Easter egger genes & breeding olive Eggers

[mcclucker]

Hi, I have an Easter egger rooster that I’m curious about his genetic history - he came to me as a “mystery egg” in a hatching egg set. The egg was blue - I’m attaching the pic here.

He’s a really awesome rooster. Good with people and the ladies and very protective. I want to breed him with my two Marans hens (a golden cuckoo and a blue cuckoo) to maybe get an olive layer. I’m just curious whether his blue gene will be passed on since I don’t know his parentage at all. Any ideas what other breeds are in him?

Both Marans lay pretty deep brown - not as dark as black copper but nice. Hoping for a nice light olive color (maybe speckles? The Marans both have speckled eggs) Would I get an olive layer in the 1st gen?

Here are pics of everybody. Coconut is his name, crowing away predators is his game


His egg

The golden cuckoo and blue cuckoo Marans eggs (left and right) (the darkest one is the golden cuckoo and this is end of season for her- hers can be even darker. The blue cuckoo is a new layer so I am not sure if this is her standard color yet.

My golden cuckoo

Thanks! I have raised and hatched many chicks but haven’t bred any myself yet!

 

[Cyprus]

It looks like a very pale blue, so he probably has one blue and one white gene.
He is likely part Leghorn.

He should pas on the blue gene to 50% of his offspring.
The other 50% will get the whote gene and females will lay a lighter brown than their mommas.

 

[mcclucker]

Ooh thanks! I had done some hunting around and thought maybe RIR but I think you are right!

 

[Ridgerunner]

You have three possibilities. All his daughters may lay blue/green eggs, about half will, or none will if you breed him to a white or brown egg laying hen. Unless you know a fair amount about the egg shell genetics of his parents you just don't know because a rooster does not lay eggs.

There are two components of egg shell color genetics. The first is pretty basic. There is one gene pair that determines if a hen will lay a blue based or white based egg. Blue is dominant so if just one of those two genes is blue, she will lay a blue based egg. That gene is not sex linked so it can come from either parent, both parents randomly pass down one of the genes that they have.

If one parent has two blue genes at that gene pair then all their offspring will receive a blue gene from them and the pullets will lay a blue based egg. Since blue is dominant they only need one. If neither parent has a blue egg gene then the pullets will lay a white based egg. If one parent has both white genes and the other has one white and one blue, about half the pullets will lay colored eggs and half will lay white based. Since you are breeding to a hen that lays a white based egg I'll skip other possibilities.

There are at least 13 different genes that affect brown. That's why you can get so many different shades. Some are dominant, some recessive, at least one only takes affect if another certain gene is present. One, a bleaching gene, is sex linked. Who knows how many have not been identified yet. Lets just say that brown egg genetics are complicated and the way they come together can give you some big surprises. Brown and green eggs are just brown mixed with base white or base blue.

White + no brown = white
White + brown = brown
Blue + no brown = blue
Blue + brown = green

Your rooster hatched from a blue egg. That means his mother had at least one blue gene. It does not mean she had two blue genes. It does mean he has a chance to have a blue gene but does not guarantee it. You have no idea what genetics his father contributed, unfortunately. That means he might have two blue genes and you are golden. He might have one blue gene and you are OK, some pullets will lay colored eggs if you hatch enough for averages to mean much. You may be plain out of luck. The only way to be sure is to hatch several pullets and see what they lay. Since he hatched from a blue egg you have at least a 50-50 chance he has at least one blue gene from his mother. You don't know what he got from his father so it could be better. It's certainly worth trying.

 

[mcclucker]

Interesting. So it’s possible he has zero blue genes - if his mother only had one and he didn’t get it. He could have two white and would only pass on white.

My 7th grade daughter is really interested in making this a project for her science class - they are studying Mendelian genetics this spring. Just studying the white/blue chances would be really cool.

Of course by the time we knew what color eggs the daughters lay she will be in 8th grade, but still cool.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unfortunately there is a chance. if his father came from that same EE flock there is more of a chance he has a blue gene but you just don't know.

Has your daughter settled on an 8th grade science project?

 

[The Moonshiner]

It also looks to me like his mother only had one gene for blue eggs.
That means its a 50% chance he carries a blue egg gene. And a 50% chance he does not.
If he did receive a blue egg gene he only has a 50% chance of passing it on.
Add that together and the odds are not in your favor.

 

[mcclucker]

Yeah I’m reading the more trustworthy way to get olive layers is a Marans rooster with pure ameraucana or crested cream legbar hens. That way you have the blue gene for sure and lots of dark brown in there from dad. Well, he is the rooster I have so I’ll just have to find out!

 

[sourland]

You have three possibilities. All his daughters may lay blue/green eggs, about half will, or none will if you breed him to a white or brown egg laying hen. Unless you know a fair amount about the egg shell genetics of his parents you just don't know because a rooster does not lay eggs.


White + no brown = white
White + brown = brown
Blue + no brown = blue
Blue + brown = green

Your rooster hatched from a blue egg. That means his mother had at least one blue gene. It does not mean she had two blue genes. It does mean he has a chance to have a blue gene but does not guarantee it. You have no idea what genetics his father contributed, unfortunately. That means he might have two blue genes and you are golden. He might have one blue gene and you are OK, some pullets will lay colored eggs if you hatch enough for averages to mean much. You may be plain out of luck. The only way to be sure is to hatch several pullets and see what they lay. Since he hatched from a blue egg you have at least a 50-50 chance he has at least one blue gene from his mother. You don't know what he got from his father so it could be better. It's certainly worth trying.

As usual, well answered by @Ridgerunner. You have him, he is a good flock rooster - give it a try, and good luck.

 

[Lucky Cluck]

Checking in on an old thread here: mcclucker, did you end up breeding your EE rooster to your brown laying hens? If yes, what was the outcome?

I'm curious, as I just hatched out some chicks from my Welsummer, GLW, SLW, and SS hens crossed with my nice EE rooster to see what I get.