Dual-Purpose White Egg Layer

[Chickanmanfromarkansas]

Chickanmanfromarkansas wrote:
White Hollands--- Lamonas----How neat, I'd love to help recreate both, but right now my resourses are not very good. Just getting back into chickens after a 12 year break. All mine are still baby chicks, will be 6 to 7 months before they even start to lay.

Just an idea. If you crossed say a white egg laying chicken breed (say Leghorn)over a brown egg layer (White Rock) would the offspring of the cross be white egg layer?

To put it very simply: No. You would have white chickens laying light brown eggs. BUT if the offspring mated together, they would "theoretically - super simplified" have a 25% chance of producing white chickens laying white eggs. a 25% chance of white chickens laying brown eggs. and a 50% chance of white chickens laying light brown eggs.

The real genetics behind the color of chicken eggs has not been fully mapped out yet and there are lots of complications to the whole thing. But basically what I've found so far indicates that once you introduce color into a white egg-layer it is much harder to breed that color back out than it is for the breeding of other traits. It's all very complicated, very fascinating and I will ramble on about it if allowed to LOL Google "Punnett square" to see how I arrived at the percentages I did... but realize that it's based off of only 1 gene controlling egg color (o,o for white and B,B for brown.) When in reality there are an unknown (but definitely multiple) numbers of genes controlling egg color, size, shape, spots, dots, speckles, tints, thickness, hardness etc. etc. etc.!!!!

Thank you for your reply. I just thought I had read that the father of the chick would control what color egg the female offspring would lay.​

 

[3littlebirds]

Yeah, the 25% number would be correct if white color were a simple recessive, but as you said there are many genes controlling egg color. I think what happens is that egg color is always intermediate between the egg colors of the parents, and with each generation you could just select the lightest eggs until you reach white. In that case, it might be easiest to start only with white or light egg laying breeds, like Hollands, Leghorns, and Dorkings, to avoid the process of recovering white egg color, which might take many generations.
Just some thoughts

 

[3littlebirds]

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Yes, I've also read that the father has more influence on egg color. However, both parents still contribute genes influencing egg color so it is not an either/or deal. The egg color will just be more similar to the father's egg color than the mother's.

 

[Chickanmanfromarkansas]

Yeah, the 25% number would be correct if white color were a simple recessive, but as you said there are many genes controlling egg color. I think what happens is that egg color is always intermediate between the egg colors of the parents, and with each generation you could just select the lightest eggs until you reach white. In that case, it might be easiest to start only with white or light egg laying breeds, like Hollands, Leghorns, and Dorkings, to avoid the process of recovering white egg color, which might take many generations.
Just some thoughts

Yes, I've also read that the father has more influence on egg color. However, both parents still contribute genes influencing egg color so it is not an either/or deal. The egg color will just be more similar to the father's egg color than the mother's

.

Makes sence (spelling). Is there spell check on this?

Tannubyky, I never sould understand Punnett Square. They tried to teach me that stuff in school, didn't get it then and still don't. Maybe one day it'll just smack me in the head.

 

[Tannubyky]

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Actually my 2 RIR's are only a few months old, my 4 leghorns are still cute fuzzy yellow chicks and I've never had more than 3 birds at a time before this LOL It's been over a year since I've even had any (a year living in the city was enough to make me come running back to the rural life!) I only raised them previously for eggs and companionship. So before I start any actual breeding there's still a lot of prep-work we need to get done including a larger coop, separate ranges for the different breeds & generations plus incubators/brooders and more knowledge

So I don't expect to make any giant strides just yet LOL

 

[Chickanmanfromarkansas]

3littlebirds: Have you gotten anywhere with creating your breed yet?

 

[Yellow House Farm]

Well, we use the White Dorking and rather successfully I might add. I recommend trying them. As noted their meat is of excellent quality. Were one willing to accept a lesser meat just on account of skin color, well the epicure in me would think that silly especially insofar as it all turns brown post factum. On another note, one often reads in poultry texts the oft parrotted, "Americans prefer yellow skin." However, after several years of selling Dorkings as our primary roasting fowl in southern New Hampshire, we have never--never--had a comment about sking color. My thought on this is that people are so removed from the days when the general populace knew anything about the chicken they ate that currently no one even knows to pose the question.

An historical and cultural note, though, all indigenous English and Continental fowl are white skinned and lay white eggs. The only yellow skinned old-time fowl I can think of in Europe are Leghorns and Anconas, and they still lay white eggs. For the most part, brown eggs and yellow skin are Asian traits, and their presence in our more modern composite breeds has to do with the importation of Asian fowl during the Clipper Ship days. Even Dominiques, if I am correct, were originally white skinned with white eggs.

If this is so, then the apparent american "preferrence" for yellow skin happened late and didn't last too long.

The moral of the story, White Dorkings are the way to go--very yummy, quite rare, exceptional foragers, quite elegant, and....can you tell they're my favorite(?)!

Best of luck!

 

[Tannubyky]

Unfortunately we lost the whole flock (7 birds). One leghorn got squished during a thunderstorm by debris when they were still little babies. We lost a couple to the AZ heat and to finish us off we had a coyote come and visit. We have since moved the coop from the back field pasture into our chain-link kid's yard and are going to buy and install misters. Disheartening for sure.

 

[3littlebirds]

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Unfortunately I don't have the land or the time right now for a breeding project although I would buy a hen or two if someone else was willing to give it a try. Good luck to anyone who does and please do let me know!

 

[3littlebirds]

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That is a shame- I've lost rabbits to roaming dogs and I know how it feels. It's no fun at all