Questions about EE's, "Olive eggers", ect......

[ChickenWisperer]

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Yes. A TRUE Ameraucana, not an EasterEgger, would be the best choice - unless you are 100% certain of the EE's bloodline and know that they are homozygous for the blue egg gene. Cross a homozygous bird for blue eggshell with a dark egglayer will give you a 100% chance for olive eggers.

What color is your marans roo? The cuckoos will not give you ver dark olive eggs from the F1 cross. Unless you've got some kind of super-duper cuckoo roo.

 

[sunnydt]

I just hatched out some olive eggers, they are a cross between my ameraucana roo and black copper marans hen. they hatched out along with my black copper marans and I am now having trouble telling them apart. a couple of them have feathered legs and fluffy cheeks and a couple of them have no fluffy cheeks. Hopefully later I will be able to tell them apart from the rest of my marans.

well at least the roosters. I dont mind keeping the OE hens together with my marans for breeding since they will lay olive eggs but any OE roos I hope I can tell apart. Does anyone have a pic of some OE's?

 

[Spring Chook]

SUNNYDT
very interested to know what colour eggs you are getting from your ladies ..... please update, they must be laying by now.

I have a ameraucana roo (I hatched him from a light green/blue egg) and several black copper marans hens. What are the chances of producing an olive egger. The ameraucana roo is not pure, could have a bit of mille fleurie and buff orpington in him. But the black copper marans hens are pure.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

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Then he's not an ameraucana, he's an Easter Egger. Crossed with a dark egger hen, assuming he still has a copy of the blue egg gene, his offspring would be Bw, Bw, ww, ww - so only 50% would lay colored/olive eggs.

I got word from the person who purchased some of my chicks that my Australorp X Blue AM pullet birds layed light "olive" eggs, as well as the RSL crosses. Not true olive like a MaransXAm, but more like a moss green or something along those lines.

I personally would never use Barnevelders as a olive egger project bird. My barnie girl lays a egg lighter in color than my Australorp and Langshan.

 

[Spring Chook]

hi chickenwhisper,
thanks for your information; it will be very interesting to see what colour eggs i get fron the offspring. I realise my Roo is not true Ameraucana, i mentioned that he was 'not pure', i call him ameraucana because he's more that than anything else! maybe i'll try to train myself to call him an easter egger instead.

 

[moodlymoo]

Ok, lets see if I have this right before I "borrow" a breeders FBCM Roo...I have 4 EE's 2 who lay bright blue eggs and 2 who lay a very pretty mint green eggs. If I put him in with all 4 I will have offspring that lay olive-mossy green eggs hopefully or should I pin him up with my blue layers?

 

[chick-among-us]

ok I have a question:I have a leghorn roo who was covering my EE hens... I have two or three hens that lay olive eggs dark ones actually and one lays light olive. I am hatching a couple of these however from what I am reading here if I understand this right,these chicks will not lay olive eggs

if I am lucky enough to get hens. is this correct? if so what color would this cross lay then? thanks. I can post picks of them! eggs or chickens

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

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with a Leghorn rooster u will get a wide range of colors... from an off white to pale minty green to light olive to light brown... it will be a surprise!!! i would just hatch and raise a bunch of them and then sell the ones that you don't like as layers...

 

[ChickenWisperer]

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The babies won't be likely to lay olive eggs. They will probably lay a medium green at best.

When you take the dark brown overlay and breed it with a bird who had no overlay at all, from what I am told you usually get the average between them. In this case, normal green. Of course, assuming that the Olive eggers had one copy of the blue egg gene, as that's all most of them have, only 25% of the chicks would have laid a green egg anyway.

For a better chance of olive egg laying chicks, get a OE rooster with a guarantee of having at least one copy of the blue egg gene. 75% of chicks produced by him and your OE hens would make 75% of chicks that lay olive and 25% who lay a darker brown.

 

[Sueg4332]

If you can find a marans roo (BCM OR WHEATER OR CUCKOO) that came form a very dark egg is the best way to get the darkest olive laying hen from you EEs that lay blue eggs.
Other brown egg roosters will work but wont be as dark olive egg.