Mixing Breeds

[KerenR]

I just discovered that one of my 30 new chicks is a rooster. He is a black copper maran. We have barred rocks, easter eggers, silver cuckoo marans, welsummers, black copper marans, and 5 adult buffs. If we allow him to stay with our girls, will our eggs become undesirable colors? I am especially concerned about the 2nd and possibly 3rd generation chicks. Any thoughts?

 

[sourland]

I'm not certain what you mean by eggs of 'undesirable colors'?

The hens that you have will lay eggs from a light brown to dark brown with the possibility of green or blue eggs from the EE. Bred to most of the hens the daughters will lay brown eggs. Bred to the EE the daughters may lay olive colored eggs.

 

[chicmom]

Hello!

The color of your hen's eggs depends entirely on what breed she is. Having a rooster will not change a hen's egg color. Now, if you allow some of those eggs to hatch, then you might get some different egg colors.

That's a great question!

 

[KerenR]

When I was considering getting olive eggers at one point, I read a thread that talked about being careful when trying to produce olive eggers because the colors can become muddled and ugly. Basically, you can make eggers that look like a pukey color.

 

[KerenR]

I think we would let some of the eggs hatch. I've seen setups where they separate each breed, but that certainly complicates things since our chickens free range. We are going to sell our eggs, so I just wanted to make sure that letting baby chicks hatch would be a good idea considering that the breeds will mix and no longer be pure bred.

 

[sourland]

I think we would let some of the eggs hatch. I've seen setups where they separate each breed, but that certainly complicates things since our chickens free range. We are going to sell our eggs, so I just wanted to make sure that letting baby chicks hatch would be a good idea considering that the breeds will mix and no longer be pure bred.

Easy solution - just don't hatch any eggs from the EE. They are the only hens when crossed on your Maran rooster might produce olive egger daughters.