The Middle Tennessee Thread

[DMRippy]

Quote: Beards and muffs don't make Ameraucanas. Pea combs are linked genetically with blue eggs, but they don't always travel together.

 

[FeyRaine]

Beards and muffs don't make Ameraucanas. Pea combs are linked genetically with blue eggs, but they don't always travel together.

I was not implying hers were pure, rather agreeing they were likely EEs (ie mutts) and just pointing out in the ones I've personally hatched here (all of which have had pea combs btw) the ones w/ slate legs and puffy cheeks have all laid a blue-green egg whereas the ones I've had w/ for example yellow legs laid a peachy-pink. Just my experience from hatching about 200 EE chicks last year from my mutt EE over a random group of layers, I didn't keep all those chicks but did give some to friends who reported back on how they turned out esp. egg colors

And speaking of pretty egg baskets today my layer flock gave me 2light tans, 2 mint greens, 1 dark olive, and CHOC.!! not super dark but dark enough to look like a candy bar Choc. , so now I'm only missing _white_, how funny is that ;?

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
EE would not be good to breed true for something like egg color. Even my SBEL could and will lay white eggs. You just can't know the WHOLE genetics pictures especially with roos. My SBEL for example would only ever carry one copy of the blue egg gene (1 from the sire and White from the dam) So if you breed them you would get a mix of white eggs and blue eggs.... not including the genes of the other chicken mated too. Same goes with Olive Egger those are just ALL over the place and when you start breeding them together even a bigger mess. I don't even want to fool with F2 Olive Eggers.

 

[MayDayMel]

What is this crap?

 

[DMRippy]

What is this crap?

WOW how much do you have up there? It is still sleeting too right? Welcome to TN! 64 degrees in CHATTANOOGA WTH is up with that? They need to share the love of the ICE with us! ....or the HEAT WAVE they are having anyway.

 

[MayDayMel]

We're at 3" and still going here in Cville. My friends are in the low 50s in Plant City. Not cool!!

 

[DMRippy]

Ok I had to go look... nothing really WHITE looking yet but I see some pockets that are THINKING about it..... I have a Package the has to go EXPRESS MAIL TOMORROW

I think I will do that online and grab the mailman in the morning LOL. It will be gone tomorrow right

I drove past the wreck on 65 in Franklin where the cop car was hit and the cop had to go to the hospital. It was really coming down when we left the wedding in Franklin.... Do you want to place bets on if the Newlyweds will be able to fly to Disney in the morning?

 

[DMRippy]

We're at 3" and still going here in Cville. My friends are in the low 50s in Plant City. Not cool!!

WOW.... not fun. Just hoping the power lines don't go down. I have over 400 eggs in the bator and maybe 150 chicks that need heat..... maybe more I have a hatch in the hatcher too

 

[FeyRaine]

EE would not be good to breed true for something like egg color. Even my SBEL could and will lay white eggs. You just can't know the WHOLE genetics pictures especially with roos. My SBEL for example would only ever carry one copy of the blue egg gene (1 from the sire and White from the dam) So if you breed them you would get a mix of white eggs and blue eggs.... not including the genes of the other chicken mated too. Same goes with Olive Egger those are just ALL over the place and when you start breeding them together even a bigger mess. I don't even want to fool with F2 Olive Eggers.

I know.
I just needed to fill up the incubator to help it keep temps. even while trying to get the darn Buckeyes to make babies (which they sadly never did).

Everyone who got the resulting EE mutts were clearly told they could lay any color (white, brown, blue, green, or even a peachy-pink) and they were also clearly told they were simply barnyard mutts.

One of my neighbors who I was socializing our puppy w/ today is an unemployed 60something widow recently re-married to a disabled Vietnam Vet, and they were thrilled to tell me they got 4 eggs out of 4 birds today, including one bird which looks as I noted and lays a green egg. They wouldn't know a RIR from a Phoenix but they are making great use of those incubator packing peanut EE mutts I gave them I've got the last of the grown out birds going out next week as "feeder guppies" to two families who are new to chickens and in similar need, one being a family who got foreclosed on last year while helping their kids w/ a pre-mature grandbaby & all 3 generations are now living on 2 acres in RVs doing the best they can, the mutt EE cockerals can fill a pot of dumpling very nicely and for whatever reason these pullets are laying really well, I had avg. 12eggs/wk out of two of them all winter when none of my other birds including purebreds would lay.

They aren't fancy, they don't all lay pretty colors, but they kept the bator warm , they tended to have hatch rates of 80-100% , and I've got an F2 generation of my barnyard mutts in half the bator right now, partly to keep it full, but also b/c having a few extra decent mutt birds to grow out and gift to ppl who could really use a little food flock is my own little pay it forward project. Some of them will enjoy the birds and move into buying better stock if/when they can afford it, but mainly these go to ppl who would never afford it otherwise (2x it has included a basic little homemade coop too for that reason).

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
They are very hearty. I like them for that. They also tend to lay BIGGER eggs because of the vigor of the crosses. I like eggs of all colors..... olive is the only one I don't have anymore. I kinda miss that too. I make them in a cross but don't continue to breed them......

If I just had a back yard flock for eating eggs.... I would have Marans (cuckoo's maybe because of the size of the eggs) Olive Eggers, White Leghorns and Easter Eggers.... I love the colors EE come in and the eggs too! Love the COLORS in the basket too.... maybe a brown egg layer..... BR maybe they are good layers and good sized eggs too.