The EE braggers thread!!!

[Kassaundra]

I am not a genetics guru by any stretch, but if you are wanting blue eggs adding ANY brown egg genes or potential seems to be complecating your life needlessly.

 

[salt and pepper]

I am not a genetics guru by any stretch, but if you are wanting blue eggs adding ANY brown egg genes or potential seems to be complecating your life needlessly.

Adding a cream/ light brown egg to the blue egg, you should still get a pretty blue/ turquoise egg, at least in my experience.

 

[RoosterLew]

Breed for soundness first.
If mothers had poor feather quality and seem to be passing it on, why would you continue to breed any of those chicks? I would cull them all from your breeding program.

 

[chickletteSarge]

anyone see any pure white EEs before?

 

[RoosterLew]

Yep

anyone see any pure white EEs before?

Yep. Look back through this thread and you'll find many!
Those are very good looking whites though!

 

[chickletteSarge]

I got a cockrel with them hes kinda salt n peppery... will they breed true?

 

[ChickNmamma]

All right I have a dilemma. Actually I think I've already answered the question in my own mind, but wanted to hear some other opinions. I have about 29 EE hatched early April from three hens and the same roo. I have another 14 of their siblings also growing out, hatched May 3. I sold off the roo thinking I would just keep a son. But I am having some issues with the progeny.

All three of the hens have poor feather quality, as in naked backs a lot of the time, thin poor and brittle feathers. Yes they had some mites but have been treated and have been clear of mites for a bit. But the roo was nice and pretty gentle and altogether he had 6 girls and two of the EE hens got naked backs quick and still have them in spite of good feed and currently no roo. All three hens are on the small side and two of them have really pinched tails. The roo was pretty wide in the tail and I can see in the daughters they are a bit wider than the mothers, but the sons are at least as pinched as the mothers or even more so.

so here's a run down on the mothers and sons:

white hen (from EExEE breeding) laid the purest blue egg, very pinched in the tail, extremely poor feather quality. Her sons at almost 3 months, have naked backs and butts. Like the whole space between the wings and down to the tail is naked with a few tail feathers sticking up. They are also very pinched in the tail, maybe worse than mom.

black & white partridge pattern hen, (from EExEE breeding)laid a pure green egg. better feather quality but still not the best. Pinched tail but not as severe as the white hen. Sons also have naked backs and pinched tails.

black hen; this hen went naked first and is still naked three months later. she laid a sage /grey green egg that has lightened up to just a pale grey, nearly white color. She is from EExBlack Australorp breeding. pinched tail. Her sons have better feather quality than the others, several have what look like might be real pea combs, others have odd combo combs, a couple are more straight combed. They are a smidge wider in the tail than the others.

From the same pen I also hatched from a Welsummer pullet, a Welsummer/Leghorn hen that is small and pinched in the tail but lays a ginormous egg and a Welsummer hen. The offspring from these three girls are all wider in the tail and have much better feather quality. There is a huge variation in comb type and most of the girls look like they have straight combs while some of the boys look like pea combs.

If I was only going for better feathers and wider tails I would just pick one I like from the last group. However there is egg color to consider. My understanding is that the color egg the roo comes from has a great bearing on what he passes down to his daughters. While I want olive eggs and bred this last group for that reason, right now I want a true blue egg boy, so to me, keeping a boy hatched from a brown egg, even if he has a pea comb, there is a chance he could throw brown egg laying girls, right?

It's not a big deal if I don't keep a boy from these, as I have another EE roo right now, just wandering if I am thinking on the right track?

If you use a rooster from a brown egg that had a father who carried one blue egg gene - the son only has a 50% chance to have the gene - and only 50% of his kids would get it. That is the problem in most second generation olive eggers - if you don't use a rooster from a green egg you have a chance of getting all brown eggs from his kids.

I think the moms pass their shape to their sons, the father to his daughters? Oh, and I found most of my EE roos to be slow feathering - their feathers took forever for them to come in. That may be the baldness you are seeing. They looked pretty ragged for the longest time. However, the pinched tail is genetic.

If you want BLUE - you better stick with the first girls sons. It sounds like she is the only one that doesn't carry any brown egg genes.

If you have another EE roo that came from a blue egg and he looks better in the hind end (wider tail) I would use him. You are thinking on the right track. You can also look for an Ameraucana rooster as chances are very good that they would have two blue egg genes.. Since most people keep only one rooster from a batch of chicks they may have an extra one or two... are there any breeders nearby?

anyone see any pure white EEs before?

Yes, I have. I would guess those are Ameraucanas crossed with Leghorns. Body shape is all wrong for Ameraucanas, but they have the dark legs, fuzzy faces and pea combs from their mothers.

 

[Penny Hen]

If you use a rooster from a brown egg that had a father who carried one blue egg gene - the son only has a 50% chance to have the gene - and only 50% of his kids would get it. That is the problem in most second generation olive eggers - if you don't use a rooster from a green egg you have a chance of getting all brown eggs from his kids.

I think the moms pass their shape to their sons, the father to his daughters? Oh, and I found most of my EE roos to be slow feathering - their feathers took forever for them to come in. That may be the baldness you are seeing. They looked pretty ragged for the longest time. However, the pinched tail is genetic.

If you want BLUE - you better stick with the first girls sons. It sounds like she is the only one that doesn't carry any brown egg genes.

If you have another EE roo that came from a blue egg and he looks better in the hind end (wider tail) I would use him. You are thinking on the right track. You can also look for an Ameraucana rooster as chances are very good that they would have two blue egg genes.. Since most people keep only one rooster from a batch of chicks they may have an extra one or two... are there any breeders nearby?
Yes, I have. I would guess those are Ameraucanas crossed with Leghorns. Body shape is all wrong for Ameraucanas, but they have the dark legs, fuzzy faces and pea combs from their mothers.

Then those would be an EE version of Super Blue Egg Layers (SBEL). DMRippy put a white Leghorn over her Lavender Americana's to start her SBEL's. You can see them on her page. They lay like a Leghorn and have very large blue eggs.

 

[Penny Hen]

All right I have a dilemma. Actually I think I've already answered the question in my own mind, but wanted to hear some other opinions. I have about 29 EE hatched early April from three hens and the same roo. I have another 14 of their siblings also growing out, hatched May 3. I sold off the roo thinking I would just keep a son. But I am having some issues with the progeny.

All three of the hens have poor feather quality, as in naked backs a lot of the time, thin poor and brittle feathers. Yes they had some mites but have been treated and have been clear of mites for a bit. But the roo was nice and pretty gentle and altogether he had 6 girls and two of the EE hens got naked backs quick and still have them in spite of good feed and currently no roo. All three hens are on the small side and two of them have really pinched tails. The roo was pretty wide in the tail and I can see in the daughters they are a bit wider than the mothers, but the sons are at least as pinched as the mothers or even more so.

so here's a run down on the mothers and sons:

white hen (from EExEE breeding) laid the purest blue egg, very pinched in the tail, extremely poor feather quality. Her sons at almost 3 months, have naked backs and butts. Like the whole space between the wings and down to the tail is naked with a few tail feathers sticking up. They are also very pinched in the tail, maybe worse than mom.

black & white partridge pattern hen, (from EExEE breeding)laid a pure green egg. better feather quality but still not the best. Pinched tail but not as severe as the white hen. Sons also have naked backs and pinched tails.

black hen; this hen went naked first and is still naked three months later. she laid a sage /grey green egg that has lightened up to just a pale grey, nearly white color. She is from EExBlack Australorp breeding. pinched tail. Her sons have better feather quality than the others, several have what look like might be real pea combs, others have odd combo combs, a couple are more straight combed. They are a smidge wider in the tail than the others.

From the same pen I also hatched from a Welsummer pullet, a Welsummer/Leghorn hen that is small and pinched in the tail but lays a ginormous egg and a Welsummer hen. The offspring from these three girls are all wider in the tail and have much better feather quality. There is a huge variation in comb type and most of the girls look like they have straight combs while some of the boys look like pea combs.

If I was only going for better feathers and wider tails I would just pick one I like from the last group. However there is egg color to consider. My understanding is that the color egg the roo comes from has a great bearing on what he passes down to his daughters. While I want olive eggs and bred this last group for that reason, right now I want a true blue egg boy, so to me, keeping a boy hatched from a brown egg, even if he has a pea comb, there is a chance he could throw brown egg laying girls, right?

It's not a big deal if I don't keep a boy from these, as I have another EE roo right now, just wandering if I am thinking on the right track?

Check you Craigs List. There was two different individuals who hatched out some Cream Legbar eggs and sold all their pullets and still had roos and cut the price and cut the price until they finally gave the remaining ones away free. If it is mostly the blue egg your are after this would give you that and better feathering and widen the tail. If you are wanting to keep the EE's to the Americana type then look for a full Americana roo. It is possible to find some in my area for $10 to $15 dollars and they are good quality, maybe not show quality but very good. But I would really think about culling the females at least the ones with the worst pinch. It will probably take you 3 to 5 generations to breed it out. It would be a lot quicker just to find better stock. Now if you are attached to these hens that makes it difficult.

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Well, I am jumping in to post some pictures of my own EE babies that I hatched on Mother's Day weekend! They are 5 1/2 weeks old now. Pictures aren't the greatest, but wanted to brag on them! Just tickled over the experience of hatching my own eggs! The roo was a hatchery EE with a modified pea comb. The moms were 2 of our favorite (hatchery also) EE girls, Amelia (3 babies) and Muffie (2 babies). Then our Silver Spangled Hamburg (2 babies).

This is Aussie (who hatched upside down!). I am thinking this is a roo from color patterns and comb is prominent. Mom is Muffie



This is Snowy Owl. I am thinking is a pullet. Mom is Amelia.



This is Tricki. Mom is Muffie. She was the last to hatch and the first to feather out. Was thinking this was a pullet, but her color is throwing me a bit. SO! HOPE (s)he IS a SHE!



This is Lucy, one of Amelia's babies. She is kinda blending in with Tricki behind her!



This is Grey, another one of Amelia's babies which I am also thinking is a pullet from the coloring!



These last two are from our Silver Spangled Hamburg. I think the one in the back is a pullet and the one in the front is a roo from their comb differences. No names for these two yet.