Egg color?

[DUCKOBSESSED]

I have a Roo hatched out of a green egg. Will he have genetics for green eggs, as in breed for green eggs? How does that work?

 

[XxMingirlxX]

His parents will have had the genes for a Blue egg shell and a brown protein coat which creates a green egg. There are two types of egg shell - Blue and White - and one colour of protein coat - brown but it can come in many different shades from tan to wood to chocolate coloured.

White when there is no protein coat creates a white egg, white when there is a brown protein coat creates a brown egg which is why brown eggs are white on the inside. Blue without a protein coat creates a blue egg, with a brown protein coat creates anything from a green to olive coloured egg.

So your roo has the genes for a blue shell and a brown protein coat so if put with a blue egg layer he will produce a offspring that will lay green or blue eggs, I'm not sure what happens when put with a white egg layer but I think common consensus is the shade of the egg gets lighter so you would get a lighter green egg.

Hope that helps : )

 

[GhettoRoo]

white eggs, like from white leghorns, are without a protein coat? So that egg shell is less nutrient?

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

Thank you! Now his father was a mix that was given to us as a chick. I don't know what egg he was from. Does that mean that he may not have the blue gene? Or does he only need one parent to have it?

 

[XxMingirlxX]

No,

Thank you! Now his father was a mix that was given to us as a chick. I don't know what egg he was from. Does that mean that he may not have the blue gene? Or does he only need one parent to have it? 

If he (your rooster not the father) came from a green egg then he has the gene. It is possible that some of the chicks he produces if mated with a brown egg layer will also lay brown eggs, it's luck of the draw though because the chicks have been given both blue and White egg shell genes to the offspring.

 

[XxMingirlxX]

white eggs, like from white leghorns, are without a protein coat? So that egg shell is less nutrient?

No they are not less nutritious, the protein coat is like a paint, in the wild they were beneficial through natural selection to blend in with the surroundings, then when humans began domestication they went for the prettiest, largest eggs and most prolific layers. The eggs aren't less nutritious since the protein coat is like a paint - it only goes on the outside of the shell and doesn't affect the yolk and albumen within and since I don't think you eat the shells, a white and brown egg are equally nutritious. And if you were going to eat the egg shell, the difference in proteins would be minute anyway as the main shell contains some naturally and the protein coat is only a thin layer.

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

Thank you for all your help. Another question I just hatched 3 olive eggers. If they are female, Will their eggs be close to the color they hatched from? Or still luck of the draw.

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Thank you for all your help. Another question I just hatched 3 olive eggers. If they are female, Will their eggs be close to the color they hatched from? Or still luck of the draw.

What were the parents?

 

[DUCKOBSESSED]

I don't know. Shipped eggs. But they were called olive eggers.

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Yes they should lay Olive Eggers if they were sold as them