Feather and egg colors in EE, Ameraucana, & Araucana?

[lh123]

Hello, I'm hoping to move and be in a position to get chickens within a year. I've had Easter Eggers in the past and really enjoy them, but would like chickens that all lay blue or blue/green eggs. I also like a feather color variation in the EEs very much- a gold color with darker markings on the feathers. Below is a pic I found on a quick google image search that has that feather coloration.

A few questions, if anyone has any feedback?
1. I don't see that this color matches any of the Ameraucana recognized colors??? A little confused here- personally I think these are very pretty chickens and I always picked chicks that I thought might be that color as adults.
2. If I remember right the chickens I had that were that color tended to lay green or light brown eggs- not blue. Or ??? maybe it was just one hen that I tracked down which eggs were hers?? I don't remember. What color eggs do your gold/black hens lay?
3. is this color a throwback to a different breed? They look kinda sorta like cream leghorns but not really.
4. I picked chicks at feedstores that I thought would be that color but didn't always make the right choice. Does anyone have photos of chicks that turned out to be that color variation?

Next chickens I get I'd like to try breeding them for that color and blue or blue green eggs. Just for myself- it's something I'd enjoy. I know I won't have the time or space in my life to create a good breed. I just want healthy and color in my backyard.

 

[DucksAreBest]

I never had any experience with them, but @EmmaRainboe has.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

1. I don't see that this color matches any of the Ameraucana recognized colors???

That is because that is an Easter Egger, not an Ameraucana.

What color eggs do your gold/black hens lay?

Depends on the hen.

That is a very common hatchery EE color. Many hatcheries breed their own EEs by breeding EE x EE.

 

[DarJones]

Double laced golden birds have the pattern gene and melanotic but probably do not have columbian. I have several hens that look similar to that and lay blue eggs. They are a result of a deliberate breeding program to introgress the blue egg gene into a silver laced wyandotte background.

This girl is not fully double laced because she has at least one copy of the columbian gene. http://www.selectedplants.com/miscan/brn.prt.jpg

 

[lh123]

Thank you DarJones, that is very very helpful. I also liked your post on another thread where you thought intensity of blue eggs were at least sometimes related to egg size. Made sense.

By Columbian I'm thinking you mean the genetic base in S America that produces blue eggs? Or is it a breed?

I'm curious where you think the blue gene may have come from? I looked at the 4 species of Jungle Fowl and saw that none of them lay blue eggs. I also have seen hybrids of chickens and pheasants and guinea hens online. I'm wondering if it is a chicken gene to begin with or if there happened to be a fertile cross with a Jungle Fowl and something else at some points in time. Either in South America or in the Polynesian islands.

 

[lh123]

That is because that is an Easter Egger, not an Ameraucana.

Depends on the hen.

That is a very common hatchery EE color. Many hatcheries breed their own EEs by breeding EE x EE.

Thanks Emma. So some of that color variation in EEs lay blue?

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Thanks Emma. So some of that color variation in EEs lay blue?

Yep! Just depends one the bird you get. I have never bought from a hatchery, so I don’t know where you would go if you were looking for that specific color, though it is definitely a common pattern. I see it all the time.

 

[lh123]

Double laced golden birds have the pattern gene and melanotic but probably do not have columbian. I have several hens that look similar to that and lay blue eggs. They are a result of a deliberate breeding program to introgress the blue egg gene into a silver laced wyandotte background.

This girl is not fully double laced because she has at least one copy of the columbian gene. http://www.selectedplants.com/miscan/brn.prt.jpg

Oh! and silver laced wyandottes lay brown eggs so if there is any blue it would be much more likely that hens with that color variation with lay green. Sigh. Oh well, I guess that answers why that variation isn't bred in Amercaunas.

 

[lh123]

Yep! Just depends one the bird you get. I have never bought from a hatchery, so I don’t know where you would go if you were looking for that specific color, though it is definitely a common pattern. I see it all the time.

Oh good. Maybe I can get the color but not double lacing. DarJones says the lacing (or double lacing) is from silver wyandots. Which lay brown eggs.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Oh good. Maybe I can get the color but not double lacing. DarJones says the lacing (or double lacing) is from silver wyandots. Which lay brown eggs.

Ah, I have reread your post, I didn’t realize you were wanting blue, not green.

You get green when you have a blue shell that gets covered in brown pigment.

I’ve never heard anything about double lacing traveling with the brown egg gene, (in I assume would be in a similar way to the way the pea comb gene and blue egg gene usually travel on the same chromosome.) but I am not too well versed in the world of genetics to know for sure.