The Olive-Egger thread!

[LoneCowboy]

Oh cool I'm not the only one with olive eggs. I'll have to get pic tomorrow. I crossed an EEer roo with a red sexlink. I was trying for a higher producing green egg layer and she started early to lay and lays nearly everyday. I also crossed a Black Sexlink with a Blue amercauna Roo and I'm getting really cool teal colored eggs.

 

[onthespot]

Ooooh! Post pics of the teal eggs too when you have time!

 

[tfpets]

So Patty - Here are my choices to start with and what do you recommend on the first lines for an Olive Egger project.

I have the Black Copper Marans. 1 Rooster - 4 Hens.

I have one EE hen that lays a large green egg.

I have one Blue Ameraucana that lays a medium sized Blue egg.

My other EE pullets are too young to tell what they are laying yet?

Which hen should I breed with the BC Marans Rooster.

I also have a Beautiful Blue Ameraucana Rooster, and an Easter Egger Rooster....I could put them over any hen you recommend as well.

Tina/tfpets

 

[minifarm8]

onthespot
Today 10:35 pm that is exactly what you do. I don't think you need to cross back for blue egg gene ever again, once you have it. Theoretically you could have birds that look exactly like BCM but pea combed that would lay very dark olive eggs after a few generations crossing back on dark egg lines.

What a bummer. My rooster is a Wheaten Ameraucana. I have a Maran/Ameraucana egg due to hatch Friday. Hoping for pretty things. Might have to talk the DH into another roo.

 

[onthespot]

one reason to cross back to blue is if you need more intense blue than the blue you started with. Hang onto the pea combed roo. Besides, you will be hatching single combed babies that will need to cross back to the pea comb to get the blue genes back.

 

[monarc23]

OMG YAY!!!


I will be jumping this bandwagon sooon!!!

I'm getting

Marans over EE
and Marans over Orps
I'm breeding for pure Ameraucanas
May be getting some pure marans
annnnd I also have some EEs

!!!!

 

[onthespot]

Quote:
Here's what I would do and why...
I would put the EE that lays the largest egg in with your CBM flock. You can easily tell her eggs apart from the CBM eggs. When it all comes down to it, it is all about the egg. The richest olive egg that is a small/medium isn't nearly as appealing as a large, well formed, great looking egg that might be a shade lighter, this generation. From the little I have seen so far, egg size is a definite inheritable trait and no one ever says, That egg is too big. I want a hen that lays a wimpier egg please... lol.

I would not "waste" good CBM hens on an olive egger project unless they lay a disappointing color of egg. In that case, put them in with the blue Ameraucana roo too. Too bad he is not a splash, cuz then you could just cross in and out at will and always know who the "baby daddy" is. Another trait that may help you to tell heritage during the transition stage between roos is pea comb, blue gene, muffs and feather legs, but the feather legs only if your CBM roo is homozygous for feather legs. If he only carries one gene for feather legs (which you will know pretty quickly when you start hatching out his babies from the EE hen. If they are all feather legged he is likely homozygous. If you get a bit of both, he only carries one gene and you can't use that as a trait to sort out rooster fathers from your olive egger project birds. The same thing goes for the muff. Could be homozygous, or single gene in your Ameraucana roo. You will only know after some babies hatch.)

If you plan on selling pure CBM eggs I would NOT be crossing your best layers with the Ameraucana unless you were leaving yourself plenty of room to wait a month between roos to make sure your eggs are pure before you offer them for sale again after exposing them to the Ameraucana roo.

 

[tfpets]

Quote:
Thanks for your help.

I will be putting my Green egg layer in with the CBM's at least, I'll do that tomorrow!
Tina

 

[warhorse]

Bleh. I'm not so much into the olive eggs, but I had bought some EE from a guy and he had several barred EE-dominque pullets. He said that the beard/ pea comb he had found to be not only an indicator of the blue egg gene but also a sex-link, that all the bearded barred chicks would be pullets. Well, out of the four I got one ended up a roo after all. They were all very similar in type, though; all had muffs, beards, and pea combs and the barring. I think he used an EE roo on dominique hens. Unfortunately, all those hens I had from hen were lost in the great weasel raid back in October.

 

[erin0415]

I'm a little confused on how the blue gene is passed down. I'm trying to figure it out before my chicks are all grown up. I have a various bunch of EEs, 2 bc marans that I think are both boys (one with feathered legs, one without), a pair of cuckoo marans. Does it make a difference as to whether the chicken with the blue gene is the rooster or the hen? If the chicken hatches out of a blue/green egg and has a straight comb does it carry any part of the blue gene that it can pass on?? For example, I have a chick that hatched from a blue egg who's father is a blue rock and the mother is a blue aracauna. It has a straight comb. Is it possible for it to have offspring that lay blue/green eggs?? Does anyone know of a chart that shows how the inheritance of the blue gene works? Thanks!!