So im starting an EE/Ameraucana/blue egg project

[Roosterfry]

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That's a really neat project as well! Its's funny I have thought of doing that as well to a degree for just egg production, I'm glad to know that works well. I figured it would. Because when I was five years old we had 1 EE hen that layed a bluish green egg and she was bred to a game rooster and the offspring was mixed to other things etc etc, and even ten years and about 7 generations later even though no other blue egg gene was introduced the blue geen crossed with brown would still show up. So your ameraucana rooster does he carry the darker blue gene?

 

[Bravo]

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Thanks. Yep, he does. I bought him specifically for this project and I cant wait to see the little babies he produces.

In theory, the genetics should work out but mother nature can sometimes foil the best laid plans

 

[Bravo]

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Very pretty egg! I have a hen that lays a very pretty egg too but she will never breed true--that is my objective

 

[KellyHM]

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Very pretty egg! I have a hen that lays a very pretty egg too but she will never breed true--that is my objective

I started out with 2 hens that laid eggs like that. I've hatched and kept about 10 of their daughters and they all lay the same pretty blue.

I also kept 2 of their sons and they are now my main EE roos.

 

[Cattitude]

I'm working on a blue-egg Silkie project that has similar goals and problems as yours. I'll be breeding for skin color, number of toes, silkied feathers, and blue eggs. I have some Silkie-X-Ameraucanas that I am currently hatching eggs from - great viability on those, good vigorous chicks. I'll be selecting hens from those to breed back to one of the F1 roosters, and also a F2 rooster to breed back to the F1 hens. I also have some Ameraucana chicks from lovely blue eggs, to add back to the mix. Yeesh, what a tangle genetics can be!

 

[Maggizzle35]

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This is very interesting and I have had the crazy idea of having breed specific chicks to get a healthy breed of specific chicks but breeding for egg color is really new to me and very interesting. I would love to develop a beautiful blue egg and I have some hens that already do lay a pretty color. I have one that lays pink. Now that is a color I would love to develop. I will have to stay tuned to this thread to see how you are doing with it. I'm all about bettering a breed and keeping the inbreeding to a minimum.

 

[Maggizzle35]

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This is so interesting. I have a silkie ameraucana banty that is just beautiful. I didn't intend for it to happen but it did. Now I keep my silkies separate from the others and do that with my blue cochins and self blue d'ulcce and Polish. It does get quite complicated when you are trying to accomplish something so specific. I'm glad I'm not the only one out there working on such a project. I know my family thinks I'm crazy but I have a plan.

 

[Roosterfry]

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These type projects are fun and rewarding! And you have increased difficulty being that silkies carry a lil bit of faint brown egg gene as well. Ha I have two eggs in my incubator now that were from a silkie hen bred to a Black Copper Maran Rooster. Ha who knows what that'll do! Goodluck on that!

 

[silentpartner]

I would like to get blue eggs . . I just am starting out and have 2 Araucanas chicks but what I have read on the breed is that we don't have a true Araucanas. That Araucanas/Americanas are not true Araucanas with what I have read (excerpt below) how will you breed them without the problem of the genetic mortality?




The Araucana, also known in the USA as a South American Rumpless,[1] is a breed of chicken originating in Chile. The Araucana is often confused with other fowl, especially the Ameraucana and Easter Egger chickens, but has several unusual characteristics which distinguish it. They lay blue eggs, have feather tufts near their ears, and a tail. To comply with the north American standard they must have no tail and are rumpless.

Older family The ancestors of the modern Araucana chicken were purportedly first bred by the Araucanian Indians of Chile — hence the name "Araucana."
When the Araucana was first introduced to breeders worldwide, in the mid-20th century, it was quickly realized that the genetics that produced tufts and rumpless also caused chick mortality.[4] As it turns out, two copies of the gene causes nearly 100% mortality shortly before hatching. One copy causes about 20% mortality. The tufted gene is dominant however. Because no living araucana possesses two copies of the tufted gene, breeding any two tufted birds leads to half of the resulting brood being tufted with one copy of the gene, a quarter being clean faced with no copy of the gene, and a quarter of the brood dead in the shell having received two copies of the gene.

In the decades to follow, most breeders took one of two tactics — either to preserve the old style of bird, or to breed out the tufts while increasing productivity.

The gene for blue eggs is dominant, so the term "Easter Egger" is used to describe birds of mixed breeding that produce such eggs. Unfortunately, these mixed breeds are often incorrectly labeled as Araucanas or Ameraucanas, and marketed to backyard poultry hobbyists who are not aware of the difference.

In short, the differences are as follows:

USA & Canada Araucana – Tufts (lethal allele), rumpless, blue eggs, green legs and yellow skin (with exceptions).
US Ameraucana – Beards and muffs (NO lethal gene), with tail feathers, blue eggs, blue legs and white skin.
British, Irish, New Zealand, Asian, Japanese, Russian, Dutch, French, Spanish, Bellarus, Ukrainian, Scandinavian, Argentinian, Chilean, South African, Pacific Islands, Brazilian, Mexican, Peruvian, Arabic Nations, Indian, Pakistan, Nepalese and Australian Araucana – Beards, muffs and crest, with tail feathers, blue eggs, slate legs and grey/white skin.
Easter Egger – Variable traits.

 

[Karen09]

You have a beautiful blue egg. I bred my pure-bred ameraucana wheaten rooster with a couple buff-orphington hens and the babies all hatched out looking like buff-orphington chicks with black specks in their tail feathers. 3 were girls and 1 was a rooster. All three girls lay a green egg. 2 have the slate legs and beards and tuffs but the 3rd did not but they laid eggs all through the winter (in Western NY). My husband calls them his dragon chickens. My other easter eggers lay anything from a beautiful blue egg to a dark olive green egg. I would love to see your pictures of your easter eggers. They seem to have such fun personalities. I want to join you in your quest so I will see how my blue eggs compare. I have a pure-bred black ameraucana rooster with the lavendar-split gene in him as my other rooster just up and disappeared while I was on a mission trip to Romania. The hens may or may not have the lavendar-split gene but their egg color is really blue.