Blue blue eggs

[WestKnollAmy]

My DH is wanting me to have some hens that lay the very blue eggs. I told him that it would possibly take a few years of selective breeding by our own hens to finally get some that laid such very blue eggs and then continual culling and selecting.
He seems to think that there is already some out there we could purchase for this but I have been under the impression that most breeders do not let go of their good layers of Ameraucanas or Araucanas. Especially of the very blue of eggs.
And yes, I have visited the websites for these breeds.
Any insight on the ideas for obtaining such good blue layers?

 

[WriterofWords]

I don't know,,, but I'd sure be tempted to use some blue dye and put an egg under a hen just for him

Tell him you already got one! ehheehehh

 

[Guitartists]

 

[dangerouschicken]

I would think that TRUE Araucanas do lay mostly blue eggs. If you start with the purest bloodlines you can, you can go on from there. That's the best choice.

 

[pips&peeps]

Yes, most breeders try to hand on to their good blue layers. They are hard to come by and to proliferate the genes is the goal.

I do want to warn you though, people expect the eggs to be a brilliant blue and they just are not. You can get eggs that are a very light blue which fade to almost white at the end of the season.

Most of the "blue" eggs, have a green tint to them. It is just nature. If you actually look at a robins egg you will see what I mean. So don't be disappointed if you get some eggs from someone and they seem green.

The light also effects the color of the egg, diffused outdoor light is best to determine what color an egg truely is. You cant see the color good in bright sunlight and fluorscent bulbs give off green light.

I have also experienced hatching chicks from nice blue eggs and the resulting pullet layed a greenish egg....... so the genetic theories don't always work the way we expect.

 

[speckledhen]

To add to what Jean is saying, individual people see color differently from one another. My DH sees green when I see blue sometimes. And you do have to have the egg in natural light to see the real color. I always place the egg next to my house, which was purposefully painted gray with no blue tint to see where it falls in the spectrum.

 

[SusanJoM]

Still and all, the bluest eggs I have ever seen are/were the Ameraucanas that Jean sent me 3 weeks ago....

I'd had EE's before and was used to their blue-green, but the true Ameraucanas I got from Jean did not have a hint of green in them.

And the chickies are to die for....although I'd rather not....

Susan

 

[SusanJoM]

Quote:
LOL....

Did you really paint the house so you could check egg colors against it????????

 

[hcammack]

my true ameraucana lays a very nice dark blue egg the other lays and almost sea green eggs they are beautiful.

Henry

 

[Smoky73]

Agreed that everyone perceives BLUE a different way. I was going to put a pic on my website of a robins egg (found out in my yard) and a ameraucana egg for comparison, however, there was a reason the egg was in the grass in my yard. It was rotten and I succeeded in breaking it accidently in my kitchen (thin shell!) Oh what a stink. So, I just have a pic on my site of white bantam eggs, my ameraucana eggs and a green EE egg for comparison.

I feel my eggs are blue as well, though they do get lighter as the season goes on.