Breeding questions

WVChickNboots

In the Brooder
Mar 3, 2015
28
2
26
My Coop
My Coop
I'm looking for information on breeding my flock. I want to know what I'll end up with by crossing my black australorp rooster with my Americauna hens, and production red hens. Egg color-wise, would the babies hatched from the Americauna hens also lay blue/green eggs? If I cross an Americauna rooster with my production red hens, will those babies lay brown eggs? And if I breed my production red rooster with my Americauna hens, will the babies be blue egg layers? Also, will any combinations of these chicks be easy to gender at birth, such as specific markings for roosters/hens. I've not bred my own flock yet for chicks, but I plan to in the spring time. Im just curious if anyone has had experience with crossing these breeds, and what you ended up with. Thanks in advance.
 
I have usually always had Americauna hens with a brown egg layer such as a Rhode Island Red or a Wyandotte. The offspring did lay colored eggs, the colored eggs ranged from just a hint of green or blue to a dark camo green color. There were a few brown egg layers in the mix, but mostly colored.
smile.png
 
I'm looking for information on breeding my flock. I want to know what I'll end up with by crossing my black australorp rooster with my Americauna hens, and production red hens. Egg color-wise, would the babies hatched from the Americauna hens also lay blue/green eggs? If I cross an Americauna rooster with my production red hens, will those babies lay brown eggs? And if I breed my production red rooster with my Americauna hens, will the babies be blue egg layers? Also, will any combinations of these chicks be easy to gender at birth, such as specific markings for roosters/hens. I've not bred my own flock yet for chicks, but I plan to in the spring time. Im just curious if anyone has had experience with crossing these breeds, and what you ended up with. Thanks in advance.

Basically, this is what Holly said.


black australoorp x blue egg layer = only green layers or you could get a mix some lay green and some lay brown

black australorp x green egg layer= same as above

black australorp x production red = brown egg layers

ameraucana x production red = brown egg layers only or only green or you could get a mix some lay green and some lay brown

production red x blue egg layer= only green layers or you could get a mix some lay green and some lay brown

I would have to see pictures of the hens to tell you if you can sex the chicks at hatch.
 
Last edited:
A blue egg layer crossed with a brown egg layer will give you green egg layers. Unless you have barred or silver hens, you will not be able to tell gender when the chicks hatch.
 
what would happen if you bred say a RIR, a brown egg layer, with a white leghorn, a white egg layer.

The offspring will produce a light brown or white egg. It depends on the genetics of the RIR; highest probability is a light brown egg.
 
I've heard that a brown egg layer crossed with a blue egg layer will lay almost a olive colored egg.
brown is a top coat over white shell when crossed with a blue egg layer breed ..the shell will be blue with a top coat making it look green ... The shade of green will depend on breed of brown layer use a dark brown layer breed for a darker green
 
I'm looking for information on breeding my flock. I want to know what I'll end up with by crossing my black australorp rooster with my Americauna hens, and production red hens. Egg color-wise, would the babies hatched from the Americauna hens also lay blue/green eggs? If I cross an Americauna rooster with my production red hens, will those babies lay brown eggs? And if I breed my production red rooster with my Americauna hens, will the babies be blue egg layers? Also, will any combinations of these chicks be easy to gender at birth, such as specific markings for roosters/hens. I've not bred my own flock yet for chicks, but I plan to in the spring time. Im just curious if anyone has had experience with crossing these breeds, and what you ended up with. Thanks in advance.
There are only two colors for eggshell, white and blue. Brown eggs are the result of a coating applied over a white eggshell. Green eggs have the same brown coating applied over a blue eggshell.
What color the chicks lay really all depends on if your Ameraucana are truly Ameraucana or Easter Eggers. True Ameraucana have two blue eggshell genes. Every chick will get one copy, so they will be green layers. Easter Eggers can be carrying one or more brown coating gene, and may only have one blue eggshell gene. There is no telling what color the chicks will lay, could be brown, white, or green. You'll just have to wait and see.
Black Australorps are extended black. It's a pretty dominant gene, most of his chicks will be black, regardless of the mother's coloring.
What the chicks from your Ameraucana rooster will look like depends on what color he is.
There will be no sexlinked chicks from either breeding group. You will have to wait till the chicks are about 6 to 8 weeks old before early signs of cockerels start showing.
 
I've heard that a brown egg layer crossed with a blue egg layer will lay almost a olive colored egg.
This is true if the blue egg layer carries two of the blue egg shell alleles (genes), If the blue egg layer carries a blue egg shell allele and a white egg shell allele, then some of the F1 female offspring will inherit a white egg shell allele from the mother and a white egg shell allele and brown egg shell genes from the father; these F1 female offspring will produce some shade of a brown egg shell.

The other half of the F1 female chicks will produce some shade of green egg shell because they will inherit a white egg shell allele and a blue egg shell allele from the parents. They will also inherit brown egg shell genes from the father causing the egg shell to be a green shade.

From the research that I have read, brown egg shell color is controlled by at least 5 different genes, two incompletely dominant genes, a dominant inhibitor gene, a recessive inhibitor gene and a sex-linked recessive inhibitor gene. These genes all control the production of brown pigments in the chicken's reproductive system.

White egg shell layers can carry the brown egg shell inhibitor genes. It has been my experience that the inhibitor genes can effect the amount of blue egg pigment made by the hen causing the blue egg shell to be tinted and not a nice blue egg shell color.

The substance that turns into brown pigment can also be turned into the blue pigment. It all depends on the genes found in the chicken if the substance becomes a blue pigment or a brown pigment. From my experience the brown egg shell inhibitor genes can effect the production of blue pigment.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom