How to get true Olive Eggers?

[Lilorp14]

I read an article today that said Black Copper Marans + True (Whatever that means) Amaracaunas = Olive Eggers. Is that true? Also, I want to have the real green green eggs.


Does it take multiple generations to get this or is it certain breed mixing?

Thanks!
(My desired green)

 

[CuzChickens]

Supposedly, yes. However, the more times you breed a first generation Olive Egger back to a pure Maran, the darker Olive egg you will get.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Yes. But a couple of things.
When they say true ameraucana they mean true ameraucana not hatchery or feed store Americana, ameraucana, americauna, araucana etc. Those are all Easter eggers.
You need a true ameraucana to be certain they carry two copies of the blue egg gene.
Black copper marans. It is important to get some that lay the darkest eggs you can find. Dark dark brown will give you the truest olive colored eggs. Not so dark brown eggs will give you green instead of olive.
Breed the ameraucana to the marans. That will give you 100% olive (or at least green) eggers.
After the first cross all offspring after that whether bred back to marans, back to ameraucana or to each other will produce some olive eggers and some brown egg layers.
Sticking with first generation crosses will be the only way to continue producing all olive eggers.

 

[featherhead007]

Guess the chickens!

 

[AlleysChicks]

The dark green in here are from a EE(green) and a wesummer roo combo.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

I read an article today that said Black Copper Marans + True (Whatever that means) Amaracaunas = Olive Eggers. Is that true? Also, I want to have the real green green eggs.


Does it take multiple generations to get this or is it certain breed mixing?

Thanks!
(My desired green)
View attachment 1342763

"True" Ameraucana means a purebred. Lots of EE's are advertised as Ameraucanas when they really aren't because Ameraucanas are rarer.

 

[featherhead007]

Expensive as well! Never found a true Ameraucana at TSC!

 

[nicalandia]

Expensive as well! Never found a true Ameraucana at TSC!

There is really no need to have True Ameraucana, Easter Eggers that lay blue/green eggs is the least minimum you need, when crossed back to Marans if all of the pullets hatched with Pea comb they have about 94% chance of laying Olive eggs, if any of the pullets hatch with a single comb(quite probable as many Easter Eggers are heterozygous for the blue egg shell gene) she has the same 94% chance of laying dark brown eggs, that is because the blue egg shell gene(O) and the Pea comb gene(P) are located on short arm of chromosome 1 and they are closely located with a distance of about 6 centimorgans(or map units) that means they don't segregate independently as any other genes would(a distance of at least 20 centimorgan would allow that) so if a pullet from a cross of EE and Maran inherits the pea comb and her dame is a proven blue/green egger then you can be very happy about that because you just hatched a Olive Egger

 

[featherhead007]

I'm surrounded by them! and they all complain about something, who knows what!

 

[nicalandia]

You know how cool are Autosexing blue egg layers like the Cream Legbar ares? Well I think it would be even cooler if one would start a "Autosexing Olive Egger" breed..


And it would not be hard at all, just get yourself a few Black Copper Marans, a Cream Legbar rooster and breed back to BCM to get back body and type while keeping sex linked barring, then it would be a matter of making homozygous barred cockerels...

The other way would be to breed Golden Cuckoo Marans breed to Legbar or Ameraucana..