My Easter Egger breeding project

[LoveMyPeepers]

Hey everyone!
I don't think I'll be breeding super soon, but I still had a few questions about the breeding genetics of Easter Eggers.

Ok, so I know that EE's aren't an actual recognized breed and that they are often a mix with ameraucana or araucana. When I do breed I would like that percent of the mix to be ameraucana(I think they are cuter). Ok time for the questions.

1. Most ameraucanas I've seen have been blue, black, or splash. Are the other colors recognized colorings of ameraucanas?

2. When ameraucanas are bred with other breeds are the beards and side muffs dominant or does it depend on the breed of the other parent? Because we recently hatched some chicks with a (possibly purebred, at least partly) ameraucana/EE that needed to be rehomed, and the moms were random and varied mixed breeds as well as 2 Rhode Island Reds. Interestingly, (or not) all 8 surviving chicks inherited the beards and side muffs of the dad.

3. According to the SOP, Ameraucanas should have a pea comb ect., but for EE's does it matter about the comb, skin, feathers, ect., because they are not a recognized breed? If this is this is the case, are all the chicks (mentioned above) technically EE?

4. If I can remember, the ameraucana/EE dad didn't have very much red on him, I think he was almost all black (I'm not sure though, we had to kill him because we weren't supposed to have crowing roosters where we live). However, one of his sons seems to look as if he could be a full ameraucana according to the SOP (correct me if I'm wrong).
Here he is (the son)(sorry the lighting is a little bad):

But knowing he is a mix of Rhode Island Red and Ameraucana would make him be a bad breeding option because he carries other genes with him and isn't perfect ameraucana, correct?

And finally, does anybody know the most common breeds mixed with ameraucana to make EEs, or have any breeds that you think would make good tempered cute EE Chicks?

Thank You!

 

[SourRoses]

If you want blue eggs, pea comb is important when the blue egg gene comes from pea combed birds.
Wow, that felt like a mouthful to write out!

Ok so pea comb and the blue egg gene are linked. They like to be inherited together. As the beard gene does with pea comb!
(and so-called breast blister, which on living birds just looks like a little vertical line of feathers intersecting from opposite directions on the breast.)

That link can be broken, it's a matter of chance, which is rather low. And some blue laying breeds / mixes have straight combs.

But it's also practical to use the pea comb as an indicator of the blue egg gene. That way you know which pullets will grow up to lay blue. And which cockerels are more likely to pass on the blue gene.
It's not 100% but it is a good tool to have.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

But knowing he is a mix of Rhode Island Red and Ameraucana would make him be a bad breeding option because he carries other genes with him and isn't perfect ameraucana, correct?

An Ameraucana is a true breed, a purebred breed. That is, it will breed true. If you breed two Ameraucanas together you will get another Ameraucana. Your bird is not an Ameraucana, it is a mixed-breed bird, a mutt, you might say. That's what an Easter Egger is. You are never going to get Ameraucana chicks out of him. When you breed two Easter Eggers together, you have no idea what you're going to get, because you can't know the genetics of the parent birds. You can have a lot of fun with it and get some cute chicks, but you won't get Ameraucanas.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

According to the SOP, Ameraucanas should have a pea comb ect., but for EE's does it matter about the comb, skin, feathers, ect., because they are not a recognized breed? If this is this is the case, are all the chicks (mentioned above) technically EE?

Yes. Unless you have purebred Ameraucanas, what you have are EEs, and there is no breed standard for them. If you breed an EE to an EE, you can be sure they'll hatch out chickens.

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

If you want blue eggs, pea comb is important when the blue egg gene comes from pea combed birds.
Wow, that felt like a mouthful to write out!

Ok so pea comb and the blue egg gene are linked. They like to be inherited together. As the beard gene does with pea comb!
(and so-called breast blister, which on living birds just looks like a little vertical line of feathers intersecting from opposite directions on the breast.)

That link can be broken, it's a matter of chance, which is rather low. And some blue laying breeds / mixes have straight combs.

But it's also practical to use the pea comb as an indicator of the blue egg gene. That way you know which pullets will grow up to lay blue. And which cockerels are more likely to pass on the blue gene.
It's not 100% but it is a good tool to have.

Thanks for the information! However is the Pea comb + Blue egg linked, and the Beard gene + pea comb linked separately, or are all three of them linked? Also, all of the babies have the bearded gene but only about half have the pea comb gene. Knowing this, is there a way to tell which will lay blue eggs or not?

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

An Ameraucana is a true breed, a purebred breed. That is, it will breed true. If you breed two Ameraucanas together you will get another Ameraucana. Your bird is not an Ameraucana, it is a mixed-breed bird, a mutt, you might say. That's what an Easter Egger is. You are never going to get Ameraucana chicks out of him. When you breed two Easter Eggers together, you have no idea what you're going to get, because you can't know the genetics of the parent birds. You can have a lot of fun with it and get some cute chicks, but you won't get Ameraucanas.

Yeah, I understood that, just kind of worded it weird.

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

When I got into all the genetic stuff and all that I got really interested in it. What do ya'll think if I started a thread just about genetics and stuff? Either way I'm doing it soon! Excited!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have loved my EE for 15 years but never tried to breed them. Now that I'm interested in breeding and hatching, I've moved toward Ams. Do please keep us posted with your breeding projects, I'd love to see where this takes you! With lots of pictures, of course! (Your cockerel is very handsome.)

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

I have loved my EE for 15 years but never tried to breed them. Now that I'm interested in breeding and hatching, I've moved toward Ams. Do please keep us posted with your breeding projects, I'd love to see where this takes you! With lots of pictures, of course! (Your cockerel is very handsome.)

Thank you! I probably won't actually do any breeding anytime soon as we don't really have enough space, but I plan to in the future.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Well good luck when you do!