Could my rooster carry the "blue egg" gene?

[aart]

What is OIOW??

Probably meant to type IOW ...In Other Words.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Red earlobes mean that the hen lays eggs with colored eggshells. White earlobes mean that the hen in question lays white shelled eggs OIOW eggs that have all the colors which in science means that her eggs are white, like her earlobes.

Generally, yes,... however there are exceptions to this "rule" so it is not an absolute

 

[The Moonshiner]

And if you start crossing white lobe breeds with red lobe breeds you will quickly see there's not much consistency between ear lobe color and egg color.
Although most breeds seem to appear that the two are linked with mixes you can see the genetic out come is independent and not linked at all.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So you're saying he will at best throw 25% that lay blue eggs and 25% that carry the blue egg gene but don't lay blue eggs?
What will the other 50% lay or carry?
Can't really say what offspring will lay without the knowledge of what the hen he is bred to carries.
No sure why you say some will lay blue and some will carry blue. If they carry it then it will show in their eggs whether they're a shade of blue or shade of green.
A hen can't carry the blue egg without it being expressed in her eggs. Blue egg gene is dominate.
As for what he passes on...
If he doesn't have it he passes it to 0 offspring.
If he has one gene for it he will pass it to 50%. If he has two genes for it he would pass it to 100% offspring.
In this case he can't have two copies because his mother didn't have any genes for it.
Not sure how you got to a 25% chance?

The rooster only provides 1/2 of the genes in each mating and it appears that you are wanting to breed a rooster of unknown purity to a hen with no blue egg genes. I wish you well but you are still looking at a crap shoot as to whether your future hens will lay blue shelled eggs. The odds are only 1 in 4 that an impure rooster will pass on the blue gene to a pullet and you will get blue eggs because only his daughters can and will lay eggs of any color. So there is only a 1 in 4 chance that ANY chick conceived from this pairing will be a female chick and that these female chicks possess the gene for a blue shell, because even the most pure of cockerels for blue egg shells don't lay eggs.

There is a little known secret that Ancestry.com and others don't want you to know. Two none identical human twins can get radically differing DNA results when they do a DNA test because at conception so much of our parents' DNA is left laying on the cutting room floor as it were. Now if this rooster proves that he doesn't have a blue shell gene to his name you will never get blue shelled eggs unless or maybe until you do what some intrepid breeder likely did to get the first Blue shelled hen-egg and that is that the breeder exposed fertilized eggs to low level Gamma or Alpha radiation then hatched the eggs out, and brooded the chicks to see what develops. Now how this rooster affects future generations is still up in the air. unless you breed him to his daughters (who lay blue shelled eggs) for 3 to 5 generations. Which is how all the bewildering strains, feather colors, and feather patterns of today's chickens came to be. But even at that a "sport" or abortion will sneak in every generation or two.

If I was vague or misleading in my first post I analogize.

 

[The Moonshiner]

The rooster only provides 1/2 of the genes in each mating and it appears that you are wanting to breed a rooster of unknown purity to a hen with no blue egg genes. I wish you well but you are still looking at a crap shoot as to whether your future hens will lay blue shelled eggs. The odds are only 1 in 4 that an impure rooster will pass on the blue gene to a pullet and you will get blue eggs because only his daughters can and will lay eggs of any color. So there is only a 1 in 4 chance that ANY chick conceived from this pairing will be a female chick and that these female chicks possess the gene for a blue shell, because even the most pure of cockerels for blue egg shells don't lay eggs.

There is a little known secret that Ancestry.com and others don't want you to know. Two none identical human twins can get radically differing DNA results when they do a DNA test because at conception so much of our parentcuttingas it were. Now if thises thatdoesn't have a blue shell gene to his name you will never get blue shelled eggs unless or maybe until you do what some intrepid breeder likely did to get the first Blue shelled hen-egg and that is that the breeder exposed fertilized eggs to low level Gamma or Alpha radiation then hatched the eggs out, and brooded the chicks to see what develops. Now how this rooster affects future generations is still up in the air. unless you breed him to his daughters (who lay blue shelled eggs) for 3 to 5 generations. Which is how all the bewildering strains, feather colors, and feather patterns of today's chickens came to be. But even at that a "sport" or abortion will sneak in every generation or two.

If I was vague or misleading in my first post I analogize.

This post makes more sense.
In your first you said 25% could get the blue egg gene but since 1/2 would be cockerels that that knocks it down to 12.5%. Would lay blue eggs.
I was saying that percentages were off that it would be 50% knocked down to 25% if just counting pullets.
That's neither here nor there at this point because they aren't my chickens or my project and we're both correct without knowing what he carries it can't be figured and as far as actually getting offspring that lay blue that will greatly depend on what he as well as the mother carry.
Now on to bigger fish.
Non identical twins....
I don't think anyone is hiding or trying to keep secrets that non identical twins have different DNA.
Also don't think you could fool or keep secret from anyone that they don't have different DNA.
Among many other reason its obvious half of them are boy/girl sets. Hard to not notice different DNA involved there.
As for how blue egg shells came about.... I won't even touch that one for now. Just WOW.

 

[Penny spender]

So....chance of blue egg layers from him is very remote. Problem solved....I will just get him some lovely Ameraucana/Easter Egger ladies and enjoy blue eggs that way. lol....and maybe olive eggs from the next generation

Thanks for everyone's input. This has been a very educational post and I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Now if this rooster proves that he doesn't have a blue shell gene to his name you will never get blue shelled eggs unless or maybe until you do what some intrepid breeder likely did to get the first Blue shelled hen-egg and that is that the breeder exposed fertilized eggs to low level Gamma or Alpha radiation then hatched the eggs out, and brooded the chicks to see what develops.

Thank you George I needed a good laugh this morning. If you are really interested here is a good article on where the original blue egg genes actually came from. Chile. It was a natural mutation.

http://ameraucanaalliance.org/DnLd/Early History by Richard Orr.pdf

There is no genetic link between ear lobe color and egg shell color. If you go through Henderson's breed chart you can find several different breeds that explode that myth. It is true that most purebred hens with white ear lobes will lay white shelled eggs and those with red will mostly lay brown shelled eggs, but that's just because the people designing the chicken breed wanted it that way. Ear lobe color is a defining characteristic in the SOP that defines a breed. Logic implies that it could go either way so they have to define it. My experience matches Moonshiner's, when you mix breeds with different ear lobe colors ear lobe color is not an indication of the shell color.

Henderson’s Breed Chart

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, I was wondering who went out and irradiated those first Blackbirds eggs to start the blue egg laying trend with them??
Variation in colour of plumage and egg shell is one of the wonders of nature. Yes, mankind has specifically bred to enhance some of those traits but to suggest that they were scientifically created by irradiation is taking it a bit far!

 

[aart]

Earlobes baffle me.
At least I do know they don't denote egg color,
and that they are not the ear covering.

But.

Have several red lobed birds that get white in/on them,
tho I haven't paid real close attention in monitoring,
it appears to come and go and can't be rubbed off.

Have a CCL nice white, with a hint of opalescent blueness, lobes as a young pullet,
now at almost a year the white seems to be 'wearing' off with red peaking thru.

<shrugs> SMH

 

[chickens really]

I have a Rooster that is Brahma and pure Ameruacana cross. I breed him to my Orpington Hens and get light olive green eggs and a greyish egg from his Daughters.. So he carries the Blue/Green egg gene..