Hi guys lurker here, hoping ya'll can help me.
Tomorrow i'm going to pick up some easter eggers
at my local feed store. From what I understand pea
combs seem to be related to the colorful egg laying gene.
Is that right? If so how do you tell apart combs in chicks
only a few days old?
That's a good question. I think a pea comb looks wider in a chick, but it's obscured by the chick fuzz. EEs from the big hatcheries usually have pea combs, so don't pick the unusual one that looks different (comb-wise) from the others. Look for fuzzy cheeks too. (Doesn't have any connection to blue shells, but they're cuter!
Oh, and in EEs, those 2 genes are located very close on the chromosome, so statically are most often passed on together. It is possible for them to become separated during the production of the sex cells, they aren't linked, so you will get pea comb hens laying brown eggs, it's just not as common. Kind of depends on the hatchery breeding program. If all parent stock has peas and blue shells, all the offspring will also. You start breeding in other genetics, you'll get different results, if not immediately, then in later generations. That's why most of them lay green eggs- some brown genes got added in at some point.
#4 looks more cockerel, #3 more pullet, but I'm not confident with either.
