Genetics Gurus Please Help! Working Towards True Breeding Olive Eggers

[nicalandia]

Yes that part I understood. It's hard to find pea comb true blue layers around here (ameraucana, etc) so I was wondering about egg color alone but the sheer insane amount of time and birds it would take to test breed to find the O/O is staggaring and I've quickly come to realize finding ameraucanas would be easier.

If you are located in the USA you can order a few Easter Eggers pullets. they get their Pea Comb and Oocyan mutation from the same chilean stock and many of them look just like Ameraucanas just keep in mind that a few will lay pink colored eggs even if they have a Pea comb due to allelic crossover. keep the ones laying blue eggs and have pea comb. you then cross them with your best rooster(a son of your best hens that lay chocolate colored eggs) The best F1 hens(with pea comb) are bred back to the same rooster.

 

[Starbawk]

I have an Easter Egger with pea comb carrying a blue and white gene. I could breed her to my BCM roo from a dark egg and whatever offspring from that mating retain pea comb would have a blue gene and a white gene with brown overlay. Breed back to BCM as many times as I need to get the egg color dark enough for my liking. Then retain all offspring with pea combs and breed brothers to sisters. Keep all the resulting offspring with the tight pea comb indicating homozygous pea/blue and I have the breeding stock for my true breeding olive eggers. Did I get all that right?

 

[nicalandia]

I have an Easter Egger with pea comb carrying a blue and white gene. I could breed her to my BCM roo from a dark egg and whatever offspring from that mating retain pea comb would have a blue gene and a white gene with brown overlay. Breed back to BCM as many times as I need to get the egg color dark enough for my liking. Then retain all offspring with pea combs and breed brothers to sisters. Keep all the resulting offspring with the tight pea comb indicating homozygous pea/blue and I have the breeding stock for my true breeding olive eggers. Did I get all that right?

That is absolutely the best plan you could have. I wish you the best luck and P.M me if you need more help

 

[NatJ]

@NatJ
@RoostersAreAwesome
@nicalandia

Wow, that got long before I noticed!

I think I've read it all now, and most of what I would say has been said by someone else, but here are a few points:

I'm still learning the egg color genes, but from my understanding, Olive Eggs can't be a true color due to having to possess two different color genes. Blue, & Brown.

Wrong. Brown or not-brown, and what shade of brown, is controlled by quite a few genes. (If you pretend that each gene can make the brown darker or lighter, you'll probably be close enough to accurate.) Blue or not-blue is controlled by just one gene, that has nothing to do with the brown ones. You can have brown and blue present or absent, in any combination.

So I agree with what nicalandia already said: yes, true-breeding olive eggers are possible.

Year 3:.... I can't cross two "spinach eggers" because I won't know if the roo would have the genetics of a brown egg layer or a green egg layer.

Yes, you can, if you're willing to test-mate the rooster. Keep the most promising few roosters, mate each to a hen that lays white or brown eggs, and raise some daughters up to laying age. If the daughters lay blue or green eggs, then the rooster has at least one copy of the blue egg gene. If you have enough daughters, you can even tell if he's got one copy (some daughters lay blue/green, some lay white/brown), or two copies (all daughters lay blue/green.)

Also, I've read of someone doing DNA tests to see which chickens have 0, 1, or 2 copies of the blue egg gene.

https://www.silveruddsblue.org/testing-for-blue-egg-gene
This group has arranged testing with a lab in Germany.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/jose-s-marneck-chooks.1334254/page-11#post-24123273
This a post from @DarJones who actually got some of their birds tested. If you have any questions about the process, that's who I would ask.

 

[Starbawk]

Her comb

 

[nicalandia]

Her combView attachment 2836513

yes, thats how a heterozygous pea comb looks on hens

That he is P/p+, O/o+

When you get P/P O/O hens you will notice it right away

 

[Starbawk]

yes, thats how a heterozygous pea comb looks on hens

Yay! And I know her genetics 2 generations back. Yay I'm excited than you so much

 

[nicalandia]

Yay! And I know her genetics 2 generations back. Yay I'm excited than you so much

Chaos is order yet undeciphered and magic is just unexplained science...!

 

[Starbawk]

Awesome, threw two of her eggs (xBCM I'm almost positive but if they hatch barred from my CCL I'll know I'm wrong) in the incubator with my mini batch of BCMs. One will be our new roo that I'll backcross to. Only had 2 of her eggs on hand to throw in with this batch so cross your fingers for at least one to be a pullet. PS check out the color of these marans eggs.. in September no less! Pic makes them look lighter than they are. They're super dark in person.

 

[nicalandia]

Impressive color, thanks for sharing.