BREEDING EE's

[Riocotesei]

Here i s the EE/RIR cross I have.
She has muffs, dark legs, and a pea comb. I don't know what type of offspring a half EE would produce, nor do I know if she even lays green eggs. Just thought it was interesting.

 

[bearpaw]

Nice looking birds. I still believe that morningglory should locate a pure Ameraucana rooster from a breeder in their area. Since they are not interested in showing color variety makes no difference. It can be a cull rooster that doesn't meet the standard for color, it would carry the blue egg genes and not a hindering gene.

bearpaw

 

[Riocotesei]

Oh, I wasn't disagreeing with you. I totally agree that the rooster should be Ameraucana.
I wouldn't use a RIR/EE mix to further my flock. I think a good rooster is a key thing when breeding.
Depending on how many hens you have, you could pick 2 roosters that you really like. That way you can have even more color variety.

 

[ging3rhoffman]

Thats what Meyers Hatchery does. I called them today trying to figure out what my EE's were. Some closely resemble the Ameraucanas...Meyers said they use the pure breed Ameraucanas with the white leghorn and white rock hens. Like i mentioned before, none of my EE's lay a brown egg. So if i ever breed EE's i would want a pure breed Ameraucana.

 

[Krys109uk]

I called them today trying to figure out what my EE's were.

Most of them seem to sell them as ameraucanas. I'm surprised anyone would own to their being crossbreeds. I doubt buyers are very impressed when getting white leghorn crosses.​

 

[ging3rhoffman]

Well they said if you cross an EE with an EE that your chances of getting brown eggs would be 50/50 and then their chicks the percentage of getting brown eggs goes up and so on, so to make sure their EEs that they sell lay colored eggs and not brown eggs is assured by using pure breed Ameraucana Roosters. The white leghorn hen is used because she lays the white egg. I have white leghorn cross EE and she is a sweetheart so im not sure why you wouldnt want a white leghorn cross. They also lay a large egg and almost everyday. I think alot of chicken behavior has to do with how much time you spend with them. I still take a padded seat into the run and sit with my girls and pet them. The white rock i have is the biggest baby, she loves to sit in my lap, but i sat in their brooder with them from day one so maybe thats why all of my girls are super sweet.

Im no expert about any of this but am very pleased with the EE's that I bought from Meyers. Mt Healthys EE's are awesome also. Whatever they are doing they should keep doing.

This is Wild Thing and she is half leghorn. Sweet as cotton candy and lays a hugh green egg. .

This is the second egg that she laid !

 

[Krys109uk]

Well they said if you cross an EE with an EE that your chances of getting brown eggs would be 50/50 and then their chicks the percentage of getting brown eggs goes up and so on,

Just goes to show you can't believe everything they tell you. Sorry but they're just wrong.

The only way one could get more than 50% brown or white egg layer would be to breed brown egg layer to brown egg layer (or white)....which includes most chickens. Generally it is based upon the blue egg gene (O). This is an autosomal dominant gene. So even if only one parent had only one blue egg gene one could statistically expect 50% of the offspring will inherit the dominant blue egg laying gene.
I could go into details but I'm sure it would be boring.

I have white leghorn cross EE and she is a sweetheart so im not sure why you wouldnt want a white leghorn cross.

The bird in the picture, while pretty & witha lovely egg, is not a cross from a pure bred white leghorn. White leghorns are dominant white on black (& other genes) all offspring from a white leghorn cross are white all over with black flecks, sometimes colour leakage most often in males. White leghorns have long floppy combs, pea comb is incompletely dominant thus a cross between a pea comb & a long floppy single comb results in a longer floppy pea comb (I've done the cross). As Kev said many commercial white leghorn strains have a gene which inhibits pigment on the shell, when crossed with a blue egg layer this tends to give a rather incipid colour of egg, which looks rather like a washed out grey (I've had them).​

 

[Kev]

What Krys said.

There's a misconception that can happen when the comment "EE are such a mixed bag" is said.. this can seem to imply they are not pure for anything.

What that actually means as for the blue egg gene specifically.. ANY individual EE can either be pure, or have just one copy or not even have the blue egg gene. What this means is one cannot tell just by looking at the bird if it is pure, not pure or lacks the blue egg gene..

If an EE lays brown or tan or white egg, she does not have the gene at all.

If she lays blue or green eggs, then she either has one or two copies of the gene(pure). But there is no way to tell if she is pure or not, except by test matings.

With roosters it is even harder, there is simply no way to tell, except by breeding him and see what color eggs his daughters lay (especially by crossing him with say, a RIR or some other breed).

However it is the same as with the hens, an EE rooster can be pure, have just one copy or even completely lack the blue egg gene.

Bottom line is, EE can be, and many are, pure for the blue egg gene. This is the very reason wht EE x EE can and will work very well.

Getting an EE from someone who deliberately tries to breed and hatch only blue/green eggers is also a good option.. for the above reasons.

Just because one hatchery says they use pure amer roosters does it mean it is the usual practice of other hatcheries. Yes, that method of breeding will work.. but then so does EE x EE. It is actually very easy to ensure at least half or better of the pullets are blue/green layers by setting and hatching only blue/green eggs.. the breeder EE hens can be bred with EE roosters and on average, 75% of the daughters will lay blue/green eggs- if the EE roosters used have at least one blue egg gene.

 

[ging3rhoffman]

Good to know. I want to learn as much as i can about the EE's. Can i use my SLW rooster with my blue and green egg laying EE's and their pullets lay colored eggs?

 

[DiamondJFarms.com]

The Blue egg gene is dominant, So if your EE hen lays a blue/green egg, then you know she carries at least One blue egg gene. For the EE Roo, have a very good chance he will have at least one blue gene.

Let's say They each have Only One blue gene. When crossed together your odds on the offspring will be 3 blue/green layers and 1 brown/white layer.
3:1 blue to non-blue

Of the blue layers, one of the three would be Homozygous for the Blue gene, meaning it had 2 Blue Genes, and that all offspring from that chicken would lay blue/green eggs; Even if bred to a regular breed of chicken.

If you luck up and your Roo is a Homozygous, your set. Of course, you can't tell by just looking at him. I'm pretty sure there isn't a dna test you can run. The old standard for checking if a breeding animal is homozygous, is to cross him on 10 non-gened mates, if all 10 offspring have the trait, then you are over 99% sure he is Homozygous. This is called a breeding test.

In your case, to check your Roo for Homozygous, you would breed him to regular brown/white laying hens, hatch 10 of those eggs, or enough to get 10 pullets. If all ten of those pullets lay blue/green eggs, then He is most likely Homozygous. Of course, if he has even one daughter who lays a brown/white egg, then he is Not Homozygous (he would be Heterozygous)

Kind of a long test with chickens.

Quickest answer is, If you only use blue/green laying hens, and your Roo is an EE with 2 EE parents, or better yet, from a hatchery who uses all Homozygous Roos, you'll get 75% or higher chance of blue/green laying offspring.

-Joycelyn
http://www.diamondjfarms.com/chickens/