The Olive-Egger thread!

[Manningjw]

I believe that cross should be sexlink meaning all barred chicks from that cross will be male.

They should all be blue as well correct? A splash rooster carries two copies of blue which results in splash and will pass on one to every off spring.

 

[chicken pickin]

They should all be blue as well correct? A splash rooster carries two copies of blue which results in splash and will pass on one to every off spring.

I think you are correct in that. Here is a breed chart for blue black splash
http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/9/95/350x700px-LL-952b07a0_Breedingblues.jpeg

 

[Heatherschix]

F3 olive egger...she has almost shed all her baby fluff and has a lovely temperament.
She is also pictured in my profile

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Question: I asked it before, but did not receive an answer, I bought chicks that were dark brown layers, crossed with Easter Eggers, as "Olive Layers". One of those chicks has turned out to be a Rooster. If he fertilizes eggs, will his breeding have an impact on the eggs his offspring will lay?

Though pea comb is useful it is not a 100% thing, the genes are close but not necessarily passed together.

There are several breeds of chicken from around the world that lay blue/green eggs that have other combs. The only way to be 100% sure what DNA your roo has is to test breed him to a white egg layer (make sure you do not use a leghorn for this) and then wait for his daughters to lay and see if you get blue, green, brown or white eggs. The white egg layer test hen allows you to see what genes in total he is capable of contributing. With roos regardless of comb you should test breed them if you are dealing with a hidden trait like a roo's egg colour genes. (Only use Leghorns if you want to inhibit brown egger genes to get bluer eggs.)

Pea Comb is close to the O gene but not actually linked.

A few Blue Gene Breeds/Hybrids:

Easter Eggers & Olive Eggers = really they can have any comb type, though pea comb common.
Ameraucana = pea comb
Araucana = pea comb
Cream Legbar = single comb
Dongxiang = single comb
Lushi= single comb
Isbar= single comb
Fenton Blue = pea & single comb
Arkansas Blue = pea & single comb

There are other breeds I have read about I just can not remember the names… my point is just because pea comb with blue egg gene is common in the USA does not mean it is only combination capable of reliably passing the O gene.

In addition there are many private project lines of various breeds with non-pea combs that lay blue eggs.

This is why if just egg colour is the concern then test breeding is the only way to be 100% sure you are culling the right roos. If however you want a specific comb type then you will need to breed for that as well. Remember the O gene & pea comb are dominate but the single comb is recessive and they are separate genes, so you will probably get more pea combs then single but that does not tell you which birds will get the O gene.

Happy genetics recombination.

 

[ronott1]

Though pea comb is useful it is not a 100% thing, the genes are close but not necessarily passed together.

There are several breeds of chicken from around the world that lay blue/green eggs that have other combs. The only way to be 100% sure what DNA your roo has is to test breed him to a white egg layer (make sure you do not use a leghorn for this) and then wait for his daughters to lay and see if you get blue, green, brown or white eggs. The white egg layer test hen allows you to see what genes in total he is capable of contributing. With roos regardless of comb you should test breed them if you are dealing with a hidden trait like a roo's egg colour genes. (Only use Leghorns if you want to inhibit brown egger genes to get bluer eggs.)

Pea Comb is close to the O gene but not actually linked.

A few Blue Gene Breeds/Hybrids:

Easter Eggers & Olive Eggers = really they can have any comb type, though pea comb common.
Ameraucana = pea comb
Araucana = pea comb
Cream Legbar = single comb
Dongxiang = single comb
Lushi= single comb
Isbar= single comb
Fenton Blue = pea & single comb
Arkansas Blue = pea & single comb

There are other breeds I have read about I just can not remember the names… my point is just because pea comb with blue egg gene is common in the USA does not mean it is only combination capable of reliably passing the O gene.

In addition there are many private project lines of various breeds with non-pea combs that lay blue eggs.

This is why if just egg colour is the concern then test breeding is the only way to be 100% sure you are culling the right roos. If however you want a specific comb type then you will need to breed for that as well. Remember the O gene & pea comb are dominate but the single comb is recessive and they are separate genes, so you will probably get more pea combs then single but that does not tell you which birds will get the O gene.

Happy genetics recombination.

Genetic testing has been started to see if the blue gene is present.

I will see if I can find more information.

 

[KendyF]

Though pea comb is useful it is not a 100% thing, the genes are close but not necessarily passed together.

There are several breeds of chicken from around the world that lay blue/green eggs that have other combs. The only way to be 100% sure what DNA your roo has is to test breed him to a white egg layer (make sure you do not use a leghorn for this) and then wait for his daughters to lay and see if you get blue, green, brown or white eggs. The white egg layer test hen allows you to see what genes in total he is capable of contributing. With roos regardless of comb you should test breed them if you are dealing with a hidden trait like a roo's egg colour genes. (Only use Leghorns if you want to inhibit brown egger genes to get bluer eggs.)

Pea Comb is close to the O gene but not actually linked.

A few Blue Gene Breeds/Hybrids:

Easter Eggers & Olive Eggers = really they can have any comb type, though pea comb common.
Ameraucana = pea comb
Araucana = pea comb
Cream Legbar = single comb
Dongxiang = single comb
Lushi= single comb
Isbar= single comb
Fenton Blue = pea & single comb
Arkansas Blue = pea & single comb

There are other breeds I have read about I just can not remember the names… my point is just because pea comb with blue egg gene is common in the USA does not mean it is only combination capable of reliably passing the O gene.

In addition there are many private project lines of various breeds with non-pea combs that lay blue eggs.

This is why if just egg colour is the concern then test breeding is the only way to be 100% sure you are culling the right roos. If however you want a specific comb type then you will need to breed for that as well. Remember the O gene & pea comb are dominate but the single comb is recessive and they are separate genes, so you will probably get more pea combs then single but that does not tell you which birds will get the O gene.

Happy genetics recombination.

This is great information. I have hatched my first chicks this summer, so I haven't tried to understand genetics yet. However, I find I am going to want to understand!!!

 

[buckabucka]

Question:  I asked it before, but did not receive an answer, I bought chicks that were dark brown layers, crossed with Easter Eggers, as "Olive Layers".  One of those chicks has turned out to be a Rooster.  If he fertilizes eggs, will his breeding have an impact on the eggs his offspring will lay?

I had really good luck with this. I hatched some shipped olive layers, but I ended up with mostly cockerels, so I kept one. He does have a pea comb. As long as you are not bothered by the uncertainty of it all, he might be worth experimenting with. I'm glad I did, but I have a lot of space here.

 

[Heatherschix]

My OE is a cross between french copper marans and cream legbar...so they will have a lovely single comb

 

[TheChookPatch]

Every other year I've selected for pea comb and have only had one that layed a pinky purple tinged egg. This year I've had dark olive egger roo over all these girls eggs (except the aras, I bought those) but also a cream legbar roo so I now have the single comb thrown into the mix. I've pulled all the boys out now to pen up for the new season so next months hatch won't be such a lucky dip It will be interesting to see what I get out of this lot though

 

[kara1015]

Another thing that is odd - unless it has just been a long time since i looked at Barred chickens I don't see any bluing in that little guys feathers. All of the off spring from a splash Ameraucana roo should be blue if he is crossed with chickens who are black or barred (would be blue/barred).

Got pictures of the Rooster by chance?

Here's my splash boy...He is pure. I wonder if maybe my white Easter Egger got her! Would that make more sense?