The Olive-Egger thread!

[PalmHen]

These are just beautiful eggs!

In my experience it has been the French Black Copper Marans (FBCM) that lay the darkest of the marans. Welsummers lay a terra cotta colored sometimes speckled egg. My cross of Welsummer and true Ameracuana produced a nice olive egg but not as dark as I wanted. Right now in the incubator I have a FBCM and Cream Legbar cross that will hopefully produce a darker egg color. The picture is of the Wellie/Am cross eggs.

 

[wescottwomen]

Do the crossbreds that lay olive always have the face tufts and or beards or can they have a reg looking head like the other parent are there and specifies I should look for that tell me it's an olive egg layer and not just another brown layer?

I have a silver lace roo and an EE roo and ,3 silver lace hens ,2 EE hens, 2 black hens with little bits of brown on each feather, 1 red hen ,1partrage hen ,4 bar rock hens

 

[Peach2u]

Do the crossbreds that lay olive always have the face tufts and or beards or can they have a reg looking head like the other parent are there and specifies I should look for that tell me it's an olive egg layer and not just another brown layer?

I have a silver lace roo and an EE roo and ,3 silver lace hens ,2 EE hens, 2 black hens with little bits of brown on each feather, 1 red hen ,1partrage hen ,4 bar rock hens

I have bearded and non bearded OE. The comb seems to be the give away for me. Strait combs lay brown and pea/crushed or odd shape combs lay green/olive eggs in my projects. I don't know if this holds true for all of them. But you can always put the one you think lays brown in a private cage to see what it lays. I lock down 1 at a time too see what is being laid by whom.

 

[familyfarmers]

Ok, this is all very confusing, but I think im starting to get it. I have pea comb EE hen and a Welsummer roo. If i hatch their eggs, what will I get? Also, if i cover my Buff Orpington hen with my Welsummer roo, will the offspring lay darker brown eggs? Also, does egg shape effect hatching success (should i only keep the biggest/best shaped eggs for hatching)?

 

[tadkerson]

The pea comb gene is linked very closely to the blue egg shell gene. This is why the blue egg shell gene is found in birds that have pea combs ( they lay blue eggs). If you cross a purebred pea combed blue egg shell chicken with a dark brown and purebred single combed chicken every female chick will have a weird looking comb (neither pea or single) and lay a green egg- the depth of color depends on many factors. Normally if you cross a dark brown ( terracotta, chocolate etc. ) egg layer with a genetic brown egg rooster the resulting pullets will lay a lighter colored egg than the mother.

You always want to set eggs that are well shaped. I have hatched chicks from wierd shaped eggs. If you set a strange shape -candle he egg and make sure the air sac is up on the egg while in the incubator.

Tim

 

[familyfarmers]

Thanks for the reply.

A terracotta hen is bred with a regular brown egg rooster, the resulting pullets will lay lighter eggs than their terracotta egg laying mother; if this is true, then, would a reversal (regular brown egg hen bred with a terracotta gene rooster) result in the pullets laying darker eggs than their mother?

On the subject of my pea combed EE hen, she lays mint green eggs. If I understand the correlation between pea combs and the blue egg gene, my theory is that a cross between my EE (green egg laying) hen and a Welsummer rooster should result in some pea combed offspring that lay olive eggs. Furthermore, if I were to then cross those OE, pea combed hens with an Ameracuana rooster, I should get some blue egg layers, right?

 

[maryhysong]

Thanks for the reply.

A terracotta hen is bred with a regular brown egg rooster, the resulting pullets will lay lighter eggs than their terracotta egg laying mother; if this is true, then, would a reversal (regular brown egg hen bred with a terracotta gene rooster) result in the pullets laying darker eggs than their mother?

On the subject of my pea combed EE hen, she lays mint green eggs. If I understand the correlation between pea combs and the blue egg gene, my theory is that a cross between my EE (green egg laying) hen and a Welsummer rooster should result in some pea combed offspring that lay olive eggs. Furthermore, if I were to then cross those OE, pea combed hens with an Ameracuana rooster, I should get some blue egg layers, right?

I am thinking you will still get mostly green eggs, for true blue you would have to get the blue egg gene from both parents AND zero brown egg genes. My understanding is that any amount of brown in the mix shifts the egg color towards green. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but this is my understanding from what I have been reading.

 

[Peach2u]

Thanks for the reply.

A terracotta hen is bred with a regular brown egg rooster, the resulting pullets will lay lighter eggs than their terracotta egg laying mother; if this is true, then, would a reversal (regular brown egg hen bred with a terracotta gene rooster) result in the pullets laying darker eggs than their mother?

On the subject of my pea combed EE hen, she lays mint green eggs. If I understand the correlation between pea combs and the blue egg gene, my theory is that a cross between my EE (green egg laying) hen and a Welsummer rooster should result in some pea combed offspring that lay olive eggs. Furthermore, if I were to then cross those OE, pea combed hens with an Ameracuana rooster, I should get some blue egg layers, right?

I am thinking you will still get mostly green eggs, for true blue you would have to get the blue egg gene from both parents AND zero brown egg genes. My understanding is that any amount of brown in the mix shifts the egg color towards green. If I'm wrong, please correct me, but this is my understanding from what I have been reading.

As long as the OE in question lays olive eggs. Not brown which can happen with a brown and blue gene cross. I have been doing a project for 4 years now of Ameraucana ,EE and OE with Maran roos.
f1 strait combs = brown eggs, f2 & f3 not always the result. Because I did not breed the brown eggers just green, I now get just green all shades. for my f3's I bred them back to a blue maran. I got hens that lay rich brown and khaki. I"m got rid of the maran roos and am using OE roo. I will not know the out come for that till NOV or so. I think it will send the hens back to laying the med green like the f2's.

My f2 OE. He has an odd comb. He is 14 pounds. The friendliest rooster I have ever seen.

 

[lizanne]

I found this online yesterday. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it's interesting.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

I found this online yesterday. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it's interesting.

ill take some of each please