Olive Egger advice needed

[MaryZoe]

I bought a trio of OE's when they were a couple days old. As the luck of the draw would have it, I now have 2 cockerels and 1 pullet. I will need to get rid of one of the roos, but I'm having a hard time deciding which one to lose. They are all an Araucana x BC Marans mix. The pullet has the Araucana shape (rumpless), as does one of the cockerels. The other cockerel looks very much like a BC Marans, but it has the pea comb of the Araucana (which I know is associated with the blue egg gene). Does anyone have any advice as to which of the cockerels should be kept for breeding more OEs? I know the F2 generation produces more than just olive colors, but I don't know whether the genes of the roo that looks more like a Marans would be better than the genes of the roo that is rumpless and looks like an Araucana (but bearded, not tufted). I prefer the lighter colored eggs, so I'm tending toward the rumpless roo, but I also know that two copies of the Araucana tufted gene is lethal, and I have a single-tufted Araucana pullet I want to breed to the OE roo. Is that risking the lethal gene?

Anyone have any experience with such things? Thanks for suggestions. MZ

 

[Alaskan]

I am pretty sure that if there are zero tufts, then there is no tufted gene.

I think the tufted gene works ..nothing there =0, tufts=1 copy, dead in shell=2 copies.

Lots of people say the pea comb is linked to the blue egg gene
..but it is not.

HOWEVER, if these birds are crosses from pure Araucana over pure Marans, then all of them will have one blue egg gene. So, either male crossed with the female will give you 1/4 of the chicks with 2 blue egg genes, 1/2 of the chicks with one blue egg gene (so maybe a light blue on the eggs), and 1/4 with zero blue egg gene.

Personally, if I had to keep only one, I would pick the male with a tail...since I would guess a tail would make it easier for him to "do his job".

I don't remember reading a study on it...so I could be totally wrong.

However....if they grew up together...maybe you could keep all 3? You would have to watch the female closely for signs of overbreeding....but it could work.

Just whenever I pare my roos down to only one. ....then he dies....back-ups are good.

 

[MaryZoe]

Interesting, thanks. Perhaps I will try to keep both until there is an obvious problem. I may be able to put more hens in with them than I originally planned. I do have a couple other roos, but only those two OE roos. Nice to know that genetically there's not much difference. Thanks for your help.

 

[Alaskan]

You are welcome.