Second generation olive egger

[Stephh0701]

So I did a hatch and we ended up with 11 cute little chicks. I hatched 2 of them from a nice olive egg (same hen just 2 eggs) daddy is a black copper maran rooster (could be 1 of 3 that I have). The thing is that they're yellow chicks. All the others from my blue or green eggs came out black and one is chocolate colored. For the yellow chicks their mom is a starlight green egger (I think that's what she was called) and she's very light. White with light red. If dad is dark does that mean these two chicks are most likely boys since they take after mom and are light? I'm not really familiar with chicken genetics but people keep saying that if they look like mom chances are boy and if they look like dad they have a higher chance of being a girl.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

It's hard to tell at this age. I've had hatches where all the chicks took after the father and others where the girls took after their mothers. I'd question the more prominent color genes over sex. Because of what its mother looks like, I'd say she has the stronger color gene (and could possibly pass on a sex-linked gene). Also, looking at your flock, it looks like you have a lot of dark feathered hens anyways, which might be why most of the chicks where darker. I would ask around on the chicks' gender when they're closer to six weeks old.

Either way, if your chick's color is due to sex and apparently is sex-linked, I'd love to hear an update!

 

[Stephh0701]

Thanks for responding!
We have a good mix of colors in our flock (I've got about 30 laying hens) but honestly the only dark ones we hatched from this batch were the black copper marans. The blue and green layers we hatched from are on the lighter side with reds and whites. I think I have 1 blue layer that's darker (think dark EE). But I figured dad's genes were just strong. I know normally you wait to tell gender but a few neighbors are saying girls favor dad boys favor mom (which I haven't heard before but our other hatchling, who's older and laying now, favored her white EE dad and not her welsummer mom). They were also saying the little dots on the yellow chicks head meant boy but I'm reading thats only if one of the parents have barring which I don't think the mama is barred and the black copper maran roos definitely aren't barred so I'm wondering if they're just I'll informed. My fingers are crossed that at least one is a girl since I only hatched 2 from this hen and I really love her egg color. Hoping for a more olive egg from her babies but I guess we'll see!

I'm a long time chicken keeper but not a long time chicken breeder/hatcher so it's all really fascinating when it comes to chicken genetics. Especially when you're breeding for a specific trait (olive eggs in our case)

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They are not sexlinked. The chicks from her are yellow because she has the dominant white gene as evidenced by the white markings she has in her neck and tail feathers. Dominant white turns black feathering white and leaves reddish or gold tones as is. I am not sure what her e-allele gene is, but the father's coloration is birchen-based, ER at the e-allele, which is dominant over most other e-allele genes and makes mostly black chicks that feather in later with those reddish markings. So, the chicks inherited birchen from their father, making their chick down mostly black, and they inherited dominant white from their mother, turning that mostly black chick down into mostly white. I hope that makes sense! None of those genes are sexlinked, so nothing about how these chicks look will tell you if they are male or female.

With sexlinked crosses, yes, males will typically resemble their mother more than their father. This is because sexlinked genes that hens have can only be inherited by their sons, never by their daughters, due to how the sex chromosomes are inherited in birds. Their overall appearances really depend on all of the genes at play, though, not just the sexlinked ones. For example, a common sexlink cross is a Rhode Island Red rooster crossed to a Barred Rock hen. In this case, the sons are barred like the mother, but the daughters are not red like the father; instead they are generally mostly black with some reddish patches, really resembling neither parent. So the girls favor dad boys favor mom thing is not really the full truth of it. You have to look at all the genes involved, not just the sexlinked ones.

 

[Stephh0701]

They are not sexlinked. The chicks from her are yellow because she has the dominant white gene as evidenced by the white markings she has in her neck and tail feathers. Dominant white turns black feathering white and leaves reddish or gold tones as is. I am not sure what her e-allele gene is, but the father's coloration is birchen-based, ER at the e-allele, which is dominant over most other e-allele genes and makes mostly black chicks that feather in later with those reddish markings. So, the chicks inherited birchen from their father, making their chick down mostly black, and they inherited dominant white from their mother, turning that mostly black chick down into mostly white. I hope that makes sense! None of those genes are sexlinked, so nothing about how these chicks look will tell you if they are male or female.

With sexlinked crosses, yes, males will typically resemble their mother more than their father. This is because sexlinked genes that hens have can only be inherited by their sons, never by their daughters, due to how the sex chromosomes are inherited in birds. Their overall appearances really depend on all of the genes at play, though, not just the sexlinked ones. For example, a common sexlink cross is a Rhode Island Red rooster crossed to a Barred Rock hen. In this case, the sons are barred like the mother, but the daughters are not red like the father; instead they are generally mostly black with some reddish patches, really resembling neither parent. So the girls favor dad boys favor mom thing is not really the full truth of it. You have to look at all the genes involved, not just the sexlinked ones.

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense! I'm thinking the neighbors just go off old wives tales for the info they're giving. I wasn't fully trusting of it but wondering if it held truth and it seems like some of it does but that the full truth got muddied over the years here in the area we live (old rural community with mostly older generations). I really love their mama's egg so I'm hoping they're girls and they lay olive eggs... although I know the odds aren't in my favor for both those things to happen, lol

 

[Goldenwahintofboss]

Thank you! This makes a lot of sense! I'm thinking the neighbors just go off old wives tales for the info they're giving. I wasn't fully trusting of it but wondering if it held truth and it seems like some of it does but that the full truth got muddied over the years here in the area we live (old rural community with mostly older generations). I really love their mama's egg so I'm hoping they're girls and they lay olive eggs... although I know the odds aren't in my favor for both those things to happen, lol