Genetics?

[two j farm]

Can genetics cause my chick not to hatch? I'm trying to hatch chicks from blue and green eggs from mixed breed chickens. I hatched the hens from a leghorn rooster and olive egger hens. The hens are solid white with pea combs and muffs. They all lay blue and green eggs. I'm trying to hatch their eggs with a leghorn rooster and a mix breed rooster that has the sliver gene. I had 20 of their eggs but only 2 blue and 2 green are developing. The other ones stopped after day 3 with blood rings. I also have brown eggs that are developing fine. So now I'm wondering if it could be a gene thing. What do all think?

 

[junebuggena]

Could be a number of things. Everything from nutrition of the breeding flock, the way the eggs are stored prior to incubation, incorrect humidity, hot spots in the incubator, cool spots in the incubator can affect whether an egg develops or not. Seriously doubt it's because any lethal genes.

 

[two j farm]

Thanks. Just wasnt sure all of the chickens are together. Very healthy I free range and feed fermented feed. The eggs where not stored they went right in the incubator. And all the brown eggs are fine. I give some to my neighbor and the same thing happen to them, brown hatched blue and green didn't. At first I thought it was something they did but now it's happening to me.

 

[junebuggena]

Maybe the those girls are just not allowing the rooster to mount them. Maybe the rooster just can't quite hit the right spot. Maybe the hens are rejecting the semen. Yes, hens can actually do that.

 

[two j farm]

Thanks. Didn't know that. I just thought they was fine because they started developing and stop. Would they start developing if the semen was rejected? Looks like I learned something new. Thanks again

 

[junebuggena]

Blood rings are the result of fertile eggs developing, and then dying. A few blood rings in each incubation is pretty normal. And I always leave them in till day 10, just to be absolutely sure.
If a hen rejects the semen, she doesn't produce fertile eggs.

 

[two j farm]

Thanks for information. I'm just going to try again after this and see if I can get some to hatch. I really want chicks from them.

 

[3riverschick]

I think you should check into the genetics of this a little further. that's very strange .there might be a lethal Gene in there somewhere. why don't you call up your local University and talk to one of their poultry science professors. I have found those researchers and professors at the Universities very helpful. Especially if they are poultry researchers .they love thinking about questions and and having people be interested in what they're doing.
Best,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Okay I just checked the net. there was a very large study done in Serbia on the color of pheasant eggs effecting embryonic death .the eggs come in 25 different hues . the results were 85% embryonic death with lime colored eggs. 50% embryonic death with green eggs 30% embryonic death with blue-green eggs. 25 percent for dark grey eggs. 25% embryonic death with brown eggs. This was a huge study involving more than 210,000 eggs. so there's a definite genetic thing going on in pheasants. the University of Illinois has an excellent poultry program .why not call them up and see what they say.
best
Karen
I found another study done in India which found brown eggs hatch better than white eggs. so there's something going on.

 

[3riverschick]

Carotenoids: plant pigments responsible for bright red, yellow, and orange Hues in many plants and vegetables

Oh, this is interesting. a recent study in Blue-Footed Boobies shows that the blue color in the egg can be deepened by adding carotenoids to the diet. the author wonders if this would also happen in chickens.
Karen