What color eggs would you get..

[melodie_a]

I have an Easter Egger that lays mint green eggs and I have a blue wheaten Ameraucana and I was wondering what color eggs the offspring of these two would lay? Does anyone know?

 

[Ridgerunner]

No one can tell you for sure. It depends on the genetics of the parents. With those chickens though, if that is a true Ameraucana and not just an Easter Egger, you will get colored eggs. A true Ameraucana has two copies of the blue egg shell gene so all his daughters will get a copy. Since the blue egg shell gene is dominant over the white, all eggs will be colored. That’s the easy part. But if you get any brown eggs, he is not a true Ameraucana.

As you probably know, green is just brown in addition to the blue. There are a whole lot of different genes that contribute to the brown. Some of those are dominant, some recessive. Some of those add brown or modify the shade of brown. Some actually restrict brown. That means that even if some brown genes are present, if the right genes are present to neutralize those, you can still get a blue instead of green egg.

I really prefer the mint green eggs over the other shades. With those two you’d intuitively think you would get eggs the same shade of green or maybe lighter and closer to blue, but I think you are more likely to get varying shades of green eggs, with a possibility of some pretty close to blue if that rooster has the dominant gene that restricts brown. You may even get some more olive shaded than minty green. There is only one way to find out for sure. Raise a few pullets and let them lay eggs.

 

[melodie_a]

Thank you so much for that answer Ridgerunner. I have been running myself in circles with genetics info, that really helps a lot. He is definitely not an EE came from a reputable breeder with great lines of stock so he should carry the blue genes. I think I may try it and see what kind of EE's I end up with, no matter what they will be cute but I will keep my fingers crossed for some "blueish" egg layers!

 

[melodie_a]

I will also keep my fingers crossed I don't just end up with a bunch of cute little EE Roos! My track record lately has been VERY roo heavy!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you really want to dig into egg shell color genetics, try these. The thread wound up being as much about green eggs as brown, and the article can make your head spin with all the info.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/840867/clarifying-brown-egg-genetics

http://www.maranschickenclubusa.com/files/eggreview.pdf

I know what you mean about the sex of hatches. I hardly ever get a hatch that is 50-50. They are usually closer to 70-30 but can go either way. I have 21 in the brooder now. It’s too early to be sure but I think about 15 of those are male. I did average out my hatches over a 2 year period last fall. It came to exactly 50-50.

 

[melodie_a]

Yep 15 out of 21, that is about right for my average.