The Olive-Egger thread!

[jeremy]

Great idea!!! I'll crate him at night and keep him until Im getting fertilized eggs then hatch a few batches before finding him a forever home. It would be so much fun to hatch some eggs from my own hens. Oooooh now I am thinking of the babies he could make with my creme legbar and my blue marans!!!!

Sounds like you would hatch some interesting mixes! The Legbar would produce more green/blue egg layers that would be barred like their parents. Crossing him over your Marans hen would create darker olive egg laying offspring, I love dark olive eggs! Of course all of the chicks would have the potential to be frizzled because your little cockerel is frizzled. Good luck with your new found breeding venture. I'd love to see the results down the road.

 

[SeattleLeah]

I do think he looks like a dark blue. What were the possible parents? I ask because I am wanting to know if she had barred hens. If she didn't your bird can't be double barred. I do think he look like a double barred roo though. For him to be blue and double barred BOTH parents would have to be barred AND one would have to be blue.

Wish I had gotten pictures of my Blue Barred Roo before I gave him away yesterday.

She thinks the parents were a blue frizzle hen and her cuckoo OE roo. As far as I know she doesnt have any barred hens. So that means he has to be single barred? interesting. . .

 

[jeremy]

She thinks the parents were a blue frizzle hen and her cuckoo OE roo. As far as I know she doesnt have any barred hens. So that means he has to be single barred? interesting. . .

Technically that does mean he would be single factor barred, which means he should be darker in color BUT he just might be Blue which would explain why he is lighter in color. It should become more apparent as he matures.

 

[buckabucka]

Maybe I'll have a chance to get chick photos after work today.

The Wheaten Marans, I can tell I have one girl. She is fully feathered and brownish on the wing, no comb, etc. The known boy is feathering out slowly, has jet black wings, and getting a little pink comb. Mystery chick has the same amount of feather growth as the boy, no black bar on the wing that I can see, and a comb somewhere between the two others. That one appears to have narcolepsy, - active and growing, but falls asleep every time it stands still! Very strange.

The blue Marans I have no clue. There are only two of them, and every day I change my mind on their sexes.

 

[sol2go]

I just read on another thread where someone was crating their boys at night, plus turning on a radio for them, too. Seven am came and went without a single crow...

A radio set to a timer could be really helpful, does anyone know how it would affect the whole flock? Will the sound of the radio be any more disruptive to the sleep cycle of the hens than all that crowing? My early-bird rooster who sleeps in the hen house starts crowing around 4am! Maybe I should just program some music to drift through our house about that time and mask all the crowing...

And, my first olive egger started laying this week. She is CCL x Crele Penedesenca and her eggs pretty well match up with photos that have been posted here. I will add that the blue color is quite evident under the brown.

 

[buckabucka]

I'm taking people up on the offer to try and sex these chicks. Sorry about the picture quality. It is a dark part of the coop.
Blue Marans #1: hoping it's a girl



Blue Marans #2 boy? or could it be a girl?



Wheaten Marans. Here's a photo of what I guess is a girl on the left, and a boy (head buried in dish) on the right. She is much more feathered out than he is:



And the mystery wheaten with narcolepsy (I think there really is something wrong with this bird). He has no tail feathers (like the boy), but different coloring:



Unfortunately, all the olive eggers in this hatch have giant pink combs like this, so I gave up on any girls. This is an Isbar x Marans (blurry). He's really friendly!



Thanks for any input!

 

[DMRippy]

.
Blue Marans #1: Pullet



Blue Marans #2 Pullet are her legs YELLOW?



OK The one on the left is a Roo... the one on the right is NOT a Wheaten at all. No clue on gender... I have had slow feathering pullets too.



This is a Wheaten Pullet. Is that the same slow feathering bird? Looks more Wheaten and is a roo, but I don't think I would breed him.



I would think that is a roo too.

 

[DMRippy]

I do have some pics of my double barred Blue Rock Roo.

 

[mstricer]

I have 3 BR roosters that are driving me crazy. Donna they are from you, beautiful birds, but boy, do they act like young teens. I need to sell them they are mating all my OE's and Marans, well half way that, my OE boy doesn't like it much, and beats them up. But they are getting bigger than him and I'm getting a little worried. Have you butchered any of your BR males for dinner? Are they tasty?

 

[buckabucka]

Thanks for your reply! It is dark now, but in the morning, I will have to check the leg color on the second blue Marans. I am hopeful that you are correct in that both Blue Marans are girls.

I'm totally confused about the wheatens. I am reading your response on my IPad, and the photos are not laid out the same way as I put them on the other computer.
The photo with two birds (one headless in the feed dish), am I correct that you think the brownish bird on the left is a roo, and the one with the black wings is not a wheaten at all? I wonder what he is. This was a mixed hatch, but I swear that chick came out of an egg labeled WM.

All three of the other wheaten photos are of the narcolepsy bird. Maybe it is a slow feathering pullet, although I kind of hope it is a boy, because this falling asleep all the time doesn't seem healthy (and the boys are headed for the freezer, not a breeding program).

Thanks for your help!