The Olive-Egger thread!

[Heatherschix]

So I am new to all this and I have acquired some lovely 4F OE....Black Copper Marans x Cream legbar. If I were to breed back to CL rather than to BCM...the eggs would get lighter, right? Also would they be autosexed or sexlink?

 

[leedyfeathers]

roo:

GCM
EE
hen:
EE
RIR
SLW
BJG
BLK Australop
Buff Orp.
Speckled sussex

out of these what would be the best egg combinations for colors in offspring of these and then daughters bread to the other roo.
any ideas? im planing to probably get a CM roo or hen in the mix after a few years.

 

[hotlipshens]

At best an EE roo will supply a blue egg gene to half of his offspring which means about 1/4 will produce a colored egg. You prob want a purebred blue egg gene rooster.

 

[leedyfeathers]

i have a hatchery breed EE sold under the name americana.. you know.. what things besides waiting to see from offspring tells you he carries that gene? ive read where the comb is used to tell. im going to try and post a close up of his head and of two pullets see what ya think.

 

[JFreeman]

At best an EE roo will supply a blue egg gene to half of his offspring which means about 1/4 will produce a colored egg. You prob want a purebred blue egg gene rooster.

I don't understand... If he will supply a blue egg gene to half of his offspring, how will only a quarter lay a colored egg?

I also have an OE cockerel who one parent (not sure which) is an EE (the person I got them from says they are Ameraucanas, but they aren't). Would I get the same odds from him passing on the gene as I would an f1 EE,?

 

[ochochicas]

Leedy - none of the crosses you posted will result in an olive egger. You might get green, mint, or even a blue from your EE hen if you are lucky. If you want olive eggs you'd do best crossing Welsummers or some type of Marans with a pure Ameraucana or Cream Legbar.

 

[hotlipshens]

Only half of all offspring are pullets at best and only half the pullets will carry the blue egg gene even from an F1 EE so 1/4 of an EEs offspring might produce colorful eggs Mixed breeds are always a crap shoot...some great - others not so much. EEs created from one Ameraucana parent will have a pea comb (or modified pea) which is linked to the blue egg gene but Ameraucanas aren't the only purebred bird to have 2 blue egg genes or used to create the mix known as an EE...just the one used most often and the one with a dominant pea comb. OE is just another name for an EE bred with the hope that pullet offspring would produce a darker version of the green EE egg. Most often a Marans (dark brown egger) is mixed with an Ameraucana (blue egger) to make an OE. Clear as mud?

 

[aart]

roo:

What breed is this roo?

 

[Manningjw]

Only half of all offspring are pullets at best and only half the pullets will carry the blue egg gene even from an F1 EE so 1/4 of an EEs offspring might produce colorful eggs Mixed breeds are always a crap shoot...some great - others not so much. EEs created from one Ameraucana parent will have a pea comb (or modified pea) which is linked to the blue egg gene but Ameraucanas aren't the only purebred bird to have 2 blue egg genes or used to create the mix known as an EE...just the one used most often and the one with a dominant pea comb. OE is just another name for an EE bred with the hope that pullet offspring would produce a darker version of the green EE egg. Most often a Marans (dark brown egger) is mixed with an Ameraucana (blue egger) to make an OE. Clear as mud?

I don't think hatchery stock EEs are commonly produced using Ameraucana heritage - kind of a waste. My EEs are produced in that way but that is because I am selectively breeding for a more productive blue egg layer. There is no reason why an EE would be less likely to have two blue egg genes than those labeled as being Ameraucana but it all depends on who is doing the selecting process for each generation.

 

[Manningjw]

Leedy - none of the crosses you posted will result in an olive egger. You might get green, mint, or even a blue from your EE hen if you are lucky. If you want olive eggs you'd do best crossing Welsummers or some type of Marans with a pure Ameraucana or Cream Legbar.

I have seen some wonderful Olive eggs pictured in this thread from crosses with SLW which surprised me. My little project F1 cross produces what many here have labeled Olive colored eggs and the hen was a Red Star. Obviously I would be more likely to bet on an Olive Egg coming from a cross with a dark shell maran egg or Welsummer, but I have seen eggs from those breeds that are lighter in color than our Red Star eggs have been. I would love to see what a white egg layer and Maran cross shell color would turn out to be, I imagine it is a pretty light colored brown.