White feathered and laying green eggs?

[J-Habs]

I am wondering if I can create a hen that has white feathers but lays green eggs using some of the birds from my flock. Specifically, I have an F4 Olive Egger rooster and I was wondering if breeding it to either my RSL or Silver Leghorn would make this bird. I'm not an expert in chicken genetics, but I mentioned my RSL and SL because it is my understanding that they carry the white gene which is dominant.

 

[NatJ]

I am wondering if I can create a hen that has white feathers but lays green eggs using some of the birds from my flock. Specifically, I have an F4 Olive Egger rooster and I was wondering if breeding it to either my RSL or Silver Leghorn would make this bird. I'm not an expert in chicken genetics, but I mentioned my RSL and SL because it is my understanding that they carry the white gene which is dominant.

Yes, you probably can do that.

What color is your rooster? (A photo would be nice, if you are able to post one. Otherwise a description.) His color determines whether it will be a one-generation project or a two-generation project. For a really nice white, it might take a few more generations of selective breeding, but I think you can get at least a mostly-white hen within 2 generations from what you've got.

 

[J-Habs]

 

[NatJ]

View attachment 3712891

To get white-feathered offspring from him with the hens you named will take two generations:

Generation 1, breed your current rooster to the Silver Leghorn hen, and keep a son. Get a genetic test on that son, to be sure he has the blue egg gene. https://iqbirdtesting.com/blueegg

Generation 2, breed that son to the Red Sexlink hen. About 3/4 of the daughters will be the wrong colors (gold & white, or gold & black, or silver & black), and about half of them will lay brown eggs. But about 1/8 of the daughters will be white and lay green eggs.

After that if you want more, you can breed white pullets (who lay green eggs) to white males (preferably with the blue egg gene. That should give a better rate of white ones in the next generation.

You will be working with two genes for white:
"Dominant White" turns black into white
"silver" turns gold into white (is on the Z sex chromosome, so it inherits differently in males & females. I can explain more if you want, or you can just follow what I said above and not worry about the genetic reasoning for it.)

Since your rooster has gold and black, you need to get the Silver gene from someone (like the Silver Leghorn) and the Dominant White gene from someone else (like the Red Sexlink.)

Do you have any hens that are solid black or blue? Another path is to breed a rooster with solid black or blue, then use him on the Red Sexlink to get chicks with black-turned-white. Or breed a rooster with Dominant White (Red Sexlink mother) and use him on hens that are solid black or blue, to get the same effect. This method would ignore gold/silver, and just cover it up with black (which then turns white because of Dominant White.)

 

[J-Habs]

To get white-feathered offspring from him with the hens you named will take two generations:

Generation 1, breed your current rooster to the Silver Leghorn hen, and keep a son. Get a genetic test on that son, to be sure he has the blue egg gene. https://iqbirdtesting.com/blueegg

Generation 2, breed that son to the Red Sexlink hen. About 3/4 of the daughters will be the wrong colors (gold & white, or gold & black, or silver & black), and about half of them will lay brown eggs. But about 1/8 of the daughters will be white and lay green eggs.

After that if you want more, you can breed white pullets (who lay green eggs) to white males (preferably with the blue egg gene. That should give a better rate of white ones in the next generation.

You will be working with two genes for white:
"Dominant White" turns black into white
"silver" turns gold into white (is on the Z sex chromosome, so it inherits differently in males & females. I can explain more if you want, or you can just follow what I said above and not worry about the genetic reasoning for it.)

Since your rooster has gold and black, you need to get the Silver gene from someone (like the Silver Leghorn) and the Dominant White gene from someone else (like the Red Sexlink.)

Do you have any hens that are solid black or blue? Another path is to breed a rooster with solid black or blue, then use him on the Red Sexlink to get chicks with black-turned-white. Or breed a rooster with Dominant White (Red Sexlink mother) and use him on hens that are solid black or blue, to get the same effect. This method would ignore gold/silver, and just cover it up with black (which then turns white because of Dominant White.)

Thanks!

 

[J-Habs]

I have blue and black Australorp hens and cockerals from them, but their father was a Speckled Sussex.

 

[NatJ]

I have blue and black Australorp hens and cockerals from them, but their father was a Speckled Sussex.

You could use one of them with either the current rooster (to get the blue egg gene, & keep a son) or the Red Sexlink (to get Dominant White, & keep some daughters), and then breed the resulting chicks to the right parent to get the other gene they need.

Either of those would probably give you a nicer white than trying for Silver + Dominant White.

Many existing white chicken breeds are gentically black with Dominant White making them white.

 

[J-Habs]

You could use one of them with either the current rooster (to get the blue egg gene, & keep a son) or the Red Sexlink (to get Dominant White, & keep some daughters), and then breed the resulting chicks to the right parent to get the other gene they need.

Either of those would probably give you a nicer white than trying for Silver + Dominant White.

Many existing white chicken breeds are gentically black with Dominant White making them

 

[J-Habs]

Thanks for the input. I'll try that.