EE mix

[asheshp]

Is there anyway to tell what produced my EEs? Meaning what breed of chicken was mixed with Ameraucana. What I mostly want to know is if my EEs have any brown laying genes? Not sure if it is possible to tell.

 

[GoldenFlight]

Do you have pictures?

 

[asheshp]

Ginger

Fawkes

 

[donrae]

They look like classic hatchery EE. If that's the case, likely nothing was mixed with them. They've been bred as EE for generations, likely decades depending on the hatchery. Personally, I think Leghorn blood may have been infused from time to time to boost production, but I have no proof of that. I don't see any point to infusing brown egger breeds, though, as that would cause them to lose egg color for a generation or so. But who knows what the hatcheries do?

If your hens lay blue eggs, they're "pure" for the blue egg gene. If they lay green, they have one blue and one brown gene. that's a good way to tell.

 

[GoldenFlight]

They are soooo CUTE!

Aren't they just hatchery EE?

 

[asheshp]

I am new to this so I didn't realize they bred them for generations like that. They lay amazingly so the leghorn idea makes sense. Ginger's eggs are slightly greenish compared to my others but I am not sure if it is really green enough to have had any brown.

I am going to hatch chicks from them this spring and was just curious what the chicks would likely lay.

Thanks! I think they are pretty cute too and such sweethearts!

 

[GoldenFlight]

That's okay.

They sure are!

 

[junebuggena]

They look like classic hatchery EE. If that's the case, likely nothing was mixed with them. They've been bred as EE for generations, likely decades depending on the hatchery. Personally, I think Leghorn blood may have been infused from time to time to boost production, but I have no proof of that. I don't see any point to infusing brown egger breeds, though, as that would cause them to lose egg color for a generation or so. But who knows what the hatcheries do?

If your hens lay blue eggs, they're "pure" for the blue egg gene. If they lay green, they have one blue and one brown gene. that's a good way to tell.

Just FYI, a hen can be pure for the blue shell gene AND have genes for brown coating. And just because a hen lays blue does not mean that she's pure for the blue shell gene.

 

[drumstick diva]

x 2 donrae

 

[FlyWheel]

+3. The blue shell gene (lets use the proper term here

) is dominant, so even if the hen has one blue and one white shell gene it will still produce a blue or green egg, the green tint coming from the brown coating added onto the shell. And to my knowledge there are at least three or four recognized breeds of chicken that have blue shell genes.