Which rooster breed will compliment my hen breeds? Genetics question

oliviaandjosh4

Chirping
5 Years
Apr 28, 2014
239
5
73
I am wanting to get a rooster so I can hatch some baby chicks this spring. I want to get one that will make some cool crosses with my hens.
The hen breeds I have are: EE's, Lavender Orps, Australorps, and Sex Links black & red.
The rooster breeds I am looking into buying that are close to where I live are Buff Orp, white Ameraucana or EE (not sure which), or cuckoo marans.

If I got the cuckoo marans and crossed it with my EE's that lay blue eggs, would that make a possible olive egg layer??
Overall, I'm wanting to make crosses that will be pretty and unique in color or lay different colored eggs.
 
I am wanting to get a rooster so I can hatch some baby chicks this spring. I want to get one that will make some cool crosses with my hens.
The hen breeds I have are: EE's, Lavender Orps, Australorps, and Sex Links black & red.
The rooster breeds I am looking into buying that are close to where I live are Buff Orp, white Ameraucana or EE (not sure which), or cuckoo marans.

If I got the cuckoo marans and crossed it with my EE's that lay blue eggs, would that make a possible olive egg layer??
Overall, I'm wanting to make crosses that will be pretty and unique in color or lay different colored eggs.

Yes. If your EE's lay blue eggs a Cuckoo Marans will create olive eggs. If you get a EE that lays green eggs, you will get different colored olive eggs- lighter/ greener. If you use a Black Copper Marans rooster, you will get a deeper, darker olive egg as the BCM usually lay the darkest eggs of the Marans. Not always true in every case, but usually.

A cuckoo Marans will likely darken the eggs of the sexlinks/ or any brown egg layer some. A BCM will darken to a greater extent. A RIR mixed with a BCM is a popular hybrid cross in the UK, called, "Marans Cuivre." A cuckoo marans mixed with RIR is a hybrid called, "Speckledy."

UK hybrid crosses
  • Bovans Goldline (Rhode Island Red / Light Sussex)
  • Warren, Marans Cuivre (Rhode Island Red / Marans, cross)
  • Bovans Nera, Black Star, Nera, Rhode Rock (Rhode Island Red / Barred Plymouth Rock, cross)
  • Speckledy (Marans / Rhode Island Red)
 
The Marans over a blue egg layer should give you olive, but Ee genetics can be a wild card. You should get some shade of green at the least. He'll throw mostly black barred or cuckoo offspring, so be sure black barred is a look you like.
Hard to say what the white bird would throw. Seems like Ee are usually recessive white, so the hen's color would come through. Depending on his genetics you'd get blue, green or brown egg layers.

The buff would throw some colorful babies. Buff is strong genetically so even your extended black Aussie hens would have buff and black babies. You'd get brown and green egg offspring.
 
Last edited:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom