The Olive-Egger thread!

[heritagehabitatfarms]

i suspect that is about the way it breaks down... the problem is that with the F2's the olive color tends to be all over the charts some just a dark green and some a very pretty dark olive... the nicest colored egg i have gotten came from a F2 hen... but u get allot of browns and greens as well... next year ill be breeding my 1st F3's and i expect about the same from them...

I am on the verge of starting a little olive egger hobby breeding. I have copper marans (blue and black) and will be getting Ameraucanas. I have a general idea what to expect from crossing those. Olive eggs. But what happens when you cross two olive eggers? Do you get 25% blue egg layers, 50% olive eggers and 25% dark brown egg layers? Or do you get 100% olive eggers. And what is the color of the olive eggs? I saw a computer generated color chart of olive eggs where they had really green eggs at the bottom line of the picture (top two levels were blue x dark brown and olive x blue, and olive x dark brown). I am still trying to understand what the last line is a cross of. Is that olive x olive? Thanks!

 

[mkiora]

Below is the chart I saw. I'm trying to figure out the bottom row. So you think it is olive x olive (aka F2 x F2). The very green egg is one of many possibilities with brown and other shades of olive and green being other possibilities. It seems that doing F2 crosses might be beyond my scope as I have limited space and I would need to accommodate a significant sample of offspring to see all the colors they produce.

 

[Arielle]

Below is the chart I saw. I'm trying to figure out the bottom row. So you think it is olive x olive (aka F2 x F2). The very green egg is one of many possibilities with brown and other shades of olive and green being other possibilities. It seems that doing F2 crosses might be beyond my scope as I have limited space and I would need to accommodate a significant sample of offspring to see all the colors they produce.

I haven't seen this chart. THe notes are difficult to decipher. I read the third level to be breeding the f1 offspring back to itself. Where as the other two levels are breeding the f1 offspring back to one of the parental types, either to dark layer or blue layer. SO many colors possible. FUN.

If you are doing the cross for a hobby and just to enjoy the variety of egg colors, you will be pleasantly suprprised by the colors. It's like looking for Easter eggs--

I have f1's at this point. EE x brown eggs like RIR yield a lovely mint green; the BCM x EE yield the olive tones. A delight to find in the nest boxes.

I'm sure someone more experienced can offer better insight into the crosses.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

i haven't seen this chart before ether where did you find it??? it looks about right as for what u will get with your breeding's...

Below is the chart I saw. I'm trying to figure out the bottom row. So you think it is olive x olive (aka F2 x F2). The very green egg is one of many possibilities with brown and other shades of olive and green being other possibilities. It seems that doing F2 crosses might be beyond my scope as I have limited space and I would need to accommodate a significant sample of offspring to see all the colors they produce.

 

[buckabucka]

Isn't that Illia's chart? Or at least one similar to it.

 

[Arielle]

I like the chart--just wish the background color was in white. Eyes aren't what they used to be!

 

[mkiora]

I copy and pasted the chart from one of the early posts in this thread. I don;t remember who posted it originally, but I could look back and find out.

 

[DMRippy]

Isn't that Illia's chart? Or at least one similar to it.

I think you are right.

I haven't seen that one in a long time.

 

[mkiora]

I interpret it to mean the following
Line 1: Egg #1 = olive egg (F1). Crossed with dark brown (P) = 50% dark olive (egg #2, F2) and 50% dark brown (egg #3, F2)
Line 2: Egg #1 = olive egg (F1). Crossed with blue (P) = 50% mint green (egg #2), F2) and 50% blue (egg #3, F2)
Line 3: Egg #1 = olive egg (F1). Then what???
What do the side notes mean? And what do the two other eggs in that line represent? The colors are lovely. I'm just trying to figure out how one would go about breeding for those?

 

[Arielle]

I figure I need more breeding pens to sort a few of these Olive eggers-- I actually have a LOT of olives and greens. THe greens are EE x RIR-- a pretty color different than the olives. Just love them all!

THe chart is showing me avocado colors are possible too.