Making of an Olive Egger

[Amer]

I understand better with genotypes, but if you insist.
Problem is, with just phenotypes, there are unknown variables.
EExMaran
Blue eggerxmarans green
Olive egger(F1)xmarans
green, brown, green, and brown
Olive Egger(F2 or other)xMarans
brown
Olive Egger(breeds true)xMarans
green
EE (blue layerxwhite layer)x Marans
green, brown

Shades of green and brown are variable.



AmeraucanaxMarans
green
@RoseQuartz you are the most knowledgeable person I know on this subject. Please help

 

[Amer]

autocorrect and slow internet are working together against me! @Rose Quartz

 

[MillersFarm]

@Brahma Chicken5000
Not even going to try, He knows way more than I do.

 

[lilmillefleur]

I'd imagine that EE's that lay green would produce a darker olive egg on average than blue egg Amer's. But the EE may possibly carry recessive white shell, due to their mixed heritage, and result in half olive eggers and half brown eggers.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

I'd imagine that EE's that lay green would produce a darker olive egg on average than blue egg Amer's. But the EE may possibly carry recessive white shell, due to their mixed heritage, and result in half olive eggers and half brown eggers.

I've hatched a few Olive eggers from EE's and I've yet to get a brown egger.
I do, however, have a useless brown-egging EE.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

In the US the common breeds used by hatcheries to create Olive Eggers are Cream Legbars, Ameraucanas, Welsummers, Marans, and maybe Penedesencas.
If the bird is crested it is part Legbar. Beards and a muff with a pea comb it’s part Ameraucana.
In a first generation cross assuming the dark brown egg layer lays a dark brown egg or hatched from a dark brown egg (if the sire) then when crosses with a blue egg layer with 2 blue egg genes all resulting offspring will be F1 Olive Eggers.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Fanci, the way I always explain it is like this;

Start with some basic concepts. Blue coloring is in the shell, brown is a coating, like paint. These are separate genes.

Then imagine simple genes like blue eggs as two light switches.
In a brown or white laying bird, both switches for "blue eggs" are turned off.
Because blue is dominant, if one of those switches is on you have a bird that lays blue eggs.
But brown eggs are a separate gene, so if you have a bird that WOULD be a brown layer with one blue egg gene switched on the egg comes out green tinted because of the shell is blue with a brown paint coating. The darker the brown, the darker the green, hence the use of dark brown egg layers like marans over, say, any other brown layer.

Each chick MUST inherit one of the two light switches from each of their parents. So if you have an EE, for example, with one blue switch on and one blue switch off as your hen... Then a marans rooster (which has no blue switches on)...
Half you chicks will get off blue switches from the maran, and the off blue switch from the EE. These will lay brown eggs. The other half will get the off blue switch from the maran and the on blue switch from the EE. These will lay green eggs.

Most EEs are some sort of mix, and so are likely to only have one blue switch on. So only half the chicks will be green layers because whether or not they get the on switch is random. But most Ameraucanas have BOTH blue switches on. Which means that they always inherit one on switch from the Am and one off from the Maran, and are ALWAYS green layers.

So genetically, the capital letters are a gene being "on", the genetics look like this:

OO = ameraucana (both light switches on, lays blue eggs, guaranteed to pass one blue gene on to their offspring)
Oo = Easter egger (One light switch on, lays blue eggs, has a 50% chance to pass on one blue gene to offspring)
oo = Maran (Neither switch is on, will never pass a blue gene on)

So you can see how crossing an Am with a maran will ALWAYS give you Oo (one O from the Am one o from the maran), whereas the EE will give you half oo and half Oo.

Now, not every easter egger is oO. Some are OO (blue eggs) and some lay brown eggs (oo). And occasionally you get a crummy, very poorly bred Am that is Oo or oo. (I ended up with three hens from a 'reputable' breeder this year and one lays BROWN eggs!) But this is a loose guide for getting started.

No switches on, brown eggs, never passes on blue
One switch on, blue with brown tint, passes on blue half the time
two switches on, blue with brown tint, always passes on blue

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Legbars and Araucanas are also both pure for the blue egg gene.
If you are unsure if your Easter Egger that lays blue eggs carries 2 blue egg genes, mate the bird in question to a white egg breed and hatch a bunch of eggs. If your Easter Egger is homozygous for blue then all pullets will lay blue eggs. If your bird is heterozygous (O,o) then half will lay blue and half will lay white.

 

[Kris5902]

Sorry if I’m going to further confuse matters here... but I only hatched one olive egger hatching egg out of 4-5 and sure enough.... it’s a boy! He’s quite sweet tempered right now. (Wheaten/AmeraucanaxBCmarans hen) I am wondering what his breeding possibilities will be like over my other green/blue layers or Marans hens? I have Sapphires (CCLegbarxLeghorn) and Isbars as well.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

F1 Easter Eggers will be heterozygous for blue and white.
I believe most hatchery Easter Eggers are a mix of homozygous and heterozygous birds.