Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[ozexpat]

So what breeds have blue in shell?

Araucana, Ameraucana and Cream Legbars. There are others as well. These three originated in South American roots. There are also Chinese breeds with blue eggs. The blue factor is thought to be a DNA mutation caused by an otherwise harmless retrovirus. The same findings were made in both the Americas and China.

The blue in shell is also why they are buggers to candle

 

[Bens-Hens]

According to Henderson's chart, blues come from the following (excluding EE's)

Ameraucana
Araucana
Cream/Crested Legbars that lay blue too, but they are not on the Henderson Chart.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

They are the pure breeds, but the blue gene is supposed to be dominant, so it can pass to cross breeds. I have read that it is presumed linked to the pea comb, so many try make sure the parent birds retain the pea.

Me, I am just going to a first generation cross. We kept Smudge (Araucaua) roo, and we have put him over our range of pullets that lay from a vary of cream to terracotta coloured eggs. We also have three Araucana pullets so we should get some more Araucana's. I am not overly fussed what the birds look like, we will only keep a couple of our own hatched birds this season, but in 6-8 months I should be able to report back as to what those crosses produced in the egg laying colours.

EDIT: Oz beat me to the reply!

 

[lindz8504]

You guys are awesome!!! My adventure started with me wanting something to help with the tick problem at our new house... now I am addicted and the hubby thinks I am crazy! Now I want a very colorful egg basket. Lol. .. and update on the chicks is that they are already starting to feather out.

 

[Wrightsx4]

So far the first generation crosses I have with my ee roo (with pea comb) all lay a blue-green, green, or light olive (brownish-green) egg. They were all hatched from brown eggs except the ones from my ee hen - green egg with pea comb mom. My pullet from the ee roo and New Hampshire hen, I wasn't sure what to expect for egg color, but it was a nice surprise. She has a "mostly" single comb, but a couple extra bumps/peas that widen the blade. She lays the pale olive egg.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Hi Pam!

Glad to hear you have got some olive from your first gen's. We are probably only going to get one crack at olives this year so it's good to hear we could get in the range we are hoping for. I was not expecting a dark army olive green.

Yesterday I got the DIY incubator modifications completed, so that is ready to be fired up. We also have a egg tray out and are collecting our mixed eggs ready to fill the remaining spots for our next hatch. Pick up our eggs in just 3 sleeps!!!

Also, Lavern (Ara) gave us a whopper blue egg today, pretty confident that is another double yolker!

 

[Wrightsx4]

I'd love to see pics of the turner modification yeah, Begonia's eggs aren't classic dark olive but they're pretty unusual shaded. I'm definitely keeping my blue copper marans roo - hatched from a very dark egg, so I'll cross him to the ee's and ee crosses (technically I think they're still considered ee's?) next time. Not sure if I'll be keeping my ee roo through the winter. I need to size down my rooster pen. I still have another pea combed roo - Salomon, Baby's son. He may carry blue.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I just got a quick phone pic.

Here is was before, which was strong, but the eggs had to travel over the slatted grooves, I made a new top for the lower tray to the eggs will roll along the groove.

Some comparison pics will probably explain it better.

Before


After


planning to use the Hovabator (now with fan conversion complete) as a hatcher, as the DIY 'bator was a pain to clean.

 

[NovaAman]

Cool.

All though I must interject a comment on egg colors... I two hens that laid blue eggs. Then I had Mr. Fluffers, that faverolle... Not one single female off-spring from them lays a blue or green egg. Total freaking bummer man. Just saying. I understand though that the roo helps determine what color the offspring will lay. SO, maybe I will eventually at some point... after Rod Stewart is gone, get EE roos... Keep the best tempered and nosh on the rest. LOL

 

[Wrightsx4]

Ee roos can be a real pain...at least mine! I had two ee roosters that fathered quite a few chicks from my last hatch - Tread and Charles. Charles became dinner long ago. All the males I got from them were nippy little PITA's and mean to the females even as teens. Theyre gone now, dinners. Tread is a good boy to humans and is a good protector and food finder for the girls (makes beautiful nests too by the way) but he was very rough on them. Lately he has mellowed with the girls but I think it's because he's been warned he won't be with us much longer. Even Salomon is like that - loves humans, great with the younger favs, very sweet - if you ignore the fact he yanks the hens out of their nests by the head and tackles them... I guess since all my male ee's came from the same two (assuming unrelated from hatchery) roosters, it could just be aggressive genetics. I do know it is hereditary, which is why Salomon is the only male I've kept - for the single reason that he's Baby's son and we want to pass a little of her along before he's gone. But yeah Nova...if you get an ee roo, get one with a good record of behavior! Maybe they start out rotten and get better like Tread has, not sure. I just know that all the ee boys I had were ninja hellions.

 

[NovaAman]

About Saloman... Quick story... maybe...

I got Florus and his bro from Randy down Muskegon way at CS 2012. I ended up giving Mr. Feathers to Robin (RBahmer) and kept Florus because at the time, he was good tempered as well as having the better coloring. All through the winter he was cooped with a two fav hens that were offspring from Mr. Fluffers and Buffy, and Little Pretty, who was daughter of Mr. F and a black bearded cochin Bantam. How she turned out white, looking like a cross between a white sussex and a fav, I have no idea, but she's pretty, thus the name, Little Pretty. He was GREAT all winter, would love on them nicely in their winter pen, give them treats that I gave him for them... THEN spring came, and he went absolutely bat poop. I was so close to making him dinner. He would ninja rape the girls, EVEN Rod's girls. Rod has kickd his backside so many times... I ended up having him in confinement because Rod nearly killed him, he couldn't hold his head up right, ended up with wry neck from that fight. ANYWAY- getting off track. SOO, spring was winding down, like it yeah... spring lasted forever, with sudden summer with 2 weeks of air con, and then cold and then another week of air con and now fall... Yup.. (supposed to be 80 this weekend again, Say WHAT?) And he settled right down. SO, you may just be seeing him with his hormones raging. The only person I know who has had a bad faverolles boy was Opa. He got this random abandoned I think it was, roo, pretty faverolles, but he turned out to be dinner worthy. Mean sucker he was. Anyway, all I am saying, is if YOU can get through that raging hormone stage with him, he'll probably turn out pretty nice. Just gotta get past that first year.

Florus by the way, he's back to being a normal well balanced boy. He will however take off after a phoenix in a flash, beats up my poor Fritz the Jerk (who will be moving to the garage soon), but hauls hiney away from Rod Stewart as quick as he can. He's now back into his own coop with a gaggle of girls, Rod has been getting agressive to him lately again, and he'd been hiding out in the big coop at night, that NO ONE USES!! HUH!!??? How is it possible to have 46 birds and have a 4x8 coop that NOT ONE BIRD USES?? How? I think that means I have enough room for what, 8 more birds?