egg color genetics ???

[Organics North]

Great thread and info!

What do you think about a blue egg roo with a brown leghorn? Would this combo produce a more blue egg than with the white leghorn?

Thanks
ON

 

[tadkerson]

That may work. You can try it.

Tim

 

[enola]

The color of the chicken's feathers has absolutely nothing to do with the color of the egg laid.

 

[tadkerson]

Quote:
We were discussing using brown leghorns instead of production white leghorns. Production white leghorns carry a gene that helps remove brown from the egg shell but this gene also causes the blue egg shell to be much lighter. Therefore use a brown leghorn to get away from the gene that will lighten the blue egg color. If I remember correctly, the gene is a recessive sex linked gene.

Tim

 

[Organics North]

I think I may try it! Put a pure Ameraucana Rooster over a brown leghorn hen. The resulting EE should lay a blue egg (I think..) Also I am assuming the Brown leghorn does not have that the same Dominant white gene like the white Leghorns, which cause the eggs to go back to white after a generation or so.

I guess I will let you know if it works in a couple years...

(I need to learn genetics..and look into what the brown leghorn genetics look like..first I suppose..)

ON

 

[budkingston]

I am the guy that ended up with the 3 leghorn cross hens.

I generally don't like Leghorns because I like to pick the chickens up and inspect them every now and then and leghorns generally don't like people to be on the same planet, that is my experience anyway....

These pullets are not flighty at all and will let you pick them up. They are generally white with a few specks of black. They are also bearded. I look forward to their progeny and will keep you posted of the results when I get the first egg....

 

[vegaschick]

Quote:
I was visiting evonne one day and one of your little hens flew right up on my shoulder! I was totally surprised! I went to move her and she flew off but she let me pick her right back up. So sweet! They look really cool too. I am looking forward to seeing what they lay.

 

[evonne]

Quote:
I was visiting evonne one day and one of your little hens flew right up on my shoulder! I was totally surprised! I went to move her and she flew off but she let me pick her right back up. So sweet! They look really cool too. I am looking forward to seeing what they lay.

i'm on day 5 of the current incubation, and there's 7 of the leghorn crosses in there... so you'll have first dibs on the girls out of those eggs... i'm hoping this batch will be as friendly as the last... (even though i curse at them as i trip over them on the way to the feed box)

*edit*
depending on the egg color these girls lay, and all the ones bud took had nice peacombs, if i get to keep any of these hens i plan to breed them back to the dad to see if i can darken the egg back up and keep the almost white coloring and the sweet personality...

 

[Organics North]

I have a hatchery EE pullet, that I think is this cross. She is pure white, but has a couple of black pigmented feathers on her wings. The bird is on the small side. I am thinking it must have some white leghorn in it. I can not wait until she starts laying.
This pullet is the most friendly out of the batch. She has trained me well.. Flies to me and expects that I hand feed her treats, while the others fight over them.

I have been running the numbers on a small scale say 240 bird organic egg production scenario. I want those eggs to be "artisan" so colored eggs including blue are a must. Getting egg production up from one every other day with a Pure Ameraucana flock to even an egg 5 out of 7 days makes a huge difference on the bottom line..

I am very interested in any and all experiences with those trying to increase blue egg production. Thanks for sharing. This is an informative thread.

Thanks
ON

 

[budkingston]

I will most certainly keep you all posted as these are pretty interesting chickens. I have an additional egg with this cross in my incubator right now as well, along with 15 blue and green eggs and 2 browns. This EE rooster is a "Busy beaver"!

I can really understand the boosting laying up to 5+ eggs per week deal. Most hatcheries get rid of chickens after the first year and definately the second because the egg production gets to the point that it costs more to feed them. And when you consider they are willing to start with chicks that don't lay for 6 months, it really shows that hens that don't lay daily just end up costing a lot of money.

So if this works, then this chicken would be the hot ticket. But if that were the case, I wonder why a hatchery hasn't already done it. I mean, a white chicken, with an actual personality, that lays blue eggs, and lots of them???? Seems like a no brainer to me.

And a brown leghorn would be nice since you might get the whole blue egg with volume gig going, but white chickens just look nice!

I do question the whole organic egg thing, I bet you will need to charge $8 to make any money. Let me know what that costs per dozen. I would just stick with the laying breeds myself that lay 28+ eggs per month.

And someone mentioned that their similar chicken had an occasional black feather... these do too.