The Olive-Egger thread!

[cpartist]

I got my first olive egg this week from my BCM/EE cross.
This pic doesn't do it justice as in natural light it is deeper
olive with almost a golden glow. I'll get better photos if it
ever stops raining here.

I have two chicks from this hatch, Olivia and Oliver

, and they are marked just like FBCM's,
only with beards and pea combs. (Although Olivia doesn't have enough copper and Oliver's
copper is too brassy

). They both have leg feathering.

Olivia showing off her copper

.

Anyway, I'm thinking of breeding the two, to see if I can develop a "line" of OEE's
that will have a consistent look and lay a consistent dark olive egg.
I know nothing about genetics, though. Can I do this by just using the chicks from
their mating that have the right look, and continuing to breed out of these, the ones
that lay the right colored egg? Would I want to occasionally cross in a Black Ameracauna
and another Marans to avoid inbreeding?

My plan for now is to put the two together with a Marans pullet that didn't make the cut
for the Marans pen-but is laying a nice dark egg. It will be interesting to see what the two
crosses yield. I will be looking to see if the OEE/OEE cross will lay the same color, and if
the OEE/Marans egg will be an improvement or will actually make the egg too chocolate
and I'll lose the golden "glow".

I guess I'm wondering what many here are-what will the next generation lay....
I think it'll be a fun and interesting project!

 

[evonne]

Quote:
i'm bad with the genetics too, but i wanted to say that's an awsome pictuer of the eggs...

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

We're prolly going to start seeing more and more Black Copper Olive Eggers that have better color and markings than most BCMs.

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Quote:
Are her eggs darker than the Marans pullets who did make the cut?

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

cpartist I think those look lovely!!!

The egg color is

Wynette hoping for that GREAT olive color

I cant wait for mine to start to lay...I have 2 pullets look just like BCM with puffy cheeks!!

I have 2 ameraucana's (white) Looking for a good dark cuckoo roo hoping for cuckoo olive eggers

That would be interesting!!

 

[cpartist]

Quote:
Thanks 3chickens!

 

[cpartist]

Quote:
Are her eggs darker than the Marans pullets who did make the cut?

All the Marans are laying about the same color now, she didn't make the cut because she's a "mossy".

This is the egg she laid today, along with the two olive's laid this week, photo taken in natural daylight:

LOL your remark regarding Marans color/markings. I'm glad Oliver doesn't have a red breast or squirrel tail!

 

[Happy Chooks]

cpartist..........your eggs are gorgeous! Feel free to cull that "mossy" girl to my house.

 

[onthespot]

if she was just a little bit mossy, I'd keep her in the breeder pen. If she has big gold streaks on her breast and pseudo lacing or double lacing on her breast and neck, keep her in the olive egger pen. Here is a pic of a bad marked couple I sold off, WAY too mossy, mismarked. Front and center, head down, and far left, head up.

 

[cpartist]

Thanks guys! Well, she's pretty mossy.....

I only have two other pullets I'm breeding, one blue copper, one black copper..but their eggs are more
consistently dark, and have no conformation faults, I've decided to breed just them in the
Marans pen.

I'm only planning to hatch a few chicks this Spring, so I figured just breeding the best I have would
be the the best plan. I'm trying to be selective and disciplined (even though I have this tremendous urge to throw
everything in the bator)

I am curious to see if breeding an Olive Egger back to a Marans is the wise thing to do. My Marans eggs have
that Ruby Red glow going on...and green and red are complimentary colors...eventually, they dull each other...that's
why I'm trying OEE crossed with OEE as well.

As an artist, I'm all about color....what can I say?

These olive eggs I'm getting, and hope to reproduce, I would call bronze rather than olive, BTW