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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.
