Integrating a cockerel into a flock of mature hens

[aart]

Woody with fresh tail plumage...sickles get ragged from the roosts too close to the HC walls in coop.
....and before frostbite took the tips of his comb points.

 

[islandgirl82]

Woody with fresh tail plumage...sickles get ragged from the roosts too close to the HC walls in coop.
....and before frostbite took the tips of his comb points.

WOW!!! Just...WOW! Whatever word describes greater than gorgeous...he's that.

 

[aart]

Yeah, he's a looker for sure...and he's nice bird too.
Saw him yesterday dust bathing with some of the pullets.....
.....and then today one pullet almost looked to be sparing with him, then was preening his face, and 2-3 others scampering around him.
I thought he was going to mount one of them but he didn't, tho he's had a few and I got this years first pullet egg today.
This is from one of my hatchery EE girls.... slate legs, pea combed, and muffed...but green, not blue

 

[islandgirl82]

Nice!

May not be a blue egg but it'll still make for a great contribution to your egg bowl!

 

[aart]

Nice!

May not be a blue egg but it'll still make for a nice contribution to your egg bowl!

Yeah, for sure.
Wanted a new blue layer to make Olive Eggers with Woody.
Tho that's not the best cross to use, can't afford the other pure breeds.
Have 4 more hatchery EE pullets to wait for a blue, and 5 more crosses(an F1 and BC1's) that could be a decent olive.

 

[islandgirl82]

Well, I hope you get what you're after! I have one OE. Mum was a Wheaten Marans, Dad was an EE. It's a nice shade when she's actually laying but we haven't gotten an egg from her in a year. She was given to us when our last cockerel hatched out in my son's kindergarten class so that he wouldn't be alone. She's a sweet girl. Mairah's an EE. Her eggs are pink. Then there's Josephine. Hers remind me of mint chocolate chip ice cream...all minty green with brown freckles.

 

[Selsley]

Yeah, he's a looker for sure...and he's nice bird too.
Saw him yesterday dust bathing with some of the pullets.....
.....and then today one pullet almost looked to be sparing with him, then was preening his face, and 2-3 others scampering around him.
I thought he was going to mount one of them but he didn't, tho he's had a few and I got this years first pullet egg today.
This is from one of my hatchery EE girls.... slate legs, pea combed, and muffed...but green, not blue

do EEs lay blue eggs?, thought they would always be green tinted or darker,
this is from an araucana.

 

[islandgirl82]

EEs can lay any color, they just carry the blue gene. It's my understanding (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that if they carry the blue and brown egg genes then they'll lay on the green side and if they have blue and white, they'll lay blue.

 

[Selsley]

Yeah, for sure.
Wanted a new blue layer to make Olive Eggers with Woody.
Tho that's not the best cross to use, can't afford the other pure breeds.
Have 4 more hatchery EE pullets to wait for a blue, and 5 more crosses(an F1 and BC1's) that could be a decent olive.

the blue comes in the early stages of shell developement, one parent would have had the blue gene, the other a very pale brown to give the green tint, which is added late before laying. as you should see on the inside of the egg, it should be blue.
i see no reason that this EE crossed with a breed thats renown for laying dark brown eggs, will give you the egg colour you want. although dominant, the blue gene may not be carried to all its offspring, hence why EEs are also known as rainbow layers.

 

[aart]

There are only blue and white shells, so that's what you will see if you peel the membrane off the inside of shell...
.....brown and green eggs are created by a brown pigment coating on a white and blue shell respectively.
The shell genes are different from the coating genes.

EE can lay blue, but less likely to pass taht blue gene(s) down the line.
Ameraucana and Araucana should always lay blue, but it is very hard to find true pure breed birds.
Many, many..... MANY..... EE's are mis-represented and sold as Ameraucana and Araucana.

There are other threads to discuss these 'breeds' and olive eggers...sorry for the thread hijack islandgirl8.