Easter Egger egg question

[Annalithe]

I have 4 Easter Egger pullets from the same parents. Will they all lay the same color egg or can it vary bird to bird?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

It depends on what their parents are. Was it a straight Ameraucana X some other breed cross, or was it two EEs crossed, or what?

 

[Annalithe]

I'm not sure really. We were just told that ours were Easter Eggers from the same parents. :/

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Well, since EEs by definition are mutts, that means that they might not be homozygous for the blue egg gene and their parents might not either. So without knowing what their parents are, it's hard to say. Here's a couple of scenarios where two EEs from the same parents might lay different color eggs:

Ameraucana X Easter Egger
Amer. is homozygous for the blue egg gene, can only pass along blue. Easter Egger is heterozygous for that locus, so can pass along a blue gene or a brown gene. One chick gets Blue X Blue, lays blue eggs. One chick gets Blue X Brown, lays a green egg.

Easter Egger X Easter Egger
Both parents are heterozygous for the blue egg gene. So each can pass along a blue gene or a brown gene. 25% of the chicks lay brown eggs, 25% of the chicks lay blue eggs, and 50% of the chicks lay green eggs.


Basically, with EEs, anything goes, including getting plain brown eggs. Getting various shades of green is most common. What a wonderful surprise you'll have!

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

I agree with WalkingOnSunshine, my parents have EEs. Out of the 8 pullets that hatched, they lay from blue to various greens to brown. The mother EE lays greenish brown eggs.