I hatched 3 babies from a white easter egger hen on Christmas Day. Their colors are pretty cool, and it got me wondering if it's because of the mom's color or if the rooster I suspected was the father is not actually the father. These are the first eggs I've hatched from this hen.
I ended up with 2 babies with light grey-ish down and 1 with light yellow down with chipmunk stripes. I have no idea what they will look like when they grow up.
I expected my main rooster to be the father. He rules the flock and I've seen him mate succesfully with this particular hen. This rooster is black, and based on some other conversations I've had about his previous offspring, I suspect he carries the gene for extended black. He mostly has produced black babies from my hens who are lavender, blue, black, and silver. He has produced a few blue babies, but they hatch out looking black and are indistinguishable from the black chicks until they begin growing feathers.
My other rooster I think would be considered splash. He is the son of the above rooster and from a blue hen. This rooster is 7 months old, and has not established himself amongst the hens yet. I have seen him make moves on this particular hen whose babies I hatched, but I've never seen a successful coupling. Usually she either gets away or he gets run off by the big rooster or some dominant hens. But he has had his eye on this particular hen, so it's possible.
So... do I have different colored babies because of the hen's color, or did my little "baby" rooster successfully shack up with this her?
The hen:
More baby pics
The pics don't really captyure just how light colored the blue/grey chicks are. Both of them also have yellowish/whiteish spots above their eyes, too. One is more prominent than the other. What colors do you think the babies will be?
And if you wonder why I care, it's because I am curious of this yougn rooster will be able to produce more colors than my black one. My black chickens are stunning, but I'm getting too many and can't tell them apart!
I ended up with 2 babies with light grey-ish down and 1 with light yellow down with chipmunk stripes. I have no idea what they will look like when they grow up.
I expected my main rooster to be the father. He rules the flock and I've seen him mate succesfully with this particular hen. This rooster is black, and based on some other conversations I've had about his previous offspring, I suspect he carries the gene for extended black. He mostly has produced black babies from my hens who are lavender, blue, black, and silver. He has produced a few blue babies, but they hatch out looking black and are indistinguishable from the black chicks until they begin growing feathers.
My other rooster I think would be considered splash. He is the son of the above rooster and from a blue hen. This rooster is 7 months old, and has not established himself amongst the hens yet. I have seen him make moves on this particular hen whose babies I hatched, but I've never seen a successful coupling. Usually she either gets away or he gets run off by the big rooster or some dominant hens. But he has had his eye on this particular hen, so it's possible.
So... do I have different colored babies because of the hen's color, or did my little "baby" rooster successfully shack up with this her?
The hen:
More baby pics
The pics don't really captyure just how light colored the blue/grey chicks are. Both of them also have yellowish/whiteish spots above their eyes, too. One is more prominent than the other. What colors do you think the babies will be?
And if you wonder why I care, it's because I am curious of this yougn rooster will be able to produce more colors than my black one. My black chickens are stunning, but I'm getting too many and can't tell them apart!
