Easter Eggers - can I get them with slate legs?

[Sparklee]

Am wondering how to get slate legs on my Easter Eggers. Not sure I want that, but I'm thinking about it.

If all my Easter Eggers have green legs, how do I get slate legs?

Do Easter Eggers have slate genetics in their makeup or do I need to outcross, so to speak? I'm guessing that I need to get that yellow undercoating out of there.

Sorry if this is a repeat, I searched around for a while, but just kept coming up with pages explaining the difference between Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers. I've got that figured out.

But I'm now wondering about Easter Eggers with slate legs.

Thanks a lot. Feel free to point me to a page that explains yellow leg versus other leg colors. I can read. I just don't know where to look for this subject.

 

[TK Poultry]

There can be EE's with slate legs. The green legs are slate with the yellow leg gene present you have to eliminate that to get your slate legs again. yellow legs are a simple recessive so if you started a back track to Ameraucanas you should get some eventually with slate legs. You would have to breed back to Ameraucana breed the offspring. Then breed back to Ameraucana breed the offspring.

I'm NO expert. this is my limited knowledge of the subject..... someone will probably give you a nicer explanation that proves mine very wrong!

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
Okay, so if the green legs are slate with the yellow gene present, based on your info, I think I should just breed two Easter Eggers together. Right? I don't have any Ameraucanas to "breed back to."

Simple recessive? So are you saying the breeding two Easter Eggers with green legs together would give me at least 25% slate legs, maybe more? If the slate is there, then it can be brought to the fore, right? Without any mixing with Ameraucanas, which I don't have.

Anybody care to let me in on the Secret to Slate Legs?

 

[TK Poultry]

green to green will give you green. you could cross to white legs.

 

[pips&peeps]

You have green legs because you have yellow skin. Yellow skin is recessive. If bred to a white skinned bird with slate legs you will get offspring with white skin and slate legs. However, all the babies will be carrying recessive yellow skin.

You would have to breed back again to a white skinned bird and then test mate all your birds to see which, if any of that third generation is still carrying the yellow skin gene. It is very hard to get rid of.

 

[Chris09]

If it was me I would breed them to either Blue or Black legged fowl.
By crossing the to Blue or Black legged fowl fowl into them you should get Blue (Slate), Yellow and Green.

Chris

 

[Sparklee]

Okay. Got it. Or maybe I have just enough of a vague idea to be dangerous. Good thing these birds are just for my enjoyment and won't be going anywhere because test mating is anathema to me after doing it over and over again making sure that my Black Copper Marans were Wheaten free. I think I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs.

Thanks for the answers, everybody!

 

[Arielle]

I think I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs. I will learn to love the green legs.

I just don't look at the legs! Like the bird, not the legs! LOL​

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
You're right! They all have pretty feathers. I just won't look below the feather line.

Truthfully, I can easily live with green legs. I'd just prefer slate. But I am going to ignore my preference because I do not want any breeding "projects" to distract me from other stuff. Moving chickens from pen to pen to pen and marking egg after egg, etc., is not the kind of work I feel like doing.