Ameracaunas Breeding

[satkinson]

Hi there

We are thinking of breeding our Ameracauna rooster with a few of our hens to build up our flock. I am just wondering what the chances of hatching an ameracauna cross that lays a blue egg are if we were to breed him with a "barnyard" hen...we don't know their breeds specifically. Or are we better off to get an ameracauna hen to breed him to.

 

[SeneyMaker]

It all depends. Just because the rooster is an Ameraucana does not mean that it has the blue gene for eggs. Next, it would be good to know if that loci is homozygous blue or heterozygous blue. If homozygous, then he will pass the gene to all his chicks, if not, then only half will get it. Having the allele for blue eggs does not mean the eggs produced by his offspring will be blue. Most of the time they will be green because the blue interacts with the brown pigment in the eggs if they have it. Even if the mate to your rooster laid white eggs, you may not get blue because white restricts color. Generally, to get blue you would want to couple the blue gene with a hen that lays tinted white. To complicate matters further, the rooster may have brown egg color genes as well as the blue. Therefore... it all depends on the genes being carried by your flock.

If you want blue quickly, then buy a hen that lays blue already. With that being said, I don't buy mature birds because of bio-security reasons.

And if you think about buying blue eggs, there is no guarantee that the chicks will lay blue when they are adults. Blue eggs take time and generally do not come from crosses to barnyard chickens. At least not right away. But heck, green eggs are pretty!

Good luck.

RJ Seney

 

[donrae]

Where did your rooster come from, and what color is he? If he's from a feed store, and not a specified color (usually black, blue, or wheaten), he's likely an Easter egger. EE are genetic crapshoots as far as egg color. He may be pure for the blue egg gene, he may have one blue and one white or brown, or he may have no blue and both brown.

Crossing blue with brown gives shades of green. Unless your hen has a blue egg gene, you're not going to get blue eggs, you'll get shades of green.

Crossing blue with white will give you pale blue. So, if you have a white egg laying hen, that would be the best to cross with him to see what genetics he carries.

 

[satkinson]

Thank you both soooo much!! First time breeding anything here, we're still not sure if we want to, I think it would be fun to try and hatch a couple little guys! He is from a friend of mine, she raised him from a chick this spring, he is black

Green eggs would be so pretty too, it is my favourite color hehe!

 

[FowlStuff]

Thank you both soooo much!! First time breeding anything here, we're still not sure if we want to, I think it would be fun to try and hatch a couple little guys! He is from a friend of mine, she raised him from a chick this spring, he is black

Green eggs would be so pretty too, it is my favourite color hehe!

Try it, you'll like it!