Some Questions About Egg Genetics in Chickens - Questions About Genetics (Ask questions!)

[All4Eggz]

I have a few questions about genetics in chickens.
Anyone else with questions about general genetics in chickens- feel free to ask them in this thread and possibly some experts will chime in.


@aart @MysteryChicken @JacinLarkwell @Overo Mare @Rhodebar Lover @ColtHandorf @LadiesAndJane @cherrynberry

Any help is greatly appreciated.

1. With a Cochin X Easter Egger roo (hatched from a blue egg) , and Cochin X EE hens (hatched from a blue egg, and lay blue eggs), what percentage of their female offspring will lay blue eggs?
2. A Cochin X EE roo (hatched from a blue egg) crossed to a brown or white layer would display what percent of blue egg laying genes in the female offspring?
3. Could a Cochin X EE still be considered just an EE? In your opinion.

 

[cherrynberry]

I have a few questions about genetics in chickens.
Anyone else with questions about general genetics in chickens- feel free to ask them in this thread and possibly some experts will chime in.


@aart @MysteryChicken @JacinLarkwell @Overo Mare @Rhodebar Lover @ColtHandorf @LadiesAndJane @cherrynberry

Any help is greatly appreciated.

1. With a Cochin X Easter Egger roo (hatched from a blue egg) , and Cochin X EE hens (hatched from a blue egg, and lay blue eggs), what percentage of their female offspring will lay blue eggs?
2. A Cochin X EE roo (hatched from a blue egg) crossed to a brown or white layer would display what percent of blue egg laying genes in the female offspring?
3. Could a Cochin X EE still be considered just an EE? In your opinion.

1.) You will get no blue egg layers. If the EE has 2 blue egg genes, 100% of the offspring will lay green. If he has one, you will get 50% that lay green and 50% that lay brown/carry brown. It’s the same if the mom is the EE, except you would already know the female offspring will lay green.
2.) Depends on how many blue egg genes he carries. Sounds like you need to test breed your males. But in general terms, if you were to “cross egg colors,” blue and white would become a lighter blue, and brown over blue is just green. The darker the brown, the darker the green.
3.) Yes, I would consider it, but NOT if it has none of the typical EE traits. There doesn’t seem to be a point in calling a bird an EE if that were the case. And honestly, if the bird lays brown, I wouldn’t call it an EE either. It’s not illegal to call that bird an EE, but it kind of defeats the purpose. If that were the case, I would go with mutt.

 

[All4Eggz]

1.) You will get no blue egg layers. If the EE has 2 blue egg genes, 100% of the offspring will lay green. If he has one, you will get 50% that lay green and 50% that lay brown/carry brown. It’s the same if the mom is the EE, except you would already know the female offspring will lay green.
2.) Depends on how many blue egg genes he carries. Sounds like you need to test breed your males. But in general terms, if you were to “cross egg colors,” blue and white would become a lighter blue, and brown over blue is just green. The darker the brown, the darker the green.
3.) Yes, I would consider it, but NOT if it has none of the typical EE traits. There doesn’t seem to be a point in calling a bird an EE if that were the case. And honestly, if the bird lays brown, I wouldn’t call it an EE either. It’s not illegal to call that bird an EE, but it kind of defeats the purpose. If that were the case, I would go with mutt.

Great, thanks! By blue, I meant blue/green. I guess colored would've been a better word choice.

3.) Yes, I would consider it, but NOT if it has none of the typical EE traits. There doesn’t seem to be a point in calling a bird an EE if that were the case. And honestly, if the bird lays brown, I wouldn’t call it an EE either. It’s not illegal to call that bird an EE, but it kind of defeats the purpose. If that were the case, I would go with mutt.

They look exactly like EE's, just with feathered legs .

They are mostly black, except the the breast feathers have some gold/red/rusty coloring. The gold is more visible on the roo.

We have one roo and 5 hens currently, and I hatched a chick from the blue egg (father was the Cochin X EE roo, mother was the Cochin X EE hen) and some questions came up .

 

[cherrynberry]

This is probably a stupid series of questions, but I know nothing about genetics. So:
1. If a black Silkie is crossed with a buff Silkie, will the chick look black, buff, or a mix? Or neither?
2. If a black Silkie is crossed with a hard feathered breed-lets say a Welsummer, will the chick be hard or soft feathered, and will it retain any of the patterning?

Sorry, these are probably dumb questions.

1.) Mixed colors. It will be neither black nor buff. I can’t pinpoint exact plumage colors that will pop up, though. I’m gonna assume they would be known as “mixed colors”
2.) Hard, all the F1 crosses will be hard-feathered

 

[MysteryChicken]

This is probably a stupid series of questions, but I know nothing about genetics. So:
1. If a black Silkie is crossed with a buff Silkie, will the chick look black, buff, or a mix? Or neither?
2. If a black Silkie is crossed with a hard feathered breed-lets say a Welsummer, will the chick be hard or soft feathered, and will it retain any of the patterning?

Sorry, these are probably dumb questions.

Not a Silkie, but this is the result of breeding black X Buff.

This is Tiger, she's no longer with us. Had to put her down a month, or two ago due to severe ascites.
She's Buff Orpington X Australorp.

 

[cherrynberry]

Does that mean they’d be similar to a satin Silkie? Or do those have to be specifically bred for that?

Satins need to have 90% Silkie traits, I believe. I heard @LadiesAndJane mention that before.

So no, they would not be Satins. Similar, sure, but definitely not the same. And yes, they do need to be specifically bred for. They are not “flimsy” like EEs. Heck, anyone could breed EEs if they wanted.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Satins need to have 90% Silkie traits, I believe. I heard @LadiesAndJane mention that before.

So no, they would not be Satins. Similar, sure, but definitely not the same. And yes, they do need to be specifically bred for. They are not “flimsy” like EEs. Heck, anyone could breed EEs if they wanted.

Thanks again! Obviously I’m oblivious to the world of genetics.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Does that mean they’d be similar to a satin Silkie? Or do those have to be specifically bred for that?

Satins need to have 90% Silkie traits, I believe. I heard @LadiesAndJane mention that before.

So no, they would not be Satins. Similar, sure, but definitely not the same. And yes, they do need to be specifically bred for. They are not “flimsy” like EEs. Heck, anyone could breed EEs if they wanted.

So Satins are usually at least 90% Silkie to clarify. This is achieved after six or seven generations of breeding the resulting offspring back to a Silkie.
They ideally should have all the traits of a Silkie, except for the hard feathering. Anything less is usually just considered a Silkie cross or Silkie mix.
Since a Satin is not an official breed than the definition can be used quite loosely.

A black Silkie bred to a Welsummer will indeed give you smooth feathered offspring that will likely have feathered legs and a crest and possibly 5 toes like a Silkie. Size will usually be something between the parents. My 1st gen Silkie cross hens weigh about 2 and a half pounds. I find these crosses have very soft feathers, much softer than their smooth feathered parent.
Color wise I would expect black with leakage.

 

[cherrynberry]

@RoostersAreAwesome @LadiesAndJane

Some of my Cochin X EE mixes lay a small cream colored egg. Since their mothers laid blue eggs, do they have any possibility of passing down the blue egg gene to their offspring if I hatch the cream colored eggs?

No, Any brown egg layers can’t be carriers of the blue egg gene, since it’s a dominant gene. That also means that the mom only carries one blue egg gene.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I wouldn't hardly consider an EE a dual purpose bird and crossed with a Leghorn would be even less of one.
Depends on the egg color genes the EE carries and since that could be anything it's hard to say.