The Olive-Egger thread!

[Medicine Man]

This photo goes in two threads I guess?

 

[Medicine Man]

That egg is almost always like that, Recon Green, but she has run out of brown and laid blue eggs or pale green or a aort of pastel olive with braun spots. Have eggs saved for photos but I didn't do it yet.

 

[Illia]

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Gorgeous trio of eggs!!

 

[Medicine Man]

thank you I'm working hard on those olives.

 

[phasianidae]

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Awesome eggs!

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Wynette!!

Today was finally the day!

Full disclosure: My boss thinks I was late because I was having car trouble.

Truth: I was glued to the coop watching my first little olive egger lay her first olive egg.

AND IT'S A BEAUTY!!! The picture doesn't truly capture the color, but its a deep olive with a gorgeous very slight golden hue.

And here's the rub! While its an older picture of her, this is the hen that laid the olive egg, single comb and all!!

I can't believe it!! And I wouldn't if I hadn't seen it with my very own eyes!! I had no hope that she would be laying olive eggs, but she is such a pretty girl and such a sweetie I was going to keep her regardless!! Yahooooo!!

 

[Medicine Man]

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lucky lucky! let her pick some lotteries for you!

Congrats on the beautiful egg from the beautiful pullet.

question for people: we talk of the blue egg gene as being dominant; and the pea comb's dominance as well; AND they usually go hand-in-hand (due to locations in close proximity), to the point where people typ. just cull all straight combs; SO, what I'm curios of now is, in this odd case where a single-combed pullet carries the blue egg gene: is the blue egg gene still dominant? or has it been just getting a free ride typ. by piggy-backing with the pea comb? this might be a stupid question, i don't know what i don't know.

 

[Happy Chooks]

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Congrats! Gorgeous girl and a gorgeous egg!

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

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Thanks!!! She is a very pretty girl!

I appreciate you asking that question! I've had it on my mind all morning after I saw that egg pop out. Very interested in what folks will say...

 

[Wynette]

WOOT! YIPPEE, I'm SO excited that your little single combed blue girl lays OLIVE, Neeley! WOOT! Now that's worth the wait, eh?

MM - I think your "piggyback" anology is correct, but I'm not sure. I don't know that we can know without some test breeding!

As far as the "blend" of my olive eggers, the momma to most was a Penedesenca X Marans, then the eggs I sold were those offspring bred back to the Marans rooster (who hatched from an extremely dark egg). I was unhappy with the golden overcast to the eggs, though the color was different & IMO, pretty. I really have been after a true, dark olive color. So, I decided to sell most of my stock & sort of go back to my first generation.

She was a beautiful girl that laid very speckly, medium green eggs with a golden cast - I've posted some of her eggs before, but here's another pic:

I sent her to a friend who had a gorgeous, purebred blue ameraucana that comes from a green-egg laying line. Hatched a few, kept the pullets, and I now have 3 of them - they are black, so they must be carrying the recessive blue (meaning subsequent offspring "should" be 50% black, 50% blue, but you never know just what you'll get with mutts!). Here they are as 18 weekers:

My hope was that I would get a medium, TRUE olive green without that golden overcast, and one just began to lay this past week - I have gotten just two eggs from her (this time of year, it's always hit or miss with laying in my area, and I do not use lights on them), and I am very pleased with what I've seen - they are a nice, medium olive green....so, bred back to my black copper marans, the offspring should lay a VERY dark olive - hopefully, without that golden overcast. I'm uber excited to see what happens next!