Using a French Black copper Marans Roo on other breeds (isa brown, RIR) to increase egg production but keep dark eggs? Is it possible?

[The Moonshiner]

Here are the eggs they hatched from:
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Oh I believed it came from a Marans egg but your Ameraucana rooster isn't a true/pure Ameraucana

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Oh I believed it came from a Marans egg but your Ameraucana rooster isn't a true/pure Ameraucana

It's not my rooster but the Ameracauna from the blue egg is definitely an Ameracauna. The egg is blue inside and out and the chicken has muffs and slate legs. She isn't the first I've owned but the others came from a breeder. I don't buy from him anymore because the last pullet he sold me was partially blind but that's another story.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Here's the thing-i want to be wrong. I really do. But if this could be done (a high production Maran cross whose eggs were true to the dark brown color Marans are famous for) then it would have been done and we would all have heard about it. And I would be buying them up no matter how hideous they were hahaha

 

[The Moonshiner]

You said you had a BCM Ameracauna cross and posted a brown egg that it laid.
What I'm saying is that the Ameracauna parent to that bird wasn't a true Ameracauna. Couldn't have been to produce a brown egg laying offspring.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

You said you had a BCM Ameracauna cross and posted a brown egg that it laid.
What I'm saying is that the Ameracauna parent to that bird wasn't a true Ameracauna. Couldn't have been to produce a brown egg laying offspring.

You might be right-I didn't "meet the parents" but there were only two roosters and the black Ameraucana rooster over a black Ameraucana hen produced a black Ameraucana chick so I am making an assumption that daddy is a true Ameraucana. I think its a safe assumption given the cross having the feathered legs and muffs. Do you know anyone who is an expert on Maran genetics we can tag? Have you seen anyone successfully cross BCMs with a brown egg layer and get chocolate brown eggs? You seem to think its possible hypothetically. I am scouring the SOP thread but so far haven't found anything about crosses and egg color.

 

[The Moonshiner]

You might be right-I didn't "meet the parents" but there were only two roosters and the black Ameraucana rooster over a black Ameraucana hen produced a black Ameraucana chick so I am making an assumption that daddy is a true Ameraucana. I think its a safe assumption given the cross having the feathered legs and muffs. Do you know anyone who is an expert on Maran genetics we can tag? Have you seen anyone successfully cross BCMs with a brown egg layer and get chocolate brown eggs? You seem to think its possible hypothetically. I am scouring the SOP thread but so far haven't found anything about crosses and egg color.

No I said a Marans crossed to a regular shade brown egg layer would not produce offspring that would entirely lose the genes responsible for the dark eggs but would lose some.
The offspring should lay eggs darker then regular brown but not as dark as a Marans.
There was another poster that stated that's exactly what their crossing produced.

A true Ameraucana has two genes for blue egg shells. It has no choice but to pass one on. It can't produce offspring that lay brown eggs. So I'm not just assuming the Ameraucana in question wasn't pure.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I’ve had mix chickens with all of those traits as well so it is possible. And it’s also possible he was mostly Am but had something else further back which would make him appear pure even if he wasn’t. This was a Lav Orp/EE mix I had. Could pass for black Am

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

No I said a Marans crossed to a regular shade brown egg layer would not produce offspring that would entirely lose the genes responsible for the dark eggs but would lose some.
The offspring should lay eggs darker then regular brown but not as dark as a Marans.
There was another poster that stated that's exactly what their crossing produced.

A true Ameraucana has two genes for blue egg shells. It has no choice but to pass one on. It can't produce offspring that lay brown eggs. So I'm not just assuming the Ameraucana in question wasn't pure.

I see. That makes sense. I saw the post about the salmon fav x bcm egg but there was no picture. I guess I don't see the appeal of crossing the BCM if you're only going to get slightly darker eggs. Just hatch more BCMs

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I’ve had mix chickens with all of those traits as well so it is possible. And it’s also possible he was mostly Am but had something else further back which would make him appear pure even if he wasn’t. This was a Lav Orp/EE mix I had. Could pass for black Am

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What color eggs does yours lay?

 

[ShrekDawg]

What color eggs does yours lay?

That one unfortunately got taken by a hawk before POL but I had other similar looking ones that laid blue.