BREEDING EE's

[morninggloryhatchery]

Hi!
Alot of people i know like EE's for their eggs and i have been wanting to start breeding mine, hatch the eggs, and sell the chicks. But my question is, Can you breed EE pullet to EE roo? Or do you have to take a EE pullet with another breed or vise versa

?

All help and tips welcome.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Yes. I don't even know how to elaborate on that.

God Bless,

 

[aestus_lux]

The blue egg geen is dominant. However if you were breeding 2 EE's each may be carrying only one copy, thus a large portion of resulting chicks could lay brown(if they are green egg layer). First generation crosses of pure ameraucana or aruacana with other breeds will always inherit the blue egg gene. Crossing EE's is like any other cross-bred hybrid (ie Stars), they don't breed true after that initial cross.

 

[morninggloryhatchery]

Thanks for the help!
So would it be better to cross with another breed? All my EE hens are blue egg layers and one sometimes lays a dark green egg each once in a while. So i cannot breed them together?

Thanks,
Joy

 

[Kev]

No, actually kind of sounds like your EE stock is pretty good for the blue egg gene. Go ahead and breed them together if you want.

EE isn't a breed so there is zero standard so they can look like anything. However so many EE have a beard and green legs a lot of people just expect EE to have beard and green legs, as if that's a "breed trait".. but the again, EE are not a breed.

You CAN cross some of your EE with whatever breed or mixed roo that strikes your fancy and still sell the chicks as EE anyways. Remember, no standard on 'em..

aestus was just trying to explain based on the fact EE gene pool is so wide and mixed that there are a lot of EE that lay tan eggs, meaning they do not have the blue egg gene. So, even if an EE hen lays blue or green eggs does not mean she is automatically pure for the blue eggshell gene. In other words, do not be surprised if some daughters out of EE, however you bred them, lay tan or brown eggs instead of blue or green.

I suppose in a lot fewer words, anything goes with EE.. lol.. Just breed them however you like.. EE roo, another breed, or a mixed roo over the EE hens will all just be fine. But, if your goal is more blue/green egg laying daughters it is better to use the EE roo as roosters can have the blue egg gene too. So if your EE roo happens to have it or even is pure for the blue egg gene, then you will get a lot more blue/green egg laying pullets out of him and these hens.

In fact, IF your EE roo has the blue eggshell gene, he will produce blue/green eggers if bred with another breed. Like with RIR, at least half of the daughters will lay green eggs. Green eggs is the blue eggshell with the brown pigments added over it to create the green color. However that depends on the EE roo having the blue egg gene in the first place.. and there is no way to know if he does except by breeding him and see what sort of eggs his daughters lay.

 

[morninggloryhatchery]

Thanks for the help Kev!

 

[ging3rhoffman]

So if you want to really keep the blue/green eggs going your best bet is to have a pure breed Ameraucan Rooster that you breed to any type of hen.

So the EE's sold by hatcherys are 1/2 Ameraucana and 1/2 any breed you chose to produce EE's. But the Ameraucana they use is a pure breed Rooster. Am i right?

 

[ChickenWisperer]

A EE roo can give you the services you want just as well as a pure bred araucana or ameraucana rooster.

If he carries 2 copies of the blue egg gene, then your chicks will lay blue eggs - for blue egg gene is dominant.

The green eggs ARE blue eggs - the brown is NOT an eggshell color, but an overlay of color. So those are BLUE eggs with a brown overlay - which makes them green.

It would be easier on you if you got a ameraucana rooster, so you could be sure that the chicks will all lay blue or green - however, an EE rooster would be just as good, only you would have to monitor is first batch of chicks and see what colors his first baby hens lay.


And hatcheries probly do not have a bunch of fullstock roosters in there, maybe some. Many people buy EE chicks from hatcheries, and then those chicks lay pink or brown eggs.

 

[3KillerBs]

Dumb question time again, ...

Since Easter Eggers are defined by their ability to lay colored eggs (i.e. not the standard white or brown), ...

If a theoretically Easter Egger hen lays brown or white eggs instead of blue/green eggs how can that hen justly be called an Easter Egger instead of just a random, farmyard mutt that may have some Araucana/Ameraucana genes in its distant ancestry?

If I were to buy hens that were called Easter Eggers and got the same brown or white eggs that I could have gotten more economically from laying breeds selected for egg size and high productivity I would be seriously miffed.

Caveat Emptor and all that, but to a chicken amateur accustomed to the truth in labeling laws that govern most goods for sale it smacks of fraud to sell hens as Easter Eggers that may well be nothing but brown or white laying mutts.

Is there a niche for breeders selling guaranteed blue/green layers or does everyone just sell gamblers' packs might lay colored eggs or might not? Do sellers make any effort to ensure that their customers are aware that they are buying a mixed bag that may or may not include any actual layers of blue/green eggs?

 

[ThiefPouter06]

I think a basket of EE eggs that include blue, green, tan and brown of various shades is best. But if I was selling chicks as EE's I think I would like to know that 100% of the chicks carried the blue gene. You would have any return customers if they got all brown laying hens. However I had a single combed buff muffed hen that layed tan eggs at a pace of 6.5 a week. raccoons BAHHH!!!