The AMERAUCANA thread

[EmmaRainboe]

This is my Ameraucana l! I got her (him?) from a local breeder and have no reason to suspect it’s an EE but you guys know best. I’m starts to suspect she is a he so my question is this….what type of colors/look would I get from the following crosses?

Barred rock
Silkie (blue frizzle or partridge)
Australorp (black)
ISA brown

I’m trying to learn all I can about the genetics and breeding and love the idea of introducing a blue egg gene. Thanks all!!

My signal isn’t great here, so I’m having trouble opening the photos to get a good look to comment on gender. So for my post I’ll just be commenting under the assumption he is a black Ameraucana cockerel.

To barred plymouth rock, you will have sexlinks. The males will be barred, and the females will be solid black. The males will have pink shanks, likely with some trace of slate. (Barring restricts slate shanks.) The females will have white skin, likely with more slate on their shanks than the males. All will be muffed. Females will probably lay a minty green. They will all have modified pea combs.

To partridge silkie, you will get smooth feathered offspring. It will have a crest, be muffed. I’d expect nice blue eggs, perhaps with a slight green tint.

To blue frizzle silkie you will get 50% frizzled and 50% blue. So your ratios would look like: 25% hard black, 25% frizzled black, 25% hard blue, and 25% frizzled blue. They will all have a crest, be muffed. And again, I’d expect nice blue eggs, perhaps with a slight green tint.

To black australorp you will have all black offspring. Bluey-green eggs. Modified pea combs. Slate shanks.

To ISA brown not entirely sure. I’d expect funky patterns. Especially with the dominant white in there. You will get green eggs.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

So I was told in passing and I didn’t think to ask for more details so who knows buuuut the individual said a blue egg crossed with a brown egg would = olive egg. So the Amer roo (blue egg) with any of my brown egg laying girls would produce an olive egger. The silkies crosses would lay blue since they come from a white egg.

You will get green, however to get a true olive you would want to cross to a dark brown layer. Cream/tan will most likely give you a lighter green color.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

They "technically" are not wrong, but each bird has 2 genes that "code" for their egg color. Brown (which is a brown coating over a white shell) can be IN a rooster's genotype along with a blue egg gene, but will be covered by blue (which is dominant). Then, it will not show unless he is test bred. BUT, brown can also coat a blue egg creating green/olive.

The rooster I used to create OEs for example, has one non-blue and one blue egg gene. He doesn't lay eggs, but he was test bred and his daughter is laying olive. Because of this, I KNOW he does NOT have 2 blue egg genes. It wouldn't be genetically possible.

@Miss Thang your logic is flawed.

It makes no difference if the rooster has one blue egg gene or two.

You only need one O gene to create green eggs.
And the offspring only inherits half of the parents genes.

Therefore the only difference regarding egg color in crossing
(O/O) x (o+/o+)
and crossing
(O/o+) and (o+/o+)
is that in the homozygous blue x brown you get 100% green eggs, and crossing heterozygous blue x brown you get 50% green 50% brown.

Heck, one of the most popular olive egger crosses is CLB x Marans. CLBs are homozygous blue.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

The rooster I used to create OEs for example, has one non-blue and one blue egg gene. He doesn't lay eggs, but he was test bred and his daughter is laying olive. Because of this, I KNOW he does NOT have 2 blue egg genes. It wouldn't be genetically possible.

Maybe I am just not understanding what you’re saying, but no. You would know he was only heterozygous if he produced brown laying offspring, not olive.

It wouldn't be genetically possible.

for his daughter to inherit both of his blue egg genes presuming he had two. Therefore if she inherited ONE blue egg gene from him, you would know he has at least one. It does not rule out the fact that he might have a second, unless you had another offspring of his that inherited none.

 

[Czugi]

My signal isn’t great here, so I’m having trouble opening the photos to get a good look to comment on gender. So for my post I’ll just be commenting under the assumption he is a black Ameraucana cockerel.

To barred plymouth rock, you will have sexlinks. The males will be barred, and the females will be solid black. The males will have pink shanks, likely with some trace of slate. (Barring restricts slate shanks.) The females will have white skin, likely with more slate on their shanks than the males. All will be muffed. Females will probably lay a minty green. They will all have modified pea combs.

To partridge silkie, you will get smooth feathered offspring. It will have a crest, be muffed. I’d expect nice blue eggs, perhaps with a slight green tint.

To blue frizzle silkie you will get 50% frizzled and 50% blue. So your ratios would look like: 25% hard black, 25% frizzled black, 25% hard blue, and 25% frizzled blue. They will all have a crest, be muffed. And again, I’d expect nice blue eggs, perhaps with a slight green tint.

To black australorp you will have all black offspring. Bluey-green eggs. Modified pea combs. Slate shanks.

To ISA brown not entirely sure. I’d expect funky patterns. Especially with the dominant white in there. You will get green eggs.

This is so informative, thank you! I’m loving all of the genetic components to breeding and am excited to learn more! One other cross I’m curious about…a black copper Maran hen. Kiiiinda forgot I had one I’m guessing olive since that’s egg is so dark?

 

[EmmaRainboe]

This is so informative, thank you! I’m loving all of the genetic components to breeding and am excited to learn more! One other cross I’m curious about…a black copper Maran hen. Kiiiinda forgot I had one I’m guessing olive since that’s egg is so dark?

Yep, you’ll get olive eggs. Probably black muffed birds with modified pea combs and likely some leakage.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Heck, one of the most popular olive egger crosses is CLB x Marans. CLBs are homozygous blue.

Er... CLB being Cream Legbar? Sorry, rank amateur tryng to keep up.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Er... CLB being Cream Legbar? Sorry, rank amateur tryng to keep up.

Yes ma’am.

 

[cherrynberry]

Maybe I am just not understanding what you’re saying, but no. You would know he was only heterozygous if he produced brown laying offspring, not olive.

for his daughter to inherit both of his blue egg genes presuming he had two. Therefore if she inherited ONE blue egg gene from him, you would know he has at least one. It does not rule out the fact that he might have a second, unless you had another offspring of his that inherited none.

Yes, I know about the 50% thing. Get back to you later. Maybe I was unclear.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Yes, I know about the 50% thing. Get back to you later. Maybe I was unclear.

Yes, you were. The only thing I can think fits what were saying is the only way to get olive eggs from crossing a blue carrying rooster to a homozygous blue laying female is for the rooster to be heterozygous. But that doesn’t fit in this context as OP has no blue laying hens that they mentioned.