True Blue Whiting info please?

[ronott1]

Thanks, I think they are lovely as well.

I actually got my birds at P.Allen Smith's Poultry workshop and these birds had been sent directly from Dr. Whiting. I am not sure if he was working on two lines but the comb thing is what we were told when we picked out the birds. Maybe the ones with the single combs still have more of the brown layer in them and so they turn out a greener egg. Who knows. I just got them for fun. I was very pleased with the size of the egg considering the size of the bird. I actually expected them to be a bit smaller.

I had a true Araucana several years back and really enjoyed her. I would love to have more but they are difficult to find and hatch.

Mostly Dr. Whiting is interested in feathers for tying flies for fishing. He gets some great egg color too though.

Dr. Whiting does have a green laying line. Pretty egg.

I have an EE that lays a very blue egg.

Yes, he had green egg layers too!

 

[Parker15]

This was the first one. I am honestly not sure if mine are supposed to be blue or green layers. They had both available the day I got mine and I kinda got a couple of leftover birds. I was told that pea combs laid one color and single combs laid the the other but my girls combs are kind of a mix of both. I need to get a good face shot of them but they move so fast, that is difficult. I would still call the eggs blue/green. Very pastel, not dark but I do like them. I need to take them to a paint store and see if I can match the color. :-0

Pretty!!! Your description fits my blues and greens. The blues have pea combs and the greens have singles.

 

[Parker15]

First egg from Harriette the WTB! Not too shabby! Came out huge and nicely pigmented. A very matte sky blue with little bumps and a little bluer rim at the bottom

 

[Puddin Fluff]

First egg from Harriette the WTB! Not too shabby! Came out huge and nicely pigmented. A very matte sky blue with little bumps and a little bluer rim at the bottom

nice!

 

[dannyelle123]

I recently ordered True Blue hatching eggs from a farm and report that the eggs are a very pale blue almost white... Although shipping across the US they seem to be developing well although the pigment makes them a little harder to see through with some very apparently developing and some, I'm not positive. The eggs are supposed to get darker with age so mine are perhaps from young hens maybe 2nd-3rd generation... I ordered them after being unhappy with my cream legbars laying green/blue and even cream colored eggs... My ee lays bluer eggs than my cream legbars... So yeah they prob are to satisfy a designer want for blue eggs... The wtb seem smaller than my ee but similar in size to my cream legbars, perhaps could be caused from the climate they came from

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Could be they are from younger hens, it seems to me that the eggs are smallest and lightest based on age of hen and when in the cycle of the hen the eggs are collected. There are some genetics involved to get the real blue look... one is a gene that makes the egg look shinny on top of the O gene and no browning genes and that makes them look bluer.

 

[draye]

following!

 

[Eggscoozme]

My Whitings started laying about July/August of last year, and would lay daily, light blue eggs. As of mid Dec, I get several a week from each hen, but they are paler blue.

I''m hoping what people are saying is true: " when the hens are older, they lay darker eggs", but am not counting on it.

If that is true, than my BCM's eggs are going to look nearly black! (slight exaggeration, but you get the drift). HER eggs are dark chocolate now - her first laying season as of last Sept-ish.

One thing I can say about the Whitings is that it's the first true blue colored egg I've ever had (tried CLB, True Ameraucanas, Rumpless Araucana, and SBEL - all had green in them).

Also, the WTB's are great at avoiding predators, flighty but will eat out of your hand, great foragers, low feeders, and have
proven to be cold hardy (Michigan).

Our dog got out and went after our free ranging chickens which included some WTB's. By night fall we were still missing some Silver Lace Orpingtons, and a WTB. I was pretty confident my WTB would show up the next morning despite our property having coyote, fox, raccoon, opossum, weasel....

Sure enough, that WTB was near the coop come sunrise!!

On another note, there is a lot of feedback on mcmurray website that people have gotten green eggs from their WTB.

BOTH of mine lay the light blue egg, so Hmmm.. Not sure that that's all about?

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Yeah I saw that feedback too. I started research egg genetics in general as I wanted to know how or why some folks got green vs blue eggs out of their hatchery Americaunas aka the EE. My first ee was I think from MM, and it laid a rather pale drab green egg. Years latter I have birds again and ee again from Ideal this time nice blue eggs from both hens, but the non shiny type. I would like to add wtb to the little flock to compare. I wish I had more space I would probably start an egg project... to improve size, and try to get the genes set for the bright blue look.

 

[Eggscoozme]

I'm jealous! I never got a blue egg from any of my ee's. They ALWAYS lay green. Lucky You!!