What breed are these 3?

[blucoondawg]

They're roosters and I don't think there ee either they're just a barnyard mix of who knows what

 

[JetCat]

Was told "ameraucana" mixes. Are all EEs supposed to lay bluish-green eggs because ones I've for sale in ads called EEs have been brown/cream layers.

an EE is any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene.

 

[southernhusky]

an EE is any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene.

Thank you for clarifying that for me! Is this a recessive type gene or ? For example an EE roo bred to any non EE hen..chicks bred together(or back to EE roo) would give EEs or ?

 

[southernhusky]

an EE is any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene.

Thank you for clarifying that for me! Is this a recessive type gene or ? For example an EE roo bred to any non EE hen..chicks bred together(or back to EE roo) would give EEs or ?

 

[southernhusky]

Didn't mean to post twice, figured it froze when the page didn't reload. >.<

 

[JetCat]

Thank you for clarifying that for me! Is this a recessive type gene or ? For example an EE roo bred to any non EE hen..chicks bred together(or back to EE roo) would give EEs or ?

again you're getting EE confused as a breed, it's not. an EE is any chicken that carries the blue egg gene. a blue egg is not like a brown egg where the brown is just a coating on the egg, the shell is blue throughout. below is a potential example.........

O = blue egg gene parent o = non blue egg gene parent

OO = all blue egg laying hens
Oo = 50% blue egg laying hens
oo = zero blue egg laying hens

 

[southernhusky]

Ahh okay. I think I'm getting a better understanding now.

 

[QueenMisha]

Still no clue on breeds. Reddish and Yellowish look like almost certainly cockerels. Blackish has a cockerel sorta lean to him/her now, but I wouldn't go making him/her an entree yet - that's still a pretty small comb/wattle s/he's got.

 

[QueenMisha]

Was told "ameraucana" mixes. Are all EEs supposed to lay bluish-green eggs because ones I've for sale in ads called EEs have been brown/cream layers.

EEs are "supposed to" in the sense that they are often sold as blue- or green-Eggers and they often do deliver on that promise, however up to 30% (sometimes exceeding 30% if the stock is very mixed) will lay other colors such as brown, pink, or white. This is a vestige of their original all-color, rainbow layer beginnings.

an EE is any chicken that possesses the blue egg gene. 

This is false. Carrying the blue-egg gene does not automatically qualify a bird as an Easter Egger, and certainly there exist Easter Eggers who do not have the blue-egg gene.

An Easter Egger might be better described as a specific kind of mutt - a "type" rather than a "breed". The Easter Egger population has a tendency towards - but may not always display - certain traits, such as beard/ear muffs, pea comb, slate or willow legs, and blue- or green-egging; however. That said, about 30% of them lack some or even all of these traits. The Easter Egger was originally created in the 1970s, as a "rainbow layer" - the original Easter-Egger laid everything from sky blue to pink. In recent times they have been generally bred towards blue- and green-egg laying, although like I said, up to or even exceeding 30% of them (depending on stock) will lay a non-blue/green egg. They were originally created by crossing Ameraucanas, Araucanas, and many high-production brown egg layers. They are available from most hatcheries and some backyard breeders. They may be sold as Ameraucanas, Araucanas, Americaunas, and Americanas, among other misspellings, but 99% of the time, they are Easter Eggers.

Thank you for clarifying that for me! Is this a recessive type gene or ? For example an EE roo bred to any non EE hen..chicks bred together(or back to EE roo) would give EEs or ?

EE genetics are incredibly unpredictable. It's kind of like putting together a pen of chickens, half of which lay blue eggs and half of which lay brown, letting them breed and cross randomly for 10-40 generations, and then randomly plucking a rooster out of the pen and holding it up, saying, "Will this bird's daughters produce blue eggs? Will their plumage be the same color as his? Will they also have a modified strawberry comb?"

EE x EE will produce EEs. You won't be able to easily predict plumage or egg color of the offspring because you are essentially crossing two mutts. They will be EEs as they will most likely share at least some certain traits (muff/beard, pea comb, slate or willow legs, possibly blue-egging).

Whether or not they lay blue does depend on genetics. The gene symbol for the dominant blue egg gene is O; it is an allele of the recessive white egging gene, o. Let's say a bird is O/O. Two dominant blue egging genes. This bird will produce green-egging daughters when bred to a brown egg layer and light blue-egging daughters when bred to a white egg layer. If bred to another O/O bird it will produce 100% blue egging offsprinf (and as I recall homozygous blue-Eggers tend to have a deeper blue egg as well).

The problem with EEs is that you have no idea what genes your male posses, as he does not lay eggs. Is he O/O? O/o? At the worst he is o/o and "lays" brown or white eggs. The only way to be sure is test breeding, which is of course a lengthy process - you need to raise him up, raise hens up, pick suitable hens who are either O/o or O/O, some that are o/o, breed them, produce enough offspring that you will have a good sampling of daughters, wait until they start laying, and even then it may take a second generation to determine exactly what genetics your male possess. Hens are easier - if it lays blue it's either O/o or O/O, if it lays green it's O/o with brown egging genes, and if lays white or brown it's o/o.

 

[southernhusky]

Still no clue on breeds. Reddish and Yellowish look like almost certainly cockerels. Blackish has a cockerel sorta lean to him/her now, but I wouldn't go making him/her an entree yet - that's still a pretty small comb/wattle s/he's got.

Thank you QueenMisha for such a detailed post about EEs and blue egg gene! I'm not sure I could eat those 3 anyways, would have to have hubby do that >.> and not think too much about it. Only 3 from my first hatch I still have. Oh well. I agree though. The biggest one chases off my smaller bantams but I have a huge area with a ton of hiding spaces. The yellowish one minds his own business, isn't assertive at all but enjoys finding the highest roost possible(one night went to check and couldn't find him, he was on the rafters of the barn, near the middle...I can just imagine the balancing act & jumping to get to that rafter. Time will tell they are barely over 11 weeks now anyhow. I do know for sure they hatched from brown eggs though so probably don't carry the blue egg gene. But I was new to chickens at the time, I didn't pay much. And from what I'm reading now hatching eggs for what I paid are a steal even for barnyard mutts.