Breeding up

[Illia]

Quote:
Green eggs in Ameraucanas? Are you thinking Easter Eggers, or the few colors out there with issues, like Buffs? With colors like Buff and sometimes Lavender, it is indeed because of the brown egg layer background from the introduced color. . . But in most cases, Ameraucanas do not and should not lay green eggs. But yes, green often is a result from brown x blue.

As to the Araucana statement - Yes. However with Araucanas, there are VERY few out there with breeds crossed into them, in fact I can't really think of any. Most Araucanas come in colors already available since we first got them and made them a "breed." There are indeed greenish laying Araucanas though. It often stems from the fact that most of the colored layers we got from South America were green layers, some indeed blue, but a lot were green.

 

[cashdl]

Unfortunately I can think of quite a few Araucanas that seem to have other breeds in them. I have had several roos ( I no longer have) that appear to have been crossed with leghorn due to their overall shape, size, attitude, and large single comb. Also there are alot of green egg laying Araucana. There are quite a few new colors of Araucana running around. Colors you can't get from combining standard colors.

Breeding an Araucana to a white egg layer will still get you blue eggs for a while but think about the genetics. If you cross a bird that has two blue egg genes to a bird that has no blue egg genes you will get offspring with only 1 blue egg gene. Then if you cross the offspring to each other you will get 25% of the offspring with no blue egg gene. Kinda scarey how quickly you can loose the blue eggs.

I have a hen in a project pen that was hatched out of a green egg. The roo ( her dad) hatched out of a blue egg - he had a straight comb so am guessing he was heterozygous for blue eggs. The hen was heterozygous also. The project hen lays pink tan eggs. I have her in with a roo that was hatched from a very blue egg. I am hatching her eggs and banding the offspring to keep track. I want to see if the blue egg comes back quickly. They will be of course green on the outside since the hens eggs are tan.

Araucanas are always a work in progress. They are difficult to breed, difficult to hatch. It is seemingly impossible to get the tri-fecta of rumpless, tufted, and standard color all in one bird. They go broody constantly. I can totally see why some add other breeds to increase hatchability, fertility, or egg production. I myself do not, nor will I, but I can understand it.

So to answer the OPs question. I am hoping to breed up one of my hens that is an Araucana but not a blue egg layer, to eventually get blue eggs from her offspring. I also am constantly trying to improve egg color on all my birds.

Lanae

 

[MobyQuail]

Quote:
Green eggs in Ameraucanas? Are you thinking Easter Eggers, or the few colors out there with issues, like Buffs? With colors like Buff and sometimes Lavender, it is indeed because of the brown egg layer background from the introduced color. . . But in most cases, Ameraucanas do not and should not lay green eggs. But yes, green often is a result from brown x blue.

As to the Araucana statement - Yes. However with Araucanas, there are VERY few out there with breeds crossed into them, in fact I can't really think of any. Most Araucanas come in colors already available since we first got them and made them a "breed." There are indeed greenish laying Araucanas though. It often stems from the fact that most of the colored layers we got from South America were green layers, some indeed blue, but a lot were green.

I should first point out that I am colorblind. Please take that into consideration. I have noticed lighter blue eggs from my wheaten ameraucanas but my blue ameraucana lays a darker egg, I have been thinking about sending away for egg color chart and should do that to be precise. Not talking easter eggers though, purebred ameraucanas.