I have EE girls and ordered 3 boys, two are beautiful skittish (been handling them more - it's helping) the 3rd red isn't aggressive however he's a feather picker. He (Red) is very sweet but will just randomly grab a feather of his flock mates and eat it! I've increased their protien and it has helped but I moved him into the grow out pen with the "boys." So maybe that's why, he doesn't do it anymore. Idk. Do you Caponize yourself? I've thought about it but I'm afraid. I'd like some Ameraucana's eventually but my EE girls are Awesome. If i was to cross my Marans the comb on him is Straight vs the pea comb, shouldn't I use a good pea comb male to get my darker green w/o the straight comb gene? I'm not stuck on pedigree but I'd like to sell some of my birds at some point so I thought I'd try to get a pea comb. I really like the tuff's and one of my EE males has really nice tuff's! But he's black and silver vs the partridge coloration of my current EE hen's so I'm not really sure that would work... Decisions DecisionsWheew sounds like you have quite a project there!Are your 'blue egg layers' Ameraucanas or Auracanas?
Your 'green egg layers' sound like EE's which are a hybrid Ameraucana, found in most hatcheries.
I am enjoying playing with the colored egg genes as well! I have both Ameraucanas and EE's and both have great quailities, although my EE roos have been quite aggressive and have been quickly sent to freezer camp.
It is hard to get a heritage breed bird, even a backyard cross, to fill out the way a hybrid 'meat' bird does. I plan to get a few CX again this year because I like them as roasting birds, but for the most part our meat will come from our caponized extra roos that don't make the cut for breeding.
infuse the brown egg layer male with my green egg laying hen, I should have a nice olive egg daughter.
For a 'true' olive egger most people cross an Ameraucana with a dark egg layer like the Marans!
