The Olive-Egger thread!

[Lensters]

I've been make essentially that same cross... Gold Duckwing Araucana over "Dark Egg Sexlinks" (Welsummer X Cuckoo Marans), Cuckoo Marans and White Marans. From the first two sets of hens I get tufted black pullets, just the cutest little olive eggers. However, so far I've only sold one. On the other hand I can't keep up with the demand for blue eggers. I have picked the eggs for tomorrows set (limited by incubator size to 288) and I'm only setting 6 eggs that will be olive eggers and we will be eating some nice, dark Marans eggs.

 

[dinahmoe]

just wanted to get everyones opinion.
i have a clean faced wheaten ameraucana roo(goes back to pipsandpeeps),so i hatched him from a very blue egg.i have 3 blue wheaten ameraucanas but i don't have any EEs. i do have some black and blue copper marans.its not like i need to start a new project but after reading what ya'll are doing i thought it might work.
if i sell him do ya'll think he would work well for someone else's olive egger project?
here is a picture.he is a month older now than in the picture.(14 weeks)

 

[Happy Chooks]

He's gorgeous!

 

[cottagegarden]

OH YEAH!! He would be a great for a project, and someone might just buy him to make pretty EEs. I find I have to let some girls go to find homes for the roos if you want to get someone started. But he's pretty cool so you just might find him a home.
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[LaSombra]

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ditto. beautiful!

 

[kathyinmo]

My first time ....
I just hatched a few of my EE eggs. The roosters in this pen are all BCM. All the chicks look black. Will they look like Marans?

 

[Lensters]

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I think that the end up looking more like Black Ameraucanas but it probable depends a lot on the genetics of your EEs.

 

[kathyinmo]

This is what my EEs look like. (I am at work, and this is the only picture I can find right now). BCM roo over them, and the chicks, so far, are all black.

ETA: Lensters: Did you notice that you and I registered on the same date? !

Oh, I just saw a picture on post 94 by Birch Run. I am thinking that is what mine will look like.

 

[Lensters]

Your EEs have higher tailsets and shorter back and neck than Ameraucanas and Rupert has a long neck, more angled back and higher tailset than the Marans standard calls for, so the chicks will look a lot like both since they don't differ all that much. Do the chicks have tufts like the EEs? How about the combs, are they pea combs? Are the shanks yellow or grey? They might end up looking more like the EEs once they are older.

 

[kathyinmo]

They just hatched a couple days ago, and I have not inspected them well. They just all hatched out black. I will check them more closely when I get home.