Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers - Which is Which?

[NatJ]

I don't know if Any sexlink crosses work both ways

Sexlink crosses in chickens work only one direction.
They all follow the same pattern:
A father with a recessive trait and mother with a dominant trait produce daughters that show the recessive trait (from the father), and sons who show the dominant trait (from the mother) and carry (but do not show) the recessive trait.

For the genes commonly available, the recessive (father/daughter) is gold, not-barred, dark skin, fast feathering, chocolate. The dominant (mother/son) is silver, barred, light legs, slow feathering, not-chocolate.

It has to work that way because of the sex chromosomes involved.

A hen has ZW. The W is inherited from her mother, and she gives it to her daughters. It does not have any of the genes we care about. The hen has only one Z chromosome, so she must show whatever genes it contains. She gives that to her sons, but not her daughters (because she is giving her daughters W to make them female.)

A rooster has ZZ. He inherits Z from his father and Z from his mother. If they don't match, he shows whichever is dominant (like the sons in a sex-linked mating: showing the dominant from his mother, carrying but not showing the recessive from his mother.) The rooster gives Z to every chick he sires, with no gender distinction. So the only way to have sex-linked chicks is when the rooster gives a recessive trait (which the daughters will show) and the hen gives a dominant trait (that is visible in the sons, hiding the recessive trait they inherited from their father.)

 

[Exhibitionhouse]

I’m such a newb too. Most of the reply’s were hard to follow but I was wondering if you had rehomed any I’m on the south shore. These are the breeds I was wanting to add but not really for a few more months. We just rescued two hens and a rooster that I need to try and rehome.

 

[BonnieBlue]

I’m such a newb too. Most of the reply’s were hard to follow but I was wondering if you had rehomed any I’m on the south shore. These are the breeds I was wanting to add but not really for a few more months. We just rescued two hens and a rooster that I need to try and rehome.

Hi. They have not gone yet, as I was waiting until they are 8 weeks old, and a friend in Alex said they would take whatever I needed a home for (but I was unaware lavender is actually Lenny, so not sure). Are you interested in a EE cockerel, by chance?

 

[Exhibitionhouse]

Hi. They have not gone yet, as I was waiting until they are 8 weeks old, and a friend in Alex said they would take whatever I needed a home for (but I was unaware lavender is actually Lenny, so not sure). Are you interested in a EE cockerel, by chance?

No we are trying to re-home a barred rock rooster right now too.

 

[BonnieBlue]

No we are trying to re-home a barred rock rooster right now too.

I get that! I don't know what I will do if I can't find a home for Lenny. Well, I do, but it is absolute last resort. Fingers crossed for both of us.

 

[BonnieBlue]

In trying to follow all of this, and being new to the whole chicken thing, I was wondering something...

I know that crossing an easter egger with a brown layer will give you olive eggers and olive green or brown eggs. What about crossing an easter egger with a white layer? will you get any colored eggs, or will the white gene take over? is it dependent on what the Ameracauna was crossed with to get the easter egger?

 

[NatJ]

I know that crossing an easter egger with a brown layer will give you olive eggers and olive green or brown eggs. What about crossing an easter egger with a white layer? will you get any colored eggs, or will the white gene take over? is it dependent on what the Ameracauna was crossed with to get the easter egger?

If you cross an Easter Egger to a white egg layer, you could get daughters who lay blue eggs, green eggs, brown eggs, and/or white eggs.

Any daughter that inherits the blue egg gene from the Easter Egger will lay either blue or green eggs.

Any daughter without the blue egg gene will lay white or brown eggs. If the Easter Egger has two copies of the blue egg gene, this will not happen (all chicks will inherit one blue egg gene.) But it can happen if the Easter Egger has just one copy of the blue egg gene, and one not-blue gene (some chicks get blue, some get not-blue.)

White vs. brown eggs is determined by quite a few different genes. Depending on exactly which genes each one has, crossing a white egger and a brown egger can give you daughters that lay white eggs, light brown eggs, darker brown eggs, or any shade in between. The brown is a coating on the outside of the egg.

A brown coating on the outside of a blue egg will make it look green. A darker brown coating will make the egg look darker green ("olive"). So for a chicken with the blue egg gene, the exact shade of blue vs. green will depend on what genes for white vs. brown the chicken inherits.

The sons can have the same genes for egg color as their sisters, but of course they will not actually lay any eggs.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

This is kinda off topic, but in the first photo, Violet looks like he/she has a pretty large comb. You may want to steer clear of keeping her, though it’s probably pretty obvious if she’s a he now.

 

[BonnieBlue]

This is violet now. Or rather, a week ago.

Also, Lavender definitely turned out to be Lenny, and was rehomed along with 4 of the pullets.

 

[BonnieBlue]

If you cross an Easter Egger to a white egg layer, you could get daughters who lay blue eggs, green eggs, brown eggs, and/or white eggs.

Any daughter that inherits the blue egg gene from the Easter Egger will lay either blue or green eggs.

Any daughter without the blue egg gene will lay white or brown eggs. If the Easter Egger has two copies of the blue egg gene, this will not happen (all chicks will inherit one blue egg gene.) But it can happen if the Easter Egger has just one copy of the blue egg gene, and one not-blue gene (some chicks get blue, some get not-blue.)

White vs. brown eggs is determined by quite a few different genes. Depending on exactly which genes each one has, crossing a white egger and a brown egger can give you daughters that lay white eggs, light brown eggs, darker brown eggs, or any shade in between. The brown is a coating on the outside of the egg.

A brown coating on the outside of a blue egg will make it look green. A darker brown coating will make the egg look darker green ("olive"). So for a chicken with the blue egg gene, the exact shade of blue vs. green will depend on what genes for white vs. brown the chicken inherits.

The sons can have the same genes for egg color as their sisters, but of course they will not actually lay any eggs.

This is all very fascinating to me. Thanks for the info.

Lavender/Lenny was rehomed, and was turning into a handome guy, so I hope he makes pretty babies with his daughters making pretty eggs. The friend I gave him to was happy to get him, as he was in need of a second rooster.