The Legbar Thread!

[tobit]

Does this mean egg colour is only affected by a single gene? (2 alleles in each individual)

 

[ochochicas]

Does this mean egg colour is only affected by a single gene? (2 alleles in each individual)

There are more than a dozen genes that contribute to brown egg color, in addition to some brown inhibiting genes that create white eggs. There are a lot more than one gene and probably more factors involved that we don't know a lot about yet.

 

[tobit]

There are more than a dozen genes that contribute to brown egg color, in addition to some brown inhibiting genes that create white eggs. There are a lot more than one gene and probably more factors involved that we don't know a lot about yet.

This is really interesting, as im studying zoology at Uni from september! So do these 12 or so genes affect each egg colour or only brown egg colour?

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: The 12 genes I was referring to are brown modifiers. So if your hen also had a blue egg gene, the result would be green to olive colored shells depending on what genes were involved.

 

[Ravynscroft]

This is really interesting, as im studying zoology at Uni from september! So do these 12 or so genes affect each egg colour or only brown egg colour?

The cause of brown egg color is separate from the actual egg shell color... there are only 2 base colors for the shell, white and blue... blue was caused by a retrovirus ( think that's the right word) originally, but it was a novelty so it was bred for... blue is the only color besides white that is actually saturated in the shell itself...

Brown is a pigment that overlays the outside of the shell after it is formed... there are many factors contolling the amount and darkness of the brown coating... I don't know the hows, whys or whats behind all that just that brown is separate from blue and white...
Hope this helps in some way...

 

[tobit]

The cause of brown egg color is separate from the actual egg shell color... there are only 2 base colors for the shell, white and blue... blue was caused by a retrovirus ( think that's the right word) originally, but it was a novelty so it was bred for... blue is the only color besides white that is actually saturated in the shell itself...

Brown is a pigment that overlays the outside of the shell after it is formed... there are many factors contolling the amount and darkness of the brown coating... I don't know the hows, whys or whats behind all that just that brown is separate from blue and white...
Hope this helps in some way...

Thank you, this is really interesting, and makes sense as the inside of brown eggs is white and you can sometimes scrape the brown coating off a bit, where as the blue and green eggs are blue and green on the inside and throughout the thickness of the shell

 

[tobit]

The 12 genes I was referring to are brown modifiers. So if your hen also had a blue egg gene, the result would be green to olive colored shells depending on what genes were involved.

Ah okay, thank you!!

 

[ChicKat]

Those of you who have been around for awhile will remember color discussions, color charts like the Araucana Club color chart, and the OAC color chart -- which I think is not available any longer --

Maybe it was this thread or another legbar thread...If you have read the egg-color article of seabirds who's eggs were more saturated after increases in carotinoids

http://avelando.webs.uvigo.es/pdfs_archivos/moralesetal2011BESa.pdf

and we were discussing that one could need a color calculating device -- In the above article they used : "As soon as a first or second egg was detected, egg color was measured with a CM-2600d portable spectrophotometer (Minolta Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan)." ---

Here is what I recently found - and it will drive you nutz...
"There's an App for that...." Here is what you do key in 'color analyzer' or 'color analysis' in your phone or on your tablet where you get your apps - I have Android devices so I go to the Google Play Store... One that looked very cool that came up was called 'what color is that?' -- you point your phone or tablet camera at the object and it brings back the pantone color, the RGB color, the hex color and the cmyk color, or is it the HTML color --? At any rate -- it was very cool to link to Pantone color -- but guess what - IT didn't work on the tablet and it wasn't available in the Phone play store -- so I got one called "color detector" point at the item you want to get the color from -- and then touch the screen it will give you the color in spoken English, HTML, RGB percentages and degrees...so - could you take the HTML and match to Pantone--- ?? because you can also get 40,000 pantone colors loaded on your device -- with data attached to the color.

The apps are free.

How good are the apps? Are they white balanced? On my faded jeans which would be "blue-jeans blue" -- it just told me (in English) that they were 'granny smith' (green) 'glacier' (blue) and 'Nordic' (gray) -- so you really HAVE got the same ----> lighting, device etc. problems that you always have. LOL - however it is fun. It almost makes the take a color swatch and if a person in a different location has the same color swatch you know you are talking about the same color - superior to new technology---but it is free fun......

While shopping for apps.... key in 'Pantone' and then you get the pallettes of Pantone. Touch a color and it fills your screen with just that color. (cool huh?) - but since from your screen it is back lit -- you cannot put the egg in front and get the color because it puts the egg in silhoutte




BTW: Here is a different article about blue eggshell color I passed by in the CL Club's 'clubhouse' while looking for the first one -- -- it is kind of cool and contains a color picture
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3554524/

ETA
Okay, once you use your device and you have the hex number -- you can type it in on the internet at this website:
http://www.color-hex.com (type in the hex color code in the space at the top of the page.)

and then you can get information about the color.... Take multiple readings of your target object and you will get multiple results...just the way surfaces, lightwaves, devices, reflections, white balance, algorithms, and fluctuations work IMO --

See the color of the letters there that ETA (above) is in? (that is from one of my eggs..) That is hex c4d2d2 (according to the app on my tablet)-- Called 'Columbia Blue' in the little App - closest paint-chip color is Valspar 'Feeling Blue' CI13 - it is analyzed as mostly green -- but the RGB results are (196,210,210) -- so i would think equal parts blue and green (210) -- and since it is Columbia Blue, Feeling Blue by color name...I'm thinking that egg will be considered blue. what do you think?

 

[cressrb]

I have a question regarding ear lobe color. My CL hen has light green lobes. The SOP says enamel white. Is this that unusual and does the color change as they age?

 

[chicken pickin]

I have a question regarding ear lobe color.   My CL hen has light green lobes.  The SOP says enamel white.   Is this that unusual and does the color change as they age?

Do you have pictures of this you could share? I have not yet seen or heard oif anyone mentioning any CL that have green tinged earlobes.

You are correct the SOP does call for enamel white earlobes. Pure white earlobes are ideal. Some times we will see CL with yellow tinged earlobes, the yellow can change overtime to white as they mature, but not always. Other times we see pink or red tinged in the white earlobes and this usually gets worse more red with age.