Genetic Testing?

[ParksPoultry]

Hello,

I have one rooster I’ve been considering for breeding. He is the sweetest rooster so I want to keep him anyway. He does his little wing dance for me and comes running when I call his name. It would be awesome to keep him as a breeder as well as a pet.

His father has (I’m pretty sure) the O/O homozygous blue egg gene; all of his female offspring lay either blue or green eggs depending on the hen I crossed him with.

His mother lays blue eggs, but there’s no way to confirm she is also carrying the homozygous blue egg gene, right?

Is it worth sending a sample of his in to see if he also had the double blue? Or is it safe to assume he does?

 

[sourland]

Well, you say you are 'going to keep him anyway.' Why not just test breed him and raise several of his daughters?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

His mother lays blue eggs, but there’s no way to confirm she is also carrying the homozygous blue egg gene, right?

Are the inside of her egg shells white or blue? True blue eggs are not white on the inside.. according to my current understanding.

He does his little wing dance for me

This is *usually* more concerning than not.. as it's a sign he's trying to dominate/mate you and it *may* escalate into attacks. Sweetness is a sign of confidence in the chicken world. Whether or not it develops into stupidity is yet to be seen.. some remain balanced while others do not.

I'm not personally familiar with the following link but the price seems reasonable if I truly needed or wanted to know..

https://iqbirdtesting.com/blueegg

 

[ParksPoultry]

Well, you say you are 'going to keep him anyway.' Why not just test breed him and raise several of his daughters?

I sell most of my chicks. I want to be able to tell people what they’re buying

 

[ParksPoultry]

Are the inside of her egg shells white or blue? True blue eggs are not white on the inside.. according to my current understanding.


This is *usually* more concerning than not.. as it's a sign he's trying to dominate/mate you and it *may* escalate into attacks. Sweetness is a sign of confidence in the chicken world. Whether or not it develops into stupidity is yet to be seen.. some remain balanced while others do not.

I'm not personally familiar with the following link but the price seems reasonable if I truly needed or wanted to know..

https://iqbirdtesting.com/blueegg

They are blue. My olive eggs are also blue on the inside.


Yeah, that’s something that I’m aware of too. So far there’s no aggression… just seems a bit confused. He doesn’t get any special treatment and has been raised with the flock. The only thing I can think of that may have created this behavior was when he was near death and pretty sick. I had quite a few young pullets and cockerels all get sick and tended to them accordingly. He was the sickest so he got a little extra TLC, but he still remained with the others in quarantine.

My other roos don’t care for people at all and usually stay away, but are non-aggressive. They are quite a bit larger than him. His father was never nice and attempts to attack me daily. Fortunately his breed is fairly small and is smaller than my laying hens. I can’t keep anymore aggressive roosters so I was hoping my younger guy would replace his father.

 

[SourRoses]

It sounds worth it to me to just get the test and know for sure!

I'm pretty sure heterozygotes have blue pigment inside the egg shell as well. Based on my known F1's.

 

[DarJones]

Heterozygous oocyanin can't be 100% differentiated from homozygous based on shell traits, however, a heterozygous hen produces slightly less saturated blue color eggs. I can usually tell a homozygous hen because her eggs are more intense blue. Easiest way is to take a picture with my cellphone and then pick out the most intense blue eggs based on the picture.