Need to order more hatching eggs….

[Anon112]

I’m only interested in egg color because it contributes to my dopamine levels and as someone with ADD, it keeps me engaged. Both finding them and making them. The girls are primary but the egg-citement of making or finding colors keeps it new and engaging. Or perhaps “egg-engaging” lmao.

I don't know if you'd want to let a broody hatch, but I am IN LOVE with the egg colors that came from my Easter Eggers having babies. One of them lays green eggs that are olive and speckled. The other lays these eggs that are almost purple? (Though the purple fades, so maybe it's the effect of the bloom?).

 

[LtDanFan]

I don't know if you'd want to let a broody hatch, but I am IN LOVE with the egg colors that came from my Easter Eggers having babies. One of them lays green eggs that are olive and speckled. The other lays these eggs that are almost purple? (Though the purple fades, so maybe it's the effect of the bloom?).

I thought about that but i have an abundance of blue egg layers, so i’m afraid all i would get is blue eggs because my current rooster is a cream legbar cross (I have CCL, OE, EE and BYM hens that could have been his mother, but only had a CCL roo and he is definitely not pure bred CCL) and as such i thought he only carries a blue egg gene. At least if i understand egg genetics, that is. I’m not complaining about getting all blue eggs, but i also like being able to tell the hens apart so i kind of like having different breeds.
Plus, hatching under a broody makes me nervous because while i have a couple of ladies that like to spend time in the next box (vs the others that drop it and go), they don’t act as “broody” as i have heard “broody” to be. i can move them out of the nestbox quite easily, they dont attack me or seem bothered when i do and how would i tell which eggs are incubating and which i can collect for eating (like mark them somehow?).
Finally, i really like watching the eggs develop and hatch. I also like handling the chicks so they get used to people and being touched. Maybe its the control freak in me, but i worry that leaving things to those crazy broads that live in my yard would be akin to scattering grass seeds willy-nilly in the yard and hoping for a well-manicured lawn.
Perhaps I’m wrong?

 

[FrostRanger]

I thought about that but i have an abundance of blue egg layers, so i’m afraid all i would get is blue eggs because my current rooster is a cream legbar cross (I have CCL, OE, EE and BYM hens that could have been his mother, but only had a CCL roo and he is definitely not pure bred CCL) and as such i thought he only carries a blue egg gene. At least if i understand egg genetics, that is. I’m not complaining about getting all blue eggs, but i also like being able to tell the hens apart so i kind of like having different breeds.
Plus, hatching under a broody makes me nervous because while i have a couple of ladies that like to spend time in the next box (vs the others that drop it and go), they don’t act as “broody” as i have heard “broody” to be. i can move them out of the nestbox quite easily, they dont attack me or seem bothered when i do and how would i tell which eggs are incubating and which i can collect for eating (like mark them somehow?).
Finally, i really like watching the eggs develop and hatch. I also like handling the chicks so they get used to people and being touched. Maybe its the control freak in me, but i worry that leaving things to those crazy broads that live in my yard would be akin to scattering grass seeds willy-nilly in the yard and hoping for a well-manicured lawn.
Perhaps I’m wrong?

They certainly don't sound broody ATM and whether you get a broody hen or not is up to chance so unless you are willing to wait on something that may or may not happen (and none of the breeds you have are known for being particularly broody) incubating is going to being the most certain option.

That said, if all you are worried about is genetics you can just give them hatching eggs of the breeds you do want. No, not all hens are good mothers but the ones that are do a great job of it. After all who knows more about how best to raise chicks than a mama hen? If you do get a broody and don't mind the possibility of getting a few cockerels it might be worth it to give her a few eggs

Sincerely someone waiting on a hen to go broody even though only one is of a breed known to go broody xD