Ameraucana breeding questions / BBS between breeds?

[taileile]

Hi! I'm expecting 8 straight run Ameraucanas (3 self-blue, 5 BBS) to arrive late next month. My hope is to keep one rooster and eventually use it to breed and hatch chicks for fun. Maybe I'll get into breeding to the SOP at some point, we'll see.

I have some questions (some silly ones, bear with me lol) about the whole process.

- Is there any reason why I couldn't just keep the rooster in with all of my hens? If I wanted to breed him with a specific hen to ensure the offspring is a purebred Ameraucana couldn't I just separate them for a few weeks? I don't have any other roosters.

- If I do keep him with all of my hens, is it safe to assume that all of the offspring would be Easter Eggers (aside from the Ameraucanas, obviously)? If I add Copper Marans hens, those offspring would all be Olive Eggers? I'd like to just hatch whatever gets laid and sell them as Easter Eggers, but I don't want to accidentally end up with a brown egg layer somehow.

- I was told by someone that I shouldn't assume that he's homozygous dominant for the blue egg gene, is that true?

- I have two bantams - a sebright and an OEG. Will they be OK with a rooster? I currently have 12 hens, one unsexed silkie, and probably ~4 Ameraucana hens depending on how the straight run turns out.

- I know it'd technically be an EE- what would a BBS x lavender Ameraucana cross look like?

- Would a BBS Ameraucana rooster x BBS Copper Maran produce BBS Olive Egger offspring? In other words, does the BBS translate between breeds?

- In the future, would an EE or OE bred with an Ameraucana always lay colored eggs?

Thanks!!

 

[NNYchick]

What would a BBS x lavender Ameraucana cross look like? When lavender and blue are bred together, Your lavender will never be the even continuous shade of light blue they are suppose to be by standard. They will have darker heads and sickle feathers and dark feather shafts that is a fault in the lavender color. Blue chicks carrying lavender will be washed out and will not have the lacing on the feather that is required by the standard. Once these 2 colors are mixed it is near impossible the to breed out because they are both recessive.

Is there any reason why I couldn't just keep the rooster in with all of my hens? If I wanted to breed him with a specific hen to ensure the offspring is a purebred Ameraucana couldn't I just separate them for a few weeks? I don't have any other roosters. Technically you could keep a single black rooster and breed him to both BBS and lavender, however this is going to take very good record keeping, tracking of eggs and tagging(wing banding, toe punching (something permanent) the chicks at hatch right away. Because after they hatch you will have a hard time telling blue chicks from lavender and which blacks are split for lavender. And with a black rooster you will never get lavender chicks only Black splits. A lot easier to just keep them separate breeding groups.

If you never plan on showing and only care about the blue egg gene. You cam make easter eggs but be sure to tell anyone that gets chicks from you that the carry blue and lavender and should never be used in a breeding program that is pure ameracauna. A lot of people have spent a lot of blood sweat and tears only to find out they sourced birds from someone that is not breeding pure and ruined there blues and/or lavender breeding pens.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Hi! I'm expecting 8 straight run Ameraucanas (3 self-blue, 5 BBS) to arrive late next month. My hope is to keep one rooster and eventually use it to breed and hatch chicks for fun. Maybe I'll get into breeding to the SOP at some point, we'll see.

I have some questions (some silly ones, bear with me lol) about the whole process.

- Is there any reason why I couldn't just keep the rooster in with all of my hens? If I wanted to breed him with a specific hen to ensure the offspring is a purebred Ameraucana couldn't I just separate them for a few weeks? I don't have any other roosters.

- If I do keep him with all of my hens, is it safe to assume that all of the offspring would be Easter Eggers (aside from the Ameraucanas, obviously)? If I add Copper Marans hens, those offspring would all be Olive Eggers? I'd like to just hatch whatever gets laid and sell them as Easter Eggers, but I don't want to accidentally end up with a brown egg layer somehow.

- I was told by someone that I shouldn't assume that he's homozygous dominant for the blue egg gene, is that true?

- I have two bantams - a sebright and an OEG. Will they be OK with a rooster? I currently have 12 hens, one unsexed silkie, and probably ~4 Ameraucana hens depending on how the straight run turns out.

- I know it'd technically be an EE- what would a BBS x lavender Ameraucana cross look like?

- Would a BBS Ameraucana rooster x BBS Copper Maran produce BBS Olive Egger offspring? In other words, does the BBS translate between breeds?

- In the future, would an EE or OE bred with an Ameraucana always lay colored eggs?

Thanks!!

BBS x lavender will give you blues and blacks (both carrying lavender). Show breeders have a problem with breeding lavenders and blues/splashes together, because it can be confusing telling apart blues, lavenders, blue lavenders, and splash lavenders. However, blue lavenders can be easily removed from the gene pool once recognized, as blue is caused by just one dominant gene.

Blue and splash genetics don’t change when crossing breeds.

If your ameraucanas are pure for the blue egg shell gene, their offspring would all lay blue or green eggs regardless of the cross (when I say “green” it includes olive).