What color of eggs should I expect?

[donrae]

As for the ear lobes of my white pullet, they appear pinkish white, but I honestly am not sure. I can't catch this chick without a lot of running around like a fool or using a net, which totally stresses her out. Since I don't want to make her more afraid of me, I'm trying to avoid that! I'm going with the assumption that she'll lay white eggs, but I'll know for sure within a couple more months.

Go out at night and pick her up off the roost. Keep her eyes covered and she wont' put up too much fuss. That's the best way for those of us who don't handle our birds regularly to examine them if needed.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm going to do something I hardly ever do, disagree with Sourland. Sourland, I still respect my elders, but in this case I respectfully disagree. That stuff about the ear lobes is sort of a general guideline, but it is not always true.

The way the egg color genetics work, the base egg color is either white or blue. There is no question, it is one or the other. In your case it is white. You can look under that membrane on the inside of the egg shell to see the base color or you can scratch the brown or green off.

There are a lot of genes that control brown, at least 13 different genes. Those can go together in a whole lot of different ways; that's why you can get so many different shades. You can think of the brown as something that goes on top of the base color. If the brown goes on a blue base egg, you get some shade of green. If the brown goes on a white base egg you get a brown egg. If there is no brown, you get either a blue or white egg.

Since the egg the chicken hatched from was white, the chick will get no brown genes from its mother. But the issue is what color egg did the rooster hatch out of. If it was white, then the chick will lay a white egg.

But if the egg the rooster hatched from was brown, the chick will probably lay a brown egg. What shade of brown depends on what genes the father contributed to the genetics. It can certainly be lighter than the egg he came from, but not necessarily so. And you can come up with a genetic sequence where the chick would lay a white egg but that would be pretty rare.

 

[twinmama]

Ridgerunner, thank you for your explanation! I've always been interested in the study of genetics, and I always want to know "Why?" to everything, so I really enjoyed reading that. So is it the brown egg color or the rooster's influence that is dominant? After rereading your reply, I'm thinking that's it's the brown egg color, but I'm not sure.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's the brown egg color genes. It does not matter whether they come from the mother or the father.

 

[devora]

All this is fascinating {falsetto voice w/ jazz hands waved in the air}. School us some more, you wise folks.

That stuff about the ear lobes is sort of a general guideline, but it is not always true.

So I've heard that it's not a particularly good guideline, but I have never heard where it falls apart. Is it w/ EEs?

 

[Ridgerunner]

All this is fascinating {falsetto voice w/ jazz hands waved in the air}. School us some more, you wise folks.  
So I've heard that it's not a particularly good guideline, but I have never heard where it falls apart. Is it w/ EEs? 

To prove my point, I need to just come up with one example. You might check Henderson's Breed Chart, at the link below, and look up Crevecoeur, Holland, Japanese, Lamona, and Penedesenca.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

I did not say it was not a particularly good guideline. I said it was not always true. There is a difference.

 

[devora]

Did I sound like I was arguing w/ ya? No way, I realize that you only needed one example to prove it's "not true" b/c despite all the drugs that tiny part of my brain still works. And I didn't say you said it wasn't a particularly good guideline. Sheeesh. Chill.

 

[stormylady]

Well I suck at genetics! LOL but I do know that the Leghorn that I have lays white eggs, and her four daughters (2) are fathered by a Cuckoo Maran Roo, and the other 2's dad is my orpington Roo and 2 girls lay a very light creamy almost white and the other 2 lay a very light Beige eggs. And all 4 girls have red earlobes.

 

[ChickenExtreme]

Almost soumds line a tetra tint, Roo/RIR with Hen/White Leghorn, they'll lay an off white egg kinda cream color, but yea it depends on the earlobe on most.

 

[sourland]

Hey, Ridgerunner, want to place a bet contingent upon ear lobe color on this particular bird?

My money is still on white earlobes = white egg, red earlobe = brown egg. And none of that negates anything that you have said.



PS, let's drop the respecting your elders baloney.