stumped...

[tobyerick]

hello all im a long time lurker and first time poster. first off i used to breed and raise bantam chickens i had 27 breeds/colors and around 400 birds after alot of work and research the market in my area for bantams literally dissapeard so i sold/gave away all my birds stoped in at the feed store a couple weeks ago with my kids to get some vegitables......and came home with 10 chicks (chicken math) any way i got three barred rocks three Ameraucana three austrolarps and one gold sex link roo it was dark in the feed store where the brooder is and well when i dumped them in the brooder i have two austrolarps and a mystery chick i cant for the life of me figure it out.....first off its bearded and is brown colored it reminds me of a belgian quail d'anver but i didnt think they had a standard size i do know that it is from ideal im not a big fan of ideal and i know they put out some prety bad looking birds .....crooked beaks wry tail split wing but im sure this bird was just accidently put in there eather at the hatchery or at the feed store and honestly i dont care aslong as she lays eggs and dosent peck them but it would be nice to know what she is any ideas?......i will try to post pics in the morning

 

[ramirezframing]

The odd chick sounds like your "ameraucana" which is actually an easter egger. Most hatcheries don't sell true ameraucanas and the few that do, want a pretty penny for them. If the easter egger turns out to be a hen she could lay a colored egg or a brown/ cream egg. Good luck with them.

 

[tobyerick]

thats what i was thinking too i guess i just needed some one to confirm it for me (thank you) since the rest of my "ameraucana" are clean faced and this one is muffed but it does look similar in just about every other way and since it was only one brooder down in the stack it probably just got put in the wrong one at the feed store

 

[CarolinaHen]

thats what i was thinking too i guess i just needed some one to confirm it for me (thank you) since the rest of my "ameraucana" are clean faced and this one is muffed but it does look similar in just about every other way and since it was only one brooder down in the stack it probably just got put in the wrong one at the feed store

Easter Eggers can be either bearded or non bearded. We have both, and they are so much fun to watch as they feather in. You never know what color they will turn out to be since chick color doesn't indicate adult coloring. I have a brown chick right now that is feathering in white......

 

[tobyerick]

and see i think thats what got me is i never dealt with crosses before i allways had true bread chickens and culled heavely even on the few ocasions that i had a roo from another coop break into a neighboring coop i fed the eggs in that coop to my dog for a few days so i never got to see the wide variety of posibilitys in chicks but im about to lol im excited for next year to see what the crosses come out looking like....im thinking about getting a few polish just to mix it up a bit and when i change out my roo a couple years from now im going to get a phoenix i think or a milie fluer ....i dont know about all the gentics of crossing yet but im going to learn lol and play around a bit the chickens became a chore the last time but now its a hobby again and im prety excited about it....thanks for all the help every one

 

[CarolinaHen]

If you take a green egg layer and breed back to a white egg rooster, like a Polish, you will get 50% blue layers, and 50% white layers. And the surprises keep going! LOL

 

[popsicle]

If you take a green egg layer and breed back to a white egg rooster, like a Polish, you will get 50% blue layers, and 50% white layers. And the surprises keep going! LOL

Is it really that simple? What happened to the brown in the green layer? I thought I've read that both blue and brown are dominant... so I'd think you'd end up with more green layers (though perhaps lighter than the mother).

 

[Kev]

Is it really that simple? What happened to the brown in the green layer? I thought I've read that both blue and brown are dominant... so I'd think you'd end up with more green layers (though perhaps lighter than the mother).

you thought right. Over simplification is extremely common in explaining genetics to lay persons because even that is hard for many to understand.

the full answer:

green eggs probably are the blue egg gene plus brown egg geneS. There are many separate genes for brown and tan tints, that is why it is so hard to get rid of after crossing tan/brown to white & getting back to white is the goal.

Then there is the 'problem' of the green layer being pure vs not pure for the blue egg gene.

So the full answer could be either of these:

half green eggs, various shades(maybe some even looking bluish/turquoish) with the rest laying various tan/brown tinted colors, white not terribly likely but not impossible.

OR

all lay colored eggs in different shades(but predominantly lighter green is very good guess).

as for the OP.. if it has beard, clean legs and is large, easter egger is practically the default guess as they are extremely common.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

you thought right. Over simplification is extremely common in explaining genetics to lay persons because even that is hard for many to understand.

the full answer:

green eggs probably are the blue egg gene plus brown egg geneS. There are many separate genes for brown and tan tints, that is why it is so hard to get rid of after crossing tan/brown to white & getting back to white is the goal.

Then there is the 'problem' of the green layer being pure vs not pure for the blue egg gene.

So the full answer could be either of these:

half green eggs, various shades(maybe some even looking bluish/turquoish) with the rest laying various tan/brown tinted colors, white not terribly likely but not impossible.

OR

all lay colored eggs in different shades(but predominantly lighter green is very good guess).

as for the OP.. if it has beard, clean legs and is large, easter egger is practically the default guess as they are extremely common.

x2
While egg color genetics are FAR more simple than feather color genetics, any time you have multiple genes interacting, it can't be that simple. The first person that replied to you forgot about those brown coating genes.

 

[CarolinaHen]

x2
While egg color genetics are FAR more simple than feather color genetics, any time you have multiple genes interacting, it can't be that simple. The first person that replied to you forgot about those brown coating genes.

Here is the best place I have found for studying egg color genetics.
http://scratchcradle.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/gms2-breeding-for-blue-eggs/