The Olive-Egger thread!

[Wynette]

Quote:
"regular" genetics doesn't work so well with olive eggers..some folks have had success with following known genetic calculators, but the problems come in when you use EEs since there is no way to know their genetic makeup.

The basics are, though: use a green/blue layer crossed to a dark brown layer line. My experience has been the darker brown the line, the darker olive green the babies will be. It has taken two generations for mine to get nice & dark olive. THe first cross hens I breed BACK TO a very dark brown layer rooster, and THAT offspring lays the darkest olive green I have.

 

[X2Farm]

Ok, wanna run somethin by yall, before I get my OE pens situated today. I'm planning on putting a EE Roo in there, w/4 welsummers and 2 BCM's (one blue one black) So I can hopefully get started on some F1 OE's

Have yall had good luck with that combo?

 

[HHandbasket]

I think Olivia, my OE, is getting ready to lay. We have 6 chickens--3 are laying, and 3 are not quite old enough but almost. I have noticed over the last couple of weeks that whenever someone lays an egg and starts singing the egg song, Olivia starts chiming in. Well today, she was making the song allllll by herself and nobody else was around. I tried to see if she would squat, and she didn't run off QUITE as quickly as she normally does.... it's like she paused and thought about it a second. I think she'll start squatting soon. Oh I hope, I hope, I hope! I can't wait to see what color eggs she lays.

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
This should work! The darker the Welsummers & Marans lay, the darker olive the offspring's eggs will be!

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
The only problem I can see is if the EE roo is too far removed from the blue egg laying gene. Meaning, some EE's lay pink eggs. It is easier to put an EE hen that you KNOW lays a blue/green egg in a pen w/ a BCM or Welsummer roo. It won't hurt anything to try it out. But have a back up plan if it doesn't! (Also, the pea comb and the blue egg laying gene go hand in hand. If your EE roo has a pea comb, he will likely throw the blue egg gene.)

 

[Muggsmagee]

Quote:
That's a good one!

 

[X2Farm]

He's got the pea comb, so I'm hoping that helps things, and he throws the gene onto the chicks. I'll have another pen, once I can get it built, that'll house my EE girls with my Welsummer Roo. I lucked out and all of the EE' girls have pea combs

Hopefully, out of those two pens, I can hatch enough to get a flock of 25-50 OE girls

Wynette, the Welsummers are laying a deeper brownish, about like the 2 Marans girls, so I'm hoping it'll work (But not a super dark Marans egg). They're not super dark, but, it should achieve the desired results

 

[Wynette]

Snowhunter - all sounds great! How fun!!!

 

[NellaBean]

I crossed my cochin rooster over my Olive egger girls. Can I assume these will all lay green (maybe not olive) eggs? Or is there also the possibility of brown only?

 

[Chicken Frenzie]

Would think be an olive egger?
BR Roo & EE hen? Would that make a Olive Egger?