California Greys???

[Geneticsnut]

Sorry, I duplicated post.

 

[Geneticsnut]

One of the reasons I wanted California Grays was to work with crossing it with a U of A Blue( Americana x White Leghorn cross developed at Univ. of Arkansas) which lays a blue egg and make it auto-sexing.  At this point I know little of genetics but having fun learning.  Any input is welcome.  
My CA Gray chicks are coming Feb 14th.  I have a batch of chicks hatching today. Hoping they will be close enough in age to mix. 

Blue egg color is dominant to white so your U of A Blues are heterozygous for white egg color. This means that if you mate them together you will get 25% white egg layers, 50% blue eggers who are again het. white egger, and 25% blue eggers who are pure. If you mate them to Cal. Grays you will get 50% white eggers and 50% blue eggers who are again het. white egger. It'll be a long haul of test mating roos to determine which ones carry the blue egg gene. It may be easier to mate a black Ameraucana roo to a Cal Gray hen to produce barred males, who are het. blue eggers, to use on the blue egg laying percentage of hens from your U of A / Cal. Gray cross. Also, be sure to use a Cal. Gray roo on U of A hens because U of A roo on Cal. Gray hens will produce barred roos only, no barred hens.

 

[farmhand]

Quote: Thank you very much for the information. I'm in no hurry to complete this project. However once I do I'm thinking it will help me take over the world.

 

[free burd]

i have been on a long chicken break and am
deeply thankful for all of the input here over the months.

please lets keep this thread active for this worthy race and the work of the Drydens.
it is so worthy it has survived on its own (for commercial reasons) but usually a breed
lives or dies based only on it's promoters or lack thereof.

we do not need the APA to acknowledge our own firsthand experiences (!)
keep talking about the california grey/gray
many will appreciate your efforts, now and in the future.

if it's not a valuable bird to you - tell us that too.

with respect.

robert braun [email protected]

 

[tommysgirl]

i have been on a long chicken break and am
deeply thankful for all of the input here over the months.

please lets keep this thread active for this worthy race and the work of the Drydens.
it is so worthy it has survived on its own (for commercial reasons) but usually a breed
lives or dies based only on it's promoters or lack thereof.

we do not need the APA to acknowledge our own firsthand experiences (!)
keep talking about the california grey/gray
many will appreciate your efforts, now and in the future.

if it's not a valuable bird to you - tell us that too.

with respect.

robert braun [email protected]

Absolutely! I only have one at the moment in my mixed flock but she is an almost daily layer of a huge bright white egg. She is not flighty and will hop onto my chair to have better access to treats. For production and personality she is a fantastic flock member! When the stars align, hopefully soon, I will be hatching more.

 

[Bullitt]

Absolutely! I only have one at the moment in my mixed flock but she is an almost daily layer of a huge bright white egg. She is not flighty and will hop onto my chair to have better access to treats. For production and personality she is a fantastic flock member! When the stars align, hopefully soon, I will be hatching more.

It seems the California Gray produces eggs like a White Leghorn but has a personality more like a heavier breed. The California Gray seems like a great breed for most chicken keepers.

 

[tommysgirl]

It seems the California Gray produces eggs like a White Leghorn but has a personality more like a heavier breed. The California Gray seems like a great breed for most chicken keepers.

Absolutely. They have a great feed conversion ratio and are feather sexable within the first week. I have never processed a pure CG cockerel but I did process a Delaware/CG cross and he produced a nice sized carcass at about 19 weeks. If you put the hens under a red rooster like I have done you get a Black sex link chick. Boys have the head spot girls are solic black at hatch. They can fly well so you will need a covered run if that is a problem for you but I can't say enough about the breed!

 

[Geneticsnut]

Blue egg color is dominant to white so your U of A Blues are heterozygous for white egg color. This means that if you mate them together you will get 25% white egg layers, 50% blue eggers who are again het. white egger, and 25% blue eggers who are pure. If you mate them to Cal. Grays you will get 50% white eggers and 50% blue eggers who are again het. white egger. It'll be a long haul of test mating roos to determine which ones carry the blue egg gene. It may be easier to mate a black Ameraucana roo to a Cal Gray hen to produce barred males, who are het. blue eggers, to use on the blue egg laying percentage of hens from your U of A / Cal. Gray cross. Also, be sure to use a Cal. Gray roo on U of A hens because U of A roo on Cal. Gray hens will produce barred roos only, no barred hens.

Oops, my bad. I've recently learned that leghorns (only,?) have a dominant white egg gene, so your project could get very confusing if the cal. grey has rec. white egg gene and the leghorn has dom. white egg gene. I learned this after I mated a buff leghorn to a Welsumer last fall, from which all daughters layer pure white eggs, causing me to go into research mode. Sorry if I threw someone's project ...into scrambled eggs.

 

[Geneticsnut]

BTW, Cal Grey's are everything ya all have said about them and more, my two are now five years old and have begun to lay dinosaur eggs. Their eggs are all wrinkly and bumpy but they keep on laying an egg ever three to four days during nice weather.

 

[PineTopFarm]

Just posting so that I can follow this thread. I hope to get CG in the spring.