Easter Egger roo or..?

[Al Capon]

This roo was a freebie, got him when he was about 10 weeks old. (click on image for a better look)

Gal I got him from said he was an EE, and she had other EE's running around. He doesn't have any muffs or beard, about as smooth faced as they get. Just wondering if he is an EE and what color egg genes he might be carrying. Not that it matters, I got him for sentry duty and to sacrifice himself if need be, so he's doing his job.

 

[Cheyenne97]

Doesn’t look like any EE rooster I’ve seen. Maybe a leghorn cross?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

It's unlikely that he's an EE, but given his weird comb I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I've seen a lot of baby-smooth F1 easter eggers from breeding them myself.

But he also probably wouldn't have the blue eggs gene because that's also not a proper pea comb, it just looks like a single that happens to be small and lumpy. The genes are slightly linked so a pea comb means more likely to carry blue. So I'd guess he carries only brown not blue. And since his earlobes are red, it's brown, not white.

But it's possible he carries one blue and we'll never know unless you breed him to a brown egg layer, raise the chicks and see what they lay.

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Yeah, I don’t think it’s an EE rooster. Usually they have muffs. It could be a cross. Like what @Cheyenne97.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

@Rhodeislandsilkie, easter eggers are at best a landrace and more commonly mixed breeds on their own. So easter eggers are inherently crosses.

Take this example. This is my flock from a couple years ago. Top down it is a golden buff, a pure wheaten ameraucana, two of his offspring (easter eggers, both layed green eggs) and an australorp. So sometimes you get some surprisingly smooth-faced birds when you are crossing for easter eggers. But they can still be EEs.

So is this bird an EE? :T Who knows!?

 

[Rhodeislandsilkie]

Oops! Guess I have to do more research on chickens.
I do know that they aren’t an official breed. They are just crosses. Pretty chickens by the way!

 

[Al Capon]

It's unlikely that he's an EE, but given his weird comb I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I've seen a lot of baby-smooth F1 easter eggers from breeding them myself.

But he also probably wouldn't have the blue eggs gene because that's also not a proper pea comb, it just looks like a single that happens to be small and lumpy. The genes are slightly linked so a pea comb means more likely to carry blue. So I'd guess he carries only brown not blue. And since his earlobes are red, it's brown, not white.

But it's possible he carries one blue and we'll never know unless you breed him to a brown egg layer, raise the chicks and see what they lay.

Does that comb shape have a name other than a screwed up mess?

He breeds everything he can catch if he doesn't get knocked off by one of the other roos. There's a few Welsummers running around that would provide a good base for the brown eggs test, might have to incubate some of them in the future.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Nope. It looks like a single comb but it sure is a lumpy mess, huh? I've seen a lot of combs that look like that from F1s. It is just the one set of ribs, right? I can't see it from the front.

If you do end up wanting to run a test, try to isolate him with the hens for a few weeks with no other roosters. Sperm fertilizes the eggs sometimes weeks in advance so it's best to isolate. But if you get even a single blue egg layer out of it, that means he carries blue because blue is a simple dominant. If you get ONLY blues out of it that'd mean he'd carry two blues. (The ameraucana in my photo was that way, so every hen he produced layed blue/green eggs no matter what they looked like.)

 

[Al Capon]

If you do end up wanting to run a test, try to isolate him with the hens for a few weeks with no other roosters.

Will do, have an isolation pen and everything..

Nope. It looks like a single comb but it sure is a lumpy mess, huh? I've seen a lot of combs that look like that from F1s. It is just the one set of ribs, right? I can't see it from the front.

He's over at a buds, I'll try to get a better shot of the comb in the next day or two, see if it has more shape than a lumpy mess. Kinda curious myself as I've never really payed it much attention.

 

[LilJoe]

Looks like an ee or a wyandotte cross to me?