Results of copper maran x olive egger cross?

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

So I'm planning on getting hatching eggs and I found a breeder who has a black copper maran rooster with a black olive egger hen and I was wondering what the resulting birds would look like? Since all the eggs would be olive/blue would any hens lay olive/blue eggs or would they lay eggs like a copper maran would? Or would they possibly switch between the two colors??? I'm actually really excited to know what would be created and if it might be worth it to hatch some?

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

I'll try to get photos from the breeder!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

There are some traits that will depend on what the mother looks like, like beards or crests, comb type, etc., but generally you can expect mostly black birds, possibly with gold or reddish color leakage in the neck. If either or both parents have feathers on their legs, then it's likely that the offspring will as well, maybe more sparse or possibly none at all if one parent is clean-legged. Egg colors do not change back and forth. A hen has specific genes that cause her to put specific pigments into her eggs; if a hen lays an olive egg, then she'll keep laying an olive egg, perhaps varying in shade a bit but not going back and forth between olive and blue.

With a Marans father, it's unlikely any would lay blue eggs, as the Marans will impart the genes that give the eggs a darker brown coating and tint any blue eggs to green or olive-colored. However, it's entirely possible that some may just end up laying brown eggs. Olive-eggers, being a mix, are often heterozygous for genes, in other words not pure for those genes. That means that they could be heterozygous for the blue egg gene and thus have a 50-50 shot of not passing that gene on to their offspring. If that is the case, then even pullets that hatch out of olive or blue eggs may not inherit that gene, and so would just lay a medium to dark brown egg instead. So bear that in mind if you do go ahead with purchasing them!

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

I'll try to get photos from the breeder!

Here is the dad

Abd here is the mom

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

W

There are some traits that will depend on what the mother looks like, like beards or crests, comb type, etc., but generally you can expect mostly black birds, possibly with gold or reddish color leakage in the neck. If either or both parents have feathers on their legs, then it's likely that the offspring will as well, maybe more sparse or possibly none at all if one parent is clean-legged. Egg colors do not change back and forth. A hen has specific genes that cause her to put specific pigments into her eggs; if a hen lays an olive egg, then she'll keep laying an olive egg, perhaps varying in shade a bit but not going back and forth between olive and blue.

With a Marans father, it's unlikely any would lay blue eggs, as the Marans will impart the genes that give the eggs a darker brown coating and tint any blue eggs to green or olive-colored. However, it's entirely possible that some may just end up laying brown eggs. Olive-eggers, being a mix, are often heterozygous for genes, in other words not pure for those genes. That means that they could be heterozygous for the blue egg gene and thus have a 50-50 shot of not passing that gene on to their offspring. If that is the case, then even pullets that hatch out of olive or blue eggs may not inherit that gene, and so would just lay a medium to dark brown egg instead. So bear that in mind if you do go ahead with purchasing them!

Wow thanks! I'm really interested in looking further into these genetics and I think I might do a hatch with them! The dad has feathered legs and the mom had clean legs and they are both black with the hen also having gold on her neck, and she has a beard.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Pretty birds! So, based on how they look, you'll probably get chicks that feather out looking like they are Black Copper, maybe with a little less copper than a true Black Copper. The mother is heterozygous for pea comb, so about half of their offspring will have a pea comb like hers and half will have a single comb like the father. It's hard to tell, especially in pictures, when a bird is heterozygous or homozygous for the beard gene, so all I can say on that front is that you'll either get roughly equal numbers of bearded and clean-faced chicks if she's heterozygous for it, or you'll get all bearded chicks if she's homozygous for it. Most likely with the leg feathering, you'll see more sparse leg feathering or possibly none at all with that pairing.

Good luck with your future hatch! Should be fun to watch them grow out and see what egg colors you get from them!

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

Pretty birds! So, based on how they look, you'll probably get chicks that feather out looking like they are Black Copper, maybe with a little less copper than a true Black Copper. The mother is heterozygous for pea comb, so about half of their offspring will have a pea comb like hers and half will have a single comb like the father. It's hard to tell, especially in pictures, when a bird is heterozygous or homozygous for the beard gene, so all I can say on that front is that you'll either get roughly equal numbers of bearded and clean-faced chicks if she's heterozygous for it, or you'll get all bearded chicks if she's homozygous for it. Most likely with the leg feathering, you'll see more sparse leg feathering or possibly none at all with that pairing.

Cool! Chicken genetics are so complicated yet so cool!!! I think our of any chicks I hatch I'd try to sell any extras without breads since I personally really like their beards! I'm also wondering how broody the hens might be, I'd assume it's a more 50/50 than anything since these are two breeds that don't generally go broody, at least not like a silkie would.

Good luck with your future hatch! Should be fun to watch them grow out and see what egg colors you get from them!

Thanks! I'm really hoping the breeder gets back to me! I will definitely post photos of them growing up if I hatch some!

 

[TexasBlues]

Some of the offspring would lay olive and some would lay brown eggs. The olive egger probably only has 1 blue gene.

From silverhomesteads site

HOW TO BACKCROSS OLIVE EGGERS TO DARKEN THE EGGS​

Once your F1 Olive Egger hens are laying, you can backcross them (mate them) to a dark layer roo so the resulting offspring lay even richer earth toned brownish-olive eggs. Backcrossing darkens the eggs, but it does NOT make them more green. It tends to produce more muddy brown tones with muted hints of green. It is incorrect to label these chicks as “F2” because they are actually a Back Cross 1, abbreviated BC1.

In real life, tint is controlled by multiple genes. Here it is represented by a single allele for simplicity’s sake to show that tint is always passed on in some form.

 

[Sir Sacabambaspis]

Some of the offspring would lay olive and some would lay brown eggs. The olive egger probably only has 1 blue gene.

From silverhomesteads site

HOW TO BACKCROSS OLIVE EGGERS TO DARKEN THE EGGS​

Once your F1 Olive Egger hens are laying, you can backcross them (mate them) to a dark layer roo so the resulting offspring lay even richer earth toned brownish-olive eggs. Backcrossing darkens the eggs, but it does NOT make them more green. It tends to produce more muddy brown tones with muted hints of green. It is incorrect to label these chicks as “F2” because they are actually a Back Cross 1, abbreviated BC1.

In real life, tint is controlled by multiple genes. Here it is represented by a single allele for simplicity’s sake to show that tint is always passed on in some form.

Interesting! I can get some photos of the eggs the hen lays!

 

[NatJ]

The mother is heterozygous for pea comb, so about half of their offspring will have a pea comb like hers and half will have a single comb like the father.

It is likely that the pea comb chicks will lay olive eggs, and the single comb chicks lay dark brown eggs, although there could be a few exceptions either direction.

The pea comb gene and the blue egg gene are linked (close together on the chromosome), so they tend to be inherited together most of the time (but not all of the time). In this case, the linkage is probably pea comb/blue egg and not-pea comb/not-blue egg. Different breeds can have them linked in different combinations, like Cream Legbars with not-pea comb/blue egg, and Brahmas with pea comb/not-blue egg.