My ideas on a super blue-egg layer

polka

Hatching
6 Years
Jun 16, 2013
5
2
7
Gladewater, Texas
Howdy
I just left an ice-breaker introduction on the new members page.
Hope you go see it.

In the meantime, I was thinking of starting a new flock. I have a goal of making my own super blue-egg layers. I have been through all 77 pages of the blue egg Univ of Arkansas thread.

I think what I want to do will work. I haven't seen any of them on the McMurray site, yet. I don't want to drive to Colorado. And, really, I want to have the fun of doing this sort of thing myself from scratch.

The feathering won't matter much to me. EE's -- so be it. I don't care. But, blue eggs the size the regularity of a leghorn -- my kind of chicken!

See what you think ....

I also chose leghorns for another reason beside the egg-laying -- won't they dilute the brown egg to something quite pale? If I remember correctly, and I can't remember the name, but it was a Leghorn, Australorp cross that layed well, and have an off-white egg? I would suppose that this would dilute my green eggers to blue green, and eventually blue -- right?

How am I going to get there?

I plan on a flock of EE's. I would select for pea-comb within the first 6 weeks, and grow them out. Craigslist, etc., the rest. Then I would raise new chicks from these I chose. If I get a true peacomb roo, over the hens, then I would suppose I would be getting either heterozygous, and even homozygous for pea-comb (hence blue egg gene). When I feel I have enough homozygous hens and roos, select out again and enlarge my flock, always selecting for pea-comb.
 
Okay -- to continue.........
When I am satisfied with my blue egg flock, then I would buy a set of leghorn hens and a couple of roos.

I would put my blue-egg roo over the leghorn hens, and the leghorn roo over my blue-egg ladies.

I would then go thru the selection process again, knowing that I would have all heterozygous offspring. And, crossing selected ones from them, would give me 25/50/25.

but eventually I would have my blue eggers (or blue-green eggers). 7 years maybe?

what do you all think?

Rex
 
Mating any brown egg layer with a blue layer will get you green eggs. The gene for blue colors the egg itself, the one for brown "paints" the outside of the egg. Thus, those laying blue eggs with the tan on them, the eggs end up green.

Just use leghorns with your EE's I'd say. And don't use any that lay green eggs. Stick with those whose mommas lay blue eggs and hens that lay blue. Otherwise you'll get green. Leghorns are great layers and lay a white egg. No reason to cross with any brown layers.
 
Thanks
I was not going to cross with brown ones.

However, I was going to cross the Leghorn over my flock, and since I don't think I will purge green layers out, I would let the leghorn dilute the green down to blue green.

Rex
 
I don't think you can go from green to blue, I think it's the other way around. I think you'd need to start with blue egg layers, as galanie said, and just add the white to it. The green is blue already diluted, so I don't think you can get back to blue. I'd absolutely look at dmrippy's auctions and info, there's a nice big blue egg layer going there.
 
Howdy
I just left an ice-breaker introduction on the new members page.
Hope you go see it.

In the meantime, I was thinking of starting a new flock. I have a goal of making my own super blue-egg layers. I have been through all 77 pages of the blue egg Univ of Arkansas thread.

I think what I want to do will work. I haven't seen any of them on the McMurray site, yet. I don't want to drive to Colorado. And, really, I want to have the fun of doing this sort of thing myself from scratch.

The feathering won't matter much to me. EE's -- so be it. I don't care. But, blue eggs the size the regularity of a leghorn -- my kind of chicken!

See what you think ....

I also chose leghorns for another reason beside the egg-laying -- won't they dilute the brown egg to something quite pale? If I remember correctly, and I can't remember the name, but it was a Leghorn, Australorp cross that layed well, and have an off-white egg? I would suppose that this would dilute my green eggers to blue green, and eventually blue -- right?

How am I going to get there?

I plan on a flock of EE's. I would select for pea-comb within the first 6 weeks, and grow them out. Craigslist, etc., the rest. Then I would raise new chicks from these I chose. If I get a true peacomb roo, over the hens, then I would suppose I would be getting either heterozygous, and even homozygous for pea-comb (hence blue egg gene). When I feel I have enough homozygous hens and roos, select out again and enlarge my flock, always selecting for pea-comb.


Big blue eggs-that's what I'm talking about!

But I'm starting from scratch, trying to have the fun of breeding, but also, you priced those super blue eggers? {shudders}

What shall I start with to get where you are (short cut) and I'll be watching the replies here too!
 
I crossed a Cream Legbar over a flock of White Leghorns. The offspring are just starting to lay this month. The eggs are about the same size as their leghorn mom's eggs but they the most beautiful shade of blue. Actually some are tiny bit bluer than my Cream Legbar hens eggs. Very pleased with the egg color but disappointed in how flighty and high strung these birds are. Part of them I hatcheed in incubator and some I let a first time layer hen set them. When hers hatched I put the new hatches under her. They are free ranged and since Mom raised are very flighty. I thought Super Blues are the cross of my Legbar and leghorn.
 

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