Olive Egger genes

[Ashley Bird]

Question: I’ve got two”olive egger” pullets both have straight combs, and since one is laying brown eggs, I’m assuming the other will too. My Oliver egger rooster, has a pea comb I believe. If I hatch some chicks from these Olive Eggers what are the chances of getting some chicks that will lay olive eggs?

 

[chickenlittle21]

An olive egger bred with an olive egger does not produce an olive egger. You have to breed a chocolate egg layer such as a maran with a blue egg layer such as an Ameraucana. About 5%- 10% of olive eggers will lay brown eggs so just because one of your olive eggers lay brown eggs that doesn't mean the other one will lay brown eggs.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Question: I’ve got two”olive egger” pullets both have straight combs, and since one is laying brown eggs, I’m assuming the other will too. My Oliver egger rooster, has a pea comb I believe. If I hatch some chicks from these Olive Eggers what are the chances of getting some chicks that will lay olive eggs?

Do you know the parentage of your different olive eggers? If not, post some photos. Technically olive egger crossed with olive egger can give you many possibilities.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Here is a chart that explains what you can get when you cross F1 olive eggers to F1 or F2 olive egger:

 

[swampfox440]

To me it sounds like you have scrambled olive eggers .

 

[Ashley Bird]

My “OE” are OExMarans. My hens have straight combs like the Marans, my Rooster has the peacomb. I just wondered if anyone had expierence with how this could turn out.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm still confused. I think you are calling the rooster an OE. Why are you calling him an OE? What can you tell us about his parentage? Did he hatch from an olive colored egg? It is a case of genetics but you need to know what those genetics are to start with. Since a rooster does not lay eggs you need to know something about his mother and father to have a clue what he might be contributing genetically to egg shell color. At least you can see what color egg the hen is laying, though that may not tell you enough.

There is no direct genetic link between the pea comb and egg shell color. Thee are plenty of breeds out there with the pea comb gene that do not lay blue or green eggs. I've had single combed hens that lay blue or green eggs. The pea comb gene and the blue egg gene are pretty close together on the DNA so if they are both present to start with there is a pretty good chance they will stick together in the offspring but there is no guarantee.

The blue egg gene can come from either parent. Since the blue egg gene is dominant a hen that has just one at that gene pair will lay a blue or green egg. If a hen is laying a brown egg she cannot give the blue egg gene to her offspring. She doesn't have one to give.

If a rooster has two blue egg genes his daughters will all get a blue egg gene from him and lay a blue or green egg regardless of what the mother contributes. If a rooster has one blue egg gene and one not-blue egg gene about half his daughters will get the blue egg gene and lay blue or green eggs. The other half will get a not-blue egg gene from him and will lay a white or brown egg, unless she gets a blue egg gene from her mother.

This sounds confusing because of the unknowns and there are so many possibilities. It's actually pretty simple if you know what genetics the mother and father have. And you will not know for sure what color that second pullet will lay until you see one of her eggs.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

My “OE” are OExMarans. My hens have straight combs like the Marans, my Rooster has the peacomb. I just wondered if anyone had expierence with how this could turn out.

Sounds like your OE are F2 Olive Eggers which increases the chance of getting a dark brown egg instead but if they do lay a green egg it’ll be a darker olive in color.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I'm still confused. I think you are calling the rooster an OE. Why are you calling him an OE? What can you tell us about his parentage? Did he hatch from an olive colored egg? It is a case of genetics but you need to know what those genetics are to start with. Since a rooster does not lay eggs you need to know something about his mother and father to have a clue what he might be contributing genetically to egg shell color. At least you can see what color egg the hen is laying, though that may not tell you enough.

There is no direct genetic link between the pea comb and egg shell color. Thee are plenty of breeds out there with the pea comb gene that do not lay blue or green eggs. I've had single combed hens that lay blue or green eggs. The pea comb gene and the blue egg gene are pretty close together on the DNA so if they are both present to start with there is a pretty good chance they will stick together in the offspring but there is no guarantee.

The blue egg gene can come from either parent. Since the blue egg gene is dominant a hen that has just one at that gene pair will lay a blue or green egg. If a hen is laying a brown egg she cannot give the blue egg gene to her offspring. She doesn't have one to give.

If a rooster has two blue egg genes his daughters will all get a blue egg gene from him and lay a blue or green egg regardless of what the mother contributes. If a rooster has one blue egg gene and one not-blue egg gene about half his daughters will get the blue egg gene and lay blue or green eggs. The other half will get a not-blue egg gene from him and will lay a white or brown egg, unless she gets a blue egg gene from her mother.

This sounds confusing because of the unknowns and there are so many possibilities. It's actually pretty simple if you know what genetics the mother and father have. And you will not know for sure what color that second pullet will lay until you see one of her eggs.

Excellent explanation!

 

[Ashley Bird]

I'm still confused. I think you are calling the rooster an OE. Why are you calling him an OE? What can you tell us about his parentage? Did he hatch from an olive colored egg? It is a case of genetics but you need to know what those genetics are to start with. Since a rooster does not lay eggs you need to know something about his mother and father to have a clue what he might be contributing genetically to egg shell color. At least you can see what color egg the hen is laying, though that may not tell you enough.

There is no direct genetic link between the pea comb and egg shell color. Thee are plenty of breeds out there with the pea comb gene that do not lay blue or green eggs. I've had single combed hens that lay blue or green eggs. The pea comb gene and the blue egg gene are pretty close together on the DNA so if they are both present to start with there is a pretty good chance they will stick together in the offspring but there is no guarantee.

The blue egg gene can come from either parent. Since the blue egg gene is dominant a hen that has just one at that gene pair will lay a blue or green egg. If a hen is laying a brown egg she cannot give the blue egg gene to her offspring. She doesn't have one to give.

If a rooster has two blue egg genes his daughters will all get a blue egg gene from him and lay a blue or green egg regardless of what the mother contributes. If a rooster has one blue egg gene and one not-blue egg gene about half his daughters will get the blue egg gene and lay blue or green eggs. The other half will get a not-blue egg gene from him and will lay a white or brown egg, unless she gets a blue egg gene from her mother.

This sounds confusing because of the unknowns and there are so many possibilities. It's actually pretty simple if you know what genetics the mother and father have. And you will not know for sure what color that second pullet will lay until you see one of her eggs.

My Roo’s mother was an Oliver egger. His father a Marans......he was hatched from an olive egg. The two pullets I have have the same parentage.