genetic diversity is also important, which is why i love landraces and non-standardized varieties as well as venerable heritage breeds. and theres no virtue to my mind in taking a wonderful, useful old breed but being so obsessed with purity and breeding to a very precise standard that you run the line into the ground and it ceases to be the productive, resilient animal it was famous for in the first place--to me that is just an offence to the "heritage" of that breed and doesnt do any good!

but maybe if there wasnt such a stigmatism against non-standardized varieties or breeding groups, then there would be less incentive or temptation for people to try to pass off an animal as sonething it isnt.

just a thought... and only SLIGHTLY off topic... :/ oops...

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

Hey BYC, I have a small flock of delawares that i intend to use as a parent breed for red sexlinks. If they develope slowly and take longer to lay eggs like other heritage breeds , will that affect the growth rate and onset of lay in their offspring? Is there another breed i should consider for parent stock of red sexlinks?