Mixed up cockerel...?

[wornoutmomto3]

Here is Marbles a young cockerel with a splash or two of color. The person I got him from said he was americauna but his breeder also experimented with olive eggers. So, there could be a good mix of breeds in Marbles. I was just curious if anyone could possibly help narrow down the possibilities, otherwise Marbles will just have to continue being mixed up.

 

[ramirezframing]

I would guess that he was from the olive egger side but with a single comb, he might not carry the color egg gene. He is definitely not a ameraucana.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

I am not very familiar with olive egger genes. I know there is crossing of blue egg layers with brown egg layers, but that is about it. How would a single comb indicate a lack of the color gene?

 

[kari_dawn]

I think Ramirezframing means that your bird looks like an F2, instead of an F1. In olive eggers, people typically use marans (dark brown egg layers with single combs) and easter eggers (*typically* blue/green layers). Easter eggers are mutts, but *tend* to have pea combs, and *tend* to lay blue or green eggs, but can look like just about anything, and have just about any egg color.

If your bird was an F1 (the result of a marans x easter egger), it would probably tend more towards either of the two breeds used to make it. I *think* pea combs and single combs can be co-dominant, so an F1 cross would more likely have a partial pea comb, rather than a single. if it was an F2 (olive egger x olive egger), there's no telling WHAT traits it would grab from its parents due to the inconsistency in the lineage of the parents. I'm not super knowledgeable here, so you easter egger fans, correct me if I am wrong, but its not that the egg color gene is linked to the comb type, but pea combs tend to indicate colored eggs. This does not always ring true. I had a beautiful copper colored easter egger hen that layed brown eggs, and she had the neatest, most perfect little pea comb perched on her noggin.

edit: so to answer your initial question, if I were to hazard a guess, with the information you provided, I would say that you have an easter egger x marans cross. Especially since easter eggers are often mislabeled or miss represented as amaraucanas, and you are dealing with mutts as it is, I am going to guess this person is actually breeding easter eggers, not amaraucanas (and I apologize to the amaraucana Nazis if I spelled that wrong!).

 

[donrae]

I really don't see any Ameraucana influence there. I'd say Marans or a Marans-based mix.

 

[BantamLover21]

I really don't see any Ameraucana influence there. I'd say Marans or a Marans-based mix.

Agreed.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Looks like a possible Marans mix to me, too.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

So, if I am understanding everyone correctly poor Marble is one really mixed up mutt.
There is no way of telling what genes he might pass on. I was considering crossing him and Rosie, hoping for some splashy chicks. Do you think there is a possibility of success?

 

[donrae]

I think you'd get some very colorful chicks from that cross