The Olive-Egger thread!

[heritagehabitatfarms]

your Lav's are pro covering blue... the white might be recessive white but dominant white should be visible in the parents...

So I am puzzled, but then again, I don't understand the genetic factor a whole lot either. Out of 7 OE chicks that are FBCM x Lav Am crosses I have ended up with 1 that looks like a FBCM, 1 solid black, 1 solid white with feathered legs and 4 blue chicks. All of them are pea combed. How did I get blue? Can the white chick mean that one of the Lav Am's carries a dominant white gene?

 

[dinahmoe]

what is that?lol
well,all i know is that one of its grandpas' is a blue wheaten so you probably have a blue wheaten OE,but blue wheatens hatch out yellow,anyway,there is blue in the blood.
let me know what Illia says.

OK, I'm stumped. This cute F2 OE chick hatched this morning from my F1 OE hen x  FBCM roo. Some people have been reporting blue chicks from this cross. One of  my friends hatched a blue and I've seen it in person. It is solid blue. 

What color would you call this chick that hatched this morning? I think I'm keeping this one.   It's so cute.... feather-footed and all.  What color will it grow up to be? It looks like my lavender orp chicks when they hatched.



Here are the parents.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

the wheaton should be recessive so the BCM roo is what is showing the black and or blue... the blue gene will cover any black on a bird so it might be only a few tail feathers on the mom and be solid blue on the chicks...

what is that?lol
well,all i know is that one of its grandpas' is a blue wheaten so you probably have a blue wheaten OE,but blue wheatens hatch out yellow,anyway,there is blue in the blood.
let me know what Illia says.

 

[DMRippy]

You could have a BLUE bird that looks black. They can be so dark that you think they are black. It does happen. Someone in the mix is blue.

 

[Lark Rise]

what is that?lol
well,all i know is that one of its grandpas' is a blue wheaten so you probably have a blue wheaten OE,but blue wheatens hatch out yellow,anyway,there is blue in the blood.
let me know what Illia says.

Too bad there's no ancestry.com for chickens.
It really doesn't matter to me where the blue is coming from. All I know is my F1 OE from your stock lay awesome olive eggs! I'm hoping this one is a hen just to see her egg.

 

[Maggizzle35]

I started getting these colored eggs but I'm not entirely sure which hen is laying them, but I have my suspicions. I have a Kacoo Maran egg there and probably a black Alstralope but the other is as Olive as I've seen, but could use a little more blue to it.

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[Maggizzle35]

Those chicks are soo soo adorable. What did you breed to get those? I have started seeing more of mine have the bearded tuft look. I think I know which Roo is producing it but until i can separate them out for the summer I won't know for sure. Thanks, Margaret

There's two good options in my opinion -

One is splash cuckoo. Or blue cuckoo, either one. They will appear to look like normal blue or splash birds but with yellowish dots on their heads. We're talking chicks right? How old? If they're feathered out they truly will either look like pure white splashes or truly blue barred, but poor barring, chicks. Ramey's Cuckoos are nice and big and lay some pretty nice blue eggs. The main point though is that you'll get sex-linked OE's. Girls will be blue or black, boys will be a lighter color with yellowish on the head and likely back/butt, too.

Another one for future prettiness are duckwing colored ones. Any chicks that are chipmunk as 1 day to 2 week olds, or weird mixes of brown, white, black, red, orange, whatever fun mix of colors. Those will give you the same black offspring any other OE product from a BC Marans will give in terms of color, but the second generation granted you don't breed back to a Marans will throw some very pretty colors. The birds are often pretty well sized too. And if you want really fun colors, aim for chicks with more yellowish or buff markings than others.

The best thing of course is going for ones who are tufted too, but remember, tufted ones are often either rare or more expensive.



In a nutshell any color is okay, most any chick is okay. The big things to avoid are already well developed or odd shaped pea combs, folded or flopped looking pea combs, very short butts in ratio to the wings if they're old enough to judge that (how old are they?)

If they're just day to three weeks old, choose whichever catches your eye. Either way most crossed to a BCM will create the same colors any other will, but from what I find in Ramey's stock is if you want more bang in your blue egg genes, focus on the blues and blacks, blue cuckoos, or dark brown chicks.

ETA - Check it out! Tufted Olive Eggers!! These are F1 x F! chicks.

 

[Maggizzle35]

Wow, stunning couple.

OK, I'm stumped. This cute F2 OE chick hatched this morning from my F1 OE hen x FBCM roo. Some people have been reporting blue chicks from this cross. One of my friends hatched a blue and I've seen it in person. It is solid blue.

What color would you call this chick that hatched this morning? I think I'm keeping this one. It's so cute.... feather-footed and all. What color will it grow up to be? It looks like my lavender orp chicks when they hatched.



Here are the parents.

 

[Maggizzle35]

What kind are they? Don't mean to be stupid but I thought i would ask to see if they were what I thought they were.

Wow, stunning couple.

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[Lark Rise]

What kind are they? Don't mean to be stupid but I thought i would ask to see if they were what I thought they were.

The roo is a French Black Copper Marans. The hens are F1 olive eggers that I got from dinahmoe. She needs to put those chickens back together....hint...hint.

ETA: My BIL lives in Fairbanks!