Dark Egg Breeds Thread

[pinkchick]

drom~


Those are B-E-A-U-T-IFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But when I get an unevenly painted egg with those really dark splotches, I always end up wondering will I ever get one that is actually entirely that color?

I wonder the same thing everytime too!
I would try hatching a few of them out and raise up a couple of pullets if you get a couple from them and see what their eggs are like. You never know.......they could be the birds that lay the "golden" egg!

 

[berkeleysprings]

I was looking to ad a 3rd line of wheaten marans to my already Davis and Presley by way of back woods poultry and I wanted to add a 3rd line to the flock ,anyone know of a good line unrelated to kellerman or Teasdale lines ?
also this is a bad pic but ihave a roo with a comb i can live with and feathered legs and the tail angle is getting better so i now have number 2 out of the many i hatched over the summer and i will test breed him in a few months.

 

[drom]

Quote:
I wonder the same thing everytime too!
I would try hatching a few of them out and raise up a couple of pullets if you get a couple from them and see what their eggs are like. You never know.......they could be the birds that lay the "golden" egg!

Thanks Pink!!

I wonder if the tendency to lay eggs like that is inherited and seen in some flocks and not others.

 

[drom]

Quote:
You know, I think Greg Cole might have started his own Wheaten flock from BCMs a couple years ago. I know he had some that looked good and laid dark eggs. I am not sure if he continued to work with them or not.
That would be one way to acquire an unrelated line; find someone who has started a new line out of BCMs. It might have a few twists and challenges, but it could be a great project too.

Looks like your young cockerel will be nice!

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

I have a question for all you knowledgable Dark Egg lovers. I learned from a BYCer that The BCM egg color takes a hit the first year they are outcrossed then when the resulting birds are bred back to each other the color gets better. Has anyone else heard that or had that experience? I'm usually disappointed with my egg color but I'm also out crossing for the gene pool. Is outcrossing so much what I am doing wrong? Any info would be great. Thanks!

 

[drom]

Quote:
Yes that's correct. What people say is that when you cross birds from unrelated flocks it can have the effect of diluting your dark eggs genes, so to speak, even if both birds are from good dark egg laying flocks. Apparently it doesn't always happen, but it is very common.
There are multiple genes responsible for producing the dark egg color and the goal is to pair up similar dark egg genes. That is one of reasons why proper line breeding is a very good thing with Marans.

There is some detail on Marans eggs here.

http://marans-club.perso.neuf.fr/loeufang.htm#loeufang

 

[berkeleysprings]

well thanks drom for the info , i am going to keep my ear to the ground looking for a third line but i i am not dareing enough to use sports from bc ...i will look up greg cole ....
thanks

Quote:
You know, I think Greg Cole might have started his own Wheaten flock from BCMs a couple years ago. I know he had some that looked good and laid dark eggs. I am not sure if he continued to work with them or not.
That would be one way to acquire an unrelated line; find someone who has started a new line out of BCMs. It might have a few twists and challenges, but it could be a great project too.

Looks like your young cockerel will be nice!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
That is too cute - I got one like that a couple of week ago also - only problem was it came from one of my third generation "Olive Eggers" - woops - guess I need to stop breeding them back to pure BCM roos - maybe getting too much "brown gene" in the mix:

But I did want to say - I no longer drain/blow out the eggs I want to keep. I've found that if I don't wash them - just set them aside and leave them alone - they will dry out all by themselves. Never had one to rot (except the one that I washed). They'll actually be like the Weeble toys - "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down" - because once it dries out, it sort of has a weight at the bottom, and from then on, if you place it on a flat surface it will flip or roll over. If you dry it with the end up, or on its side, it will always go back to that position. Makes a fun toy for the kids. I now dry all my "unusual" or reallly pretty eggs. I have a big bowl of potpourri and I just place them in the bowl, on display and let them dry. I use them in decorative nests and potpourri bowls throughout the house. People are always picking them up and can't believe they are real. Best part is, no holes in them. They are very fragile though and many times get broken but the insides are completely dry. If they are kept out of full sun they will keep their color but they will fade if placed in front of a window.

It's kind of funny - I have a little decorative birds nest in my guest bedroom and I'm always having to replace the little dried eggs I put in it. I'll go to change sheets after company have left and I always find the little eggs broken. I know my guests, or their kids, were picking them up and looking at them and broke them and were afraid to say something. Often, they've been put back with the broken/cracked side down as if I won't notice but normally, they are just missing and I find tiny pieces on the floor. They shatter very easily depending on how dry they are.

So with Christmas coming up, if anyone wants to try making ornaments or childrens "toys" start putting those pretty little eggs aside - by the way, works with the large eggs too. I save my BCM speckled ones to dry and some of my dark olive eggs and no one can believe they are real.

 

[drom]

I was just reading some info on the regional and championship egg contests in France. I've read this page before on the MCF site but didn't really pay attention to the details which are interesting. I would love to take a trip to France during the time of year when the French National Championship is held.

In the regional MCF championships which occur throughout the year, competitors enter 6 eggs. At the French national championship, 12 eggs are required.
At the French national championship, competitors showing birds are not required to also enter eggs, however; all competitors entering eggs must also show birds.
The eggs are required to be fresh-the judges will verify that by handling them.

The eggs are judged not only for their intensity of color, although color intensity has the highest number of possible points, but also on two other categories;

Brightness of the shell

Matt egg : 0 point

Satin-like egg : 1 point

Bright egg : 2 points

Shape of the egg

Stocky egg with a little top : 1 point

Other common shapes : 0 point

I was surprised to read that at the national championship the 12 eggs are not judged on either size or consistency. They aren't judged on size because of the time of year the national championship is held (January, February). And because shape and color can vary from hen to hen, each egg can be judged individually and an average mark for all 12 eggs can be calculated; they don't all have to look similar.

Here's a picture of a "stocky", spherical egg. This egg has what they refer to as the stablized color; this is a hen's egg from the end of the season, so this is the egg color she has laid pretty consistently; as opposed to the first few months of dark pullet eggs which, alas, doesn't last.

And here's what I think they mean by the difference the between "bright" and "matt" egg finish. The 2 eggs at 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock are bright. 3 o'clock and 6 o' clock are matt.

I'm not sure what they mean by "satin", anyone know?

 

[berkeleysprings]

wheaten rooster up date , any thioughts ?

i picked him for his comb was my first thing for me