If I mix a Ameraucana with a Delaware....what should I expect

[emerald eyes]

I am thinking about breeding my delaware hen with my Ameraucana rooster, what should I expect from the mix? Also, if I mix the RIR rooster with the Delaware, will it be a sex-link (red star)? I am trying to get some eggs for a friend that wants to start raising chickens, but what to make sure the off spring will be okay.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The RIR rooster over a Delaware hen will give you Red Sex Links. The male chicks will have yellow down and the female chicks will have red down.

I'm not sure what type of information you are looking for with the Ameraucana over Delaware cross? Chick color, egg color, or maybe something else? One big issue is are you sure it is a true Ameraucana rooster and not an EE? Hatcheries don't sell true Ameraucanas, just EE's. If it is an Ameraucana, what color/pattern does he match?

 

[emerald eyes]

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I don't know if the Ameraucana is pure, he is pictured in my avatar. He might be a EE, but he is so pretty that it really doesn't matter. I just want to make sure the offspring is healthy and produces eggs for the family. I would love to see colored eggs, I have all brown layers, my kids would to so excited to see a different color in the nesting boxes.

 

[mama24]

He's an EE, and the chicks could end up being a variety of colors.

I let a broody hatch out some eggs last month, and from 3 EE eggs, I got 1 silver (I have 2 silver EE's!) and 2 crele (the dad was a mixed breed crele colored roo), and from my red sexlink egg, I got a black barred chick! Hatching mixed breeds is so much fun! You never know what your gonna get! Well, I guess those who study chicken genetics probably do, but for the rest of us, it's a huge surprise!

 

[Ridgerunner]

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The offspring should be healthy if the parents are. The amount of egg laying is really unknown. Don't panic. If the parents are good egg layers, the offspring will be good egg layers. The Delaware is probably pretty good so her offspring will inherit some good qualities. I don't know how good an egg laying stock the rooster comes from. He may come from stock as good as the Delaware or he may not. The odds are you will be happy with the egg laying of their offspring, but you never know for sure. I would not let that unknown stop me.

The colored eggs is another unknown. There is one basic pair of genes that determines the base color of the eggs, which is either blue or white. Blue is dominant, so if just one of the genes in this pair is blue, the hen will lay base blue eggs. The brown or green comes from other genes and is a coating on that base blue or white. Sort of like this:

Blue + no brown = blue
Blue + brown = green
White + no brown = white
White + brown = brown

The Delaware will contribute a base white gene and some brown overcoating. At least her contribution is known.

The problem with egg color is that you don't know what genes the rooster has. A true Ameraucana will have two blue genes, but with EE's, you just don't know. If both genes in that pair are blue, then all his offspring will inherit one blue gene and lay green eggs, thanks to the brown contribution from the Delaware hen. If the rooster has one blue and one white, then his offspring could inherit either one, so you might get brown or green eggs. If both genes are white, you will get brown eggs.

A pea comb is not a guarantee but it is a real good indicator. The blue egg gene follows the pea comb gene 97% of the time according to one of the genetics experts I really trust on this forum. So if the rooster has a pea comb, the odds are real good he has at least one blue gene and maybe two.

With your stated goals, I would breed the EE to the Delaware and expect to be happy with the results.

 

[debid]

Ridgerunner, that's the best explanation of egg color inheritance I've seen!

 

[gryeyes]

I have 3 Delaweggers.

My dominant rooster, an EE named Carl, and my Delaware Delilah created four Delaweggers in my flock. Umfortunately, Delilah died in the horrible cocci outbreak my flock suffered from last November. But her three daughters all inherited a blue gene and lay green eggs. (One chick suffered misadventure, so there are only 3 chicks who survived to adulthood.)

Delaweggers, a BYC created name for these mixed heritage birds, are good layers, too - from their Delaware heritage.

 

[stormylady]

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See!! What you said, exactly the way I think too!

 

[stormylady]

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You can mix any different chickens for the most part I guess and the chicks will be fine. Don't get me wrong when I say that "Mutts" or "Mixes" In My Opinion, seem to be way more vigorous and healthy for the most part, I got alot of em! I do love the purebreds too! Some I mix and some I keep pure.

Im not sure exactly what you mean by you " just want to make sure the offspring will be ok"?? But Mixed breeds do just as well as pures,and

If its a hen It will lay eggs.

AND as a special +++ when you mixing with EEs you never know what your gonna get and if nothing else your gonna have a really pretty yard flock.

 

[emerald eyes]

Quote:
You can mix any different chickens for the most part I guess and the chicks will be fine. Don't get me wrong when I say that "Mutts" or "Mixes" In My Opinion, seem to be way more vigorous and healthy for the most part, I got alot of em! I do love the purebreds too! Some I mix and some I keep pure.

Im not sure exactly what you mean by you " just want to make sure the offspring will be ok"?? But Mixed breeds do just as well as pures,and

If its a hen It will lay eggs.

AND as a special +++ when you mixing with EEs you never know what your gonna get and if nothing else your gonna have a really pretty yard flock.

I have never breed or thought about breeding chickens, so I am new to this whole hatching an egg and having grow into something. I didn't know if mixing breeds would have detrimental effects on their health or create infertile or deformed chicks. My hens have been laying for about 14 months, pretty regularly (up to last week, they are molting), the delaware is an egg machine, but my buff orphs are just as busy in the nest.

Do you think a 18 month old hen will accept a 6 month old rooster as a mate?