MPC Super blue egg layer eggs

[Shezadandy]

Thank You shezadandy That helps a lot explaines everything for me. I understand now.

Happy to help!

 

[Shezadandy]

Yep. Me too. I did also order a couple of male chicks. For a rooster, I would also be looking for one that developed a pea comb .... correct?

Based on the MPC post I believe the pea comb and blue gene are linked and straight comb means no blue gene.
What color scheme did your cockerels turn out to be?

Here's our week 12:

 

[Sea Wolf]

They are not old enough to tell yet. Just a couple of weeks old still.

 

[LilChickens2]

Using a hen in the SBEL program that lays anything other than a white or blue egg would be counter productive to say the least.  The most likely source of the green egg would be a heterozygous rooster (blue/brown) in their program.  If the problem lies with a stock rooster harboring a brown gene, there should be reports of green and probably brown (based on the white/near white eggs the SBELs are hatching from) along with blue.  It's also possible the egg was mis-marked at the hatchery. 

This is first year they're offered, so within the next few months there should be a whole lot of feedback, especially if we're not seeing all blue eggs.  

I also wonder if the egg was mis-marked. She does fit the description (white with flecks) though. Surprisingly, she laid at approximately 18 weeks. She's the oldest pullet in this coop by several weeks over other pullets (none are olive eggers nor Easter eggers) and the only one squatting, reddening comb, etc. I'm setting up my trail cam in the coop just to be 100% positive. The app isn't letting me upload pics of the egg but I will when it's stops being weird.

 

[LilChickens2]

Above are the photos of her eggs. Two eggs from two different days. The second image is one of her first attempts last week and it's a little oblong. I do have to say she's not a large bird by any means but the eggs are decent size for a beginner. Her male counterpart on the other hand is HUGE. He's one mighty fine rooster. Big, tall, meaty looking. So is my SCEL cockerel. They all hatched at the same time.

 

[Jujubara]

Above are the photos of her eggs. Two eggs from two different days. The second image is one of her first attempts last week and it's a little oblong. I do have to say she's not a large bird by any means but the eggs are decent size for a beginner. Her male counterpart on the other hand is HUGE. He's one mighty fine rooster. Big, tall, meaty looking. So is my SCEL cockerel. They all hatched at the same time.

Thanks for sharing. It is a very nice egg even of it's not really blue.

 

[Shezadandy]

Above are the photos of her eggs. Two eggs from two different days. The second image is one of her first attempts last week and it's a little oblong. I do have to say she's not a large bird by any means but the eggs are decent size for a beginner. Her male counterpart on the other hand is HUGE. He's one mighty fine rooster. Big, tall, meaty looking. So is my SCEL cockerel. They all hatched at the same time.

Thank you so much for posting the egg pictures. It is a very nice shade of green, and at 18 weeks!!
Also have noticed a pretty big size difference- the cockerel outweighs the girls by a full pound. They seem to be on the dainty side- but my smallest EE hen almost always gives us a large green egg. Maybe we'll see some economy in the feed/egg ratio with less bird to feed.

 

[MyPetChicken]

My SBEL pullet in the above picture started laying last week. She lays every other day...a green egg!!! I thought she'd lay blue eggs, but I'm fine with green too! She's very loud and talkative now as well. Comparable to my light brown leghorn in talk-a-tiveness. If I'm near the coop she'll tell me stories until I leave.

Do you have pictures? I love that she is so talkative.

I bought several of the SBELs and to be honest, I would be very upset if they laid green eggs. These were very expensive birds.

Alex, if I can ask ... it appears that the SBELs are a first generation then? So, if you had a SBEL rooster and allowed it to breed with the hens and try to hatch the resulting eggs ... your chances of getting hens that also lay blue eggs would not be very good then? Would the eggs be a mix of white, brown, blue and green?

Yes, this year the SBEL are F1. It would depend on the hens you allowed the SBEL rooster to cover. If you put him over other SBEL hens then you would get mostly blue egg layers with the very very rare occasional white egg layer. If you put him over hens that carried other egg color genetics you would get a very nice variety or blues, greens, and olives from that breeding.


Alex
My Pet Chicken

 

[MyPetChicken]

X2 ... green eggs after paying $24/pullet for SBELs... would be

... love green eggs, but the cost of the bird along with those 5-6 months raising her to point of lay is a commitment, and starting over with another chick is another 5-6 months down the road. As I understand egg genetics, a green egg is the result of a blue shell with a brown overlay-- so the blue gene is there- but so is the brown gene, so 50/50 on what the progeny get. Hopefully LilChickens2 is the exception with the green egg.

Alex covered the F1xF1 SBELs a little while ago.


I'm looking for confirmation about the below with crossing on brown, white and green layers, this is what I think I know-- (not distinguishing shades of green):

Homozygous SBEL roo (2 copies of blue)


with a white layer: all would be lighter blue
with a green layer: 1/2 green 1/2 'bluer'
with a homozygous brown layer: all green
with heterozygous (1 copy brown, 1 copy white) brown layer: 1/2 green 1/2 blue

Heterozygous SBEL roo (1 copy blue, 1 copy white)

with a white layer, 1/2 white, 1/2 lighter blue
with a green layer, 1/4 'bluer', 1/4 light blue, 1/2 lighter brown
with a homozygous brown layer: 1/2 green, 1/2 lighter brown
with a heterozygous (1 copy brown, 1 copy white) brown layer: 1/4 green, 1/4 light blue, 1/2 lighter brown

In the very basic sense of the formula...yes, this is correct. I'm sure you know there are many other factors that play into the results.

When breeding to a white egg layer, remember that white isn't a pigment, its a lack of pigment. So, you aren't diluting the original egg color...you are starting with a blank slate and not a competing color/pigment.

I hope that helps.

Yep. Me too. I did also order a couple of male chicks. For a rooster, I would also be looking for one that developed a pea comb .... correct?

Yes! The blue egg pigment tends to "follow" where the pea comb goes. Pea combs are an incomplete dominant gene so while they are typically dominant, you will have throw backs to straight combs and the chances of a straight comb rooster carrying the blue egg gene is very very slim.


Alex
My Pet Chicken

 

[MyPetChicken]

Above are the photos of her eggs. Two eggs from two different days. The second image is one of her first attempts last week and it's a little oblong. I do have to say she's not a large bird by any means but the eggs are decent size for a beginner. Her male counterpart on the other hand is HUGE. He's one mighty fine rooster. Big, tall, meaty looking. So is my SCEL cockerel. They all hatched at the same time.

Beautiful egg! Do you mind sending me a PM with your order number so I can look up the pen that came from? I'm wondering if this egg was mis-labeled and one of our SGEL projects.

I'm so glad you are happy with her though. 18 weeks is AWESOME. Do you have pictures of her?


Alex
My Pet Chicken