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

[All4Eggz]

@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?

 

[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.

 

[Mary Weber]

I am confused! If I have a white leghorn rooster and an EE hen will my eggs be white or colored ? Also being as the leghorns are bred for white eggs and not meat will the chics be dual purpose as the EE are ?
[email protected]

 

[All4Eggz]

I am confused! If I have a white leghorn rooster and an EE hen will my eggs be white or colored ? Also being as the leghorns are bred for white eggs and not meat will the chics be dual purpose as the EE are ?
[email protected]

Good question!
I believe a percentage of the eggs will be colored, but genetics are not my strong point… which is why I started this thread!

Also, Welcome to BYC!

Maybe @cherrynberry, @JacinLarkwell, @NatJ, or @The Moonshiner can answer your question.

 

[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.

 

[NatJ]

If I have a white leghorn rooster and an EE hen will my eggs be white or colored ?

If the EE lays colored eggs (blue or green), I would expect either half or all of the daughters to lay blue eggs (or maybe green ones.) Either half or all of the sons should carry the genes for that egg color, which they could pass on to their own chicks.

Whether you get colored eggs from half the daughters, or all of the daughters, depends on the genes of the EE hen.

If the EE lays lays eggs that are not blue or green, and she's mated to a Leghorn rooster, the offspring will not produce any blue or green eggs either. In that case, the daughters will probably produce eggs that are white or a light shade of brown (cream, tan, etc.)

(Just in case you did not know: the EE hen will keep laying the same color eggs, no matter what rooster she mates with. The rooster affects what color eggs her daughters can lay, but has no effect on her own egg color.)

Also being as the leghorns are bred for white eggs and not meat will the chics be dual purpose as the EE are ?

Any chicken can be eaten, even Leghorns.

But I would not expect the offspring to be very good for meat. They will probably have a layer-type body shape and size.

 

[TRALALARA1]

I have chicks from a EE roo x RIR hens. All these chicks came from brown eggs. What are the chances that the pullets will lay colored eggs?

I also have chicks from the EE ROO X EE hens. All of these chicks came from blue/green eggs. Will these pullets carry on the blue/green egg trait?

 

[TRALALARA1]

 

[The Moonshiner]

I have chicks from a EE roo x RIR hens. All these chicks came from brown eggs. What are the chances that the pullets will lay colored eggs?

I also have chicks from the EE ROO X EE hens. All of these chicks came from blue/green eggs. Will these pullets carry on the blue/green egg trait?

100% they will be some kind of color.
No way of knowing if they'll be green or not.

At least 1\2 will

 

[EmmaRainboe]

I have chicks from a EE roo x RIR hens. All these chicks came from brown eggs. What are the chances that the pullets will lay colored eggs?

I also have chicks from the EE ROO X EE hens. All of these chicks came from blue/green eggs. Will these pullets carry on the blue/green egg trait?

If EE roo has 1 copy of oocyan 50% will lay green. If he has two, all will lay green.

If each have one copy you will get at least 75%, 25% being homozygous and the other 50% being heterozygous. If at least one is homozygous all offspring will lay colored eggs.