Olive Egger laying brown eggs.

[MayBerg]

She looks a lot like my cuckoo marans. I don't think your girl is an olive egger, honestly.

Cuckoo maran without feathered feet i guess.

 

[AZcluckers]

Cuckoo maran without feathered feet i guess.

Not all have feathered feet!

 

[NatJ]

@NatJ.
Thank you so much for answering this thread. Since I am new to chickens, let me ask you this: which of the breed you think is better of those 2 scenarios?

1- I have a Bcm rooster who has 2 sisters with me, or at least, I think they are his sisters since I got them from same breeder at the same time. The 'sisters' lay a fairly dark eggs. I also have 2 CCL (have not started laying yet) and 1 EE who lay beautiful blue eggs.

2- I have the 2 bcm hens that lay the dark eggs, and my friend have 2 CCL roosters that could mate next spring with my girls.

Which breeding do you think will have more of guarantee to get dark green eggs?

And of those options should give at least some daughters that lay green eggs. I think you will probably get similar results from any of them.

More detailed thoughts:

To have the blue egg gene in the chicks, the best choice is whichever breeding involves a parent with two blue egg genes. That could be any of the CCL hens or roosters, or maybe even the EE, but there is no way to be sure without checking (either raise daughters and see what they lay, or get a genetic test on the parent in question.) If the CCL hens and roosters all have 2 blue egg genes, then it will not matter whether that breed is the father or the mother. If the EE hen has 2 blue egg genes, then she is an equally good choice for the mother.

The darkest green eggs are the ones with the most brown on the outside of the blue shell. There are many genes that control how much brown is on the eggs, but one of those genes is sex-linked. A hen inherits it only from her father, not from her mother. If the CCL rooster has the makes-eggs-lighter form of that gene, his daughters will lay lighter eggs than the daughters of the Marans. If the CCL rooster does not have the makes-eggs-lighter form of that gene, there will be no reason to prefer one cross over the other. So using a Marans as a father might be better, or it may make no difference. I don't know of any way to tell except by raising some daughters and looking at what they lay.

You could do all the different possible crosses, and raise some daughters from each, or you could just choose one and see how it goes.

 

[MayBerg]

And of those options should give at least some daughters that lay green eggs. I think you will probably get similar results from any of them.

More detailed thoughts:

To have the blue egg gene in the chicks, the best choice is whichever breeding involves a parent with two blue egg genes. That could be any of the CCL hens or roosters, or maybe even the EE, but there is no way to be sure without checking (either raise daughters and see what they lay, or get a genetic test on the parent in question.) If the CCL hens and roosters all have 2 blue egg genes, then it will not matter whether that breed is the father or the mother. If the EE hen has 2 blue egg genes, then she is an equally good choice for the mother.

The darkest green eggs are the ones with the most brown on the outside of the blue shell. There are many genes that control how much brown is on the eggs, but one of those genes is sex-linked. A hen inherits it only from her father, not from her mother. If the CCL rooster has the makes-eggs-lighter form of that gene, his daughters will lay lighter eggs than the daughters of the Marans. If the CCL rooster does not have the makes-eggs-lighter form of that gene, there will be no reason to prefer one cross over the other. So using a Marans as a father might be better, or it may make no difference. I don't know of any way to tell except by raising some daughters and looking at what they lay.

You could do all the different possible crosses, and raise some daughters from each, or you could just choose one and see how it goes.

I think from what you explained, I will do the bcm roo and my CCL if they lay blue eggs. I can also try with my EE. I have a few friends I can give chickens too. Also my EE started laying early, so this maybe a good gene to pass on.

 

[NatJ]

I think from what you explained, I will do the bcm roo and my CCL if they lay blue eggs. I can also try with my EE. I have a few friends I can give chickens too. Also my EE started laying early, so this maybe a good gene to pass on.

That sounds like a good plan

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I have to get a real olive egger unless I breed a few myself with my bcm roo and ccl or get some olive hatching eggs.

I missed this post of yours...yes, you could absolutely get to olive with a BCM roo and a true CCL (meaning she has 2 blue genes). That combination would produce 100% olive to green, depending upon the depth of brown in the BCM roo. If the CCL is not pure, but has only 1 blue gene, then 50% (statistically) will be olive/green while the others brown laying.

I like @NatJ opinion to get genetic testing. I didn't think that was yet possible for the average person. It could be worth it to find out which of your lines carry "true blue." Otherwise, it is several generations of trial and error. The good news is you always know when a hen does have the blue gene(s)...she lays green or blue...now how much forward that carries is either 100% if she has 2 genes or 50% if she has one.

LofMc

 

[NatJ]

I like @NatJ opinion to get genetic testing. I didn't think that was yet possible for the average person.

It's only been available for a few years. The company has been slowly expanding the list of chicken gene tests they offer, so I check back on occasion to see what's new.

 

[MayBerg]

And of those options should give at least some daughters that lay green eggs. I think you will probably get similar results from any of them.

More detailed thoughts:

To have the blue egg gene in the chicks, the best choice is whichever breeding involves a parent with two blue egg genes. That could be any of the CCL hens or roosters, or maybe even the EE, but there is no way to be sure without checking (either raise daughters and see what they lay, or get a genetic test on the parent in question.) If the CCL hens and roosters all have 2 blue egg genes, then it will not matter whether that breed is the father or the mother. If the EE hen has 2 blue egg genes, then she is an equally good choice for the mother.

The darkest green eggs are the ones with the most brown on the outside of the blue shell. There are many genes that control how much brown is on the eggs, but one of those genes is sex-linked. A hen inherits it only from her father, not from her mother. If the CCL rooster has the makes-eggs-lighter form of that gene, his daughters will lay lighter eggs than the daughters of the Marans. If the CCL rooster does not have the makes-eggs-lighter form of that gene, there will be no reason to prefer one cross over the other. So using a Marans as a father might be better, or it may make no difference. I don't know of any way to tell except by raising some daughters and looking at what they lay.

You could do all the different possible crosses, and raise some daughters from each, or you could just choose one and see how it goes.

I know you gave the link for the blue gene test, but I can't find it. Can you please give it again?

 

[WingItRanch]

I know you gave the link for the blue gene test, but I can't find it. Can you please give it again?

Sorry to butt in but I've been watching your thread because I have an Olive Egger cockerel and a variety of pullets so I'm trying to learn what color eggs the offspring will lay. I saved the link so here you go!
https://iqbirdtesting.com/blueegg

 

[NatJ]

Sorry to butt in but I've been watching your thread because I have an Olive Egger cockerel and a variety of pullets so I'm trying to learn what color eggs the offspring will lay. I saved the link so here you go!
https://iqbirdtesting.com/blueegg

Yup, that's it!

When the page says they can test an eggshell: that is after a chick hatches, the eggshell has enough goop to tell what genes the chick has. For adult chickens, you probably don't have the shell they hatched from, so you need either a feather sample or a blood sample. The site has instructions for both, and neither is very difficult (pluck a few feathers, or clip a toenail a little too short so it bleeds a few drops. But check their instructions before you start, so you can get the details right.)