Blue Earlobe but brown egg

[gimmie birdies]

This is interesting, I got this hen from a EE Bantam bin, she is a bantam (pic is blown up) and her earlobe is blue, and her legs are green but her first egg was brown.
Most of the time if earlobe is red you get brown egg, but silky eggs are tan even though They have blue earlobes.

Does anyone want to contribute?


Lola and Nilla.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is absolutely no genetic link to ear lobe color and egg shell color. Both are controlled by genetics but the specific genes are not linked.

Like many old wives’ tales, there is a reason that came about. Because of selective breeding many red ear lobe breeds lay brown eggs and many white ear lobe breeds lay white eggs, but that is because of selective breeding and no other reason.

Some breeds lay eggs the opposite of that old wives’ tale. Check out Penedesenca, Phoenix, Redcap, Lamona, Holland, and Crevecouer. That’s only the pure breeds. Once you start mixing breeds it goes all over the place. There is no consistency.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have an Isbar roo I am going to breed her with, it will be interesting to see some shade of green egg.

 

[donrae]

Ear lobes aren't linked to egg color, but comb can be. If your hen had a pea comb she'd be much more likely to lay colored eggs. I'm thinking the Isbar rooster crossed with her should give green egg layers, but since the Isbars have been bred to have the straight comb and blue eggs, the offspring will probably be straight combed. Be interesting to see how the offspring look, with her pretty splash coloring!

 

[subhanalah]

The only real link to the blue egg gene that the pea comb had is the same one earlobe and egg color have.

There are many more breeds that have a pea comb and do not lay blue than do. It just so happens that ameraucanas are one of the most commonly used breeds for EEs, so if the animal has a pea comb, the statistical likelihood of it being closer in relation to the actual Ameraucana is greater.

However, if the pure Ameraucana parent carries the recessive straight comb gene under the dominant pea comb gene, then it stands to reason if that bird is bred with a straight combed bird, some of the the offspring would undoubtedly be straight combed and also lay a blue egg since purr Ameraucana are supposed to carry a double blue egg gene (part of what makes them breed true?)

 

[gimmie birdies]

Thanks for the input donrae!

 

[Ridgerunner]

[

The only real link to the blue egg gene that the pea comb had is the same one earlobe and egg color have.

There are many more breeds that have a pea comb and do not lay blue than do. It just so happens that ameraucanas are one of the most commonly used breeds for EEs, so if the animal has a pea comb, the statistical likelihood of it being closer in relation to the actual Ameraucana is greater.

However, if the pure Ameraucana parent carries the recessive straight comb gene under the dominant pea comb gene, then it stands to reason if that bird is bred with a straight combed bird, some of the the offspring would undoubtedly be straight combed and also lay a blue egg since purr Ameraucana are supposed to carry a double blue egg gene (part of what makes them breed true?)

Close but not totally correct. The blue egg gene and the gene for the pea comb are real close to each other on the DNA strand. They are so close together that there is a 97% chance that the pea comb and blue egg gene will stick together when the parent gives the genes to the egg. The blue egg gene and the genes (plural) that control the earlobe color are far enough apart that it is totally random which will be transferred.

For that 97% to hold, there have to be certain conditions. The blue egg gene and the pea comb gene have to be linked to start with. The other gene in that gene pair has to be the recessive not-blue and the recessive not-pea gene and it has to be crossed with a chicken that does not have any pea or blue egg genes. If the other chicken has a pea comb, then that throws everything off.

If you read the history of the Ameraucana and how the breed was developed,

http://www.ameraucana.org/history.html

you will see that the Ameraucana were developed from EE’s, not the other way around. Some hatcheries have had their colored egg laying (EE) flocks since before the Ameraucana were even developed or recognized as a breed, Cackle for example.

You can make an EE by crossing an Ameraucana or Araucana with any other chicken and since both true Ameraucana and true Araucana are pure for the blue egg gene and the pea comb gene, you will get a colored egg layer with a pea comb. In those crosses the blue egg gene and pea comb gene will be linked.

Gimmee Birdies, since you got that hen from a “bin” she was a mix to start with, certainly not pure for the blue egg gene. That’s not all that uncommon from hatchery stock. A lot of times you get brown egg layers from hatchery blue or green egg layers. That’s disappointing. But by crossing her to a rooster that should be pure for the blue egg gene, you are guaranteed to get some shade of blue or green from the pullets. Sometimes that actual shade of blue or green will surprise you.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I was not trying to claim pures I know EE can mean anything , I was just hopeful on getting a blue egg.,I do like the mystery of not knowing. her first egg was a double yolk even though it was small. I know that happens with young birds
.

thanks for your input, Ridgerunner.

 

[subhanalah]

It's that small one? Looks just like a silkie egg to me, which is likely where the brown ear lobes came feom.

 

[gimmie birdies]

sorry, you didn't read the post- it says blue earlobe brown egg.


this isn't a silky.

but the little egg was a double yolker. I was just shocked to see such a small egg be double yolk.