Green eggs and beards rooster selecting

[Radrussie]

Could anyone give advice on what roosters I should keep.

I have been trying to get my own Easter egger flock.

Last year I got eggs from a local homesteader and hatched out a few batched for this year's hens. I hatched mostly green and blues however some pinks as well.

I didn't track what came from what egg. And would like to select what roosters to keep.

Rooster 1: small comb and green tint
Rooster 2: small comb and green tint
Rooster 3-7 all have beards.

I have about 35 hens from this mix hatch. And 12 more from previous flock.

dream flock would have beards and lay colored eggs and ideally a few different feather colour's.

 

[Egg Snatcher]

Could anyone give advice on what roosters I should keep.

I have been trying to get my own Easter egger flock.

Last year I got eggs from a local homesteader and hatched out a few batched for this year's hens. I hatched mostly green and blues however some pinks as well.

I didn't track what came from what egg. And would like to select what roosters to keep.

Rooster 1: small comb and green tint
Rooster 2: small comb and green tint
Rooster 3-7 all have beards.

I have about 35 hens from this mix hatch. And 12 more from previous flock.

dream flock would have beards and lay colored eggs and ideally a few different feather

I would take your hens that you know lay colored eggs and breed them to your favorite bearded rooster as long as you know he carries a colored egg gene. This way all chicks will be bearded even if the hens aren’t. I’d also recommend getting rid of the hens and rooster that don’t come up to your standards, this way you’ll have room for the up and coming generation. I’d also recommend selling the parents of the F1 chicks after you know which ones you want to keep and have hatched enough to pick for favorites and up to your standards. This way you can then continue working on the egg color and colors of chicken you want to produce.

 

[Radrussie]

I would take your hens that you know lay colored eggs and breed them to your favorite bearded rooster as long as you know he carries a colored egg gene. This way all chicks will be bearded even if the hens aren’t. I’d also recommend getting rid of the hens and rooster that don’t come up to your standards, this way you’ll have room for the up and coming generation. I’d also recommend selling the parents of the F1 chicks after you know which ones you want to keep and have hatched enough to pick for favorites and up to your standards. This way you can then continue working on the egg color and colors of chicken you want to produce.

Is the beard gene strong?
I am not too sure what color egg they hatched from. 70% of the eggs I hatched where green/blue/olive/chocolate so there is a strong chance of a colored gene. But lost track.

There is 3 bearded rooster that I like. I guess colour's and feathers I will get in the hens.

Hens haven't yet laid. POA is to group hens with a rooster for next year's a hatching.

F1 Chicks parents - replace the roosters?

*chickens are kept for dual purpose.
* I have a small cafe. Use a lot of eggs.
* I do have a black copper maran rooster as my current rooster.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I’m not sure what the cost would be but have you considered having the roosters tested for the blue egg gene?

 

[Slothinc]

I also was going to suggest blue egg testing your favorite boy. I have used The Silkie Lab and her test is $25 and really fast turn around. It tells you if they carry one or two blue egg genes, then you can have a good idea of what color his daughters will lay based on his genes and the mom’s egg color. Keep in mind that the moms that lay green or blue could only carry one blue egg gene as well, so they could still potentially have white/brown/cream layers if bred to a boy that has 1 blue egg gene. If the Roo or the hen has two blue egg genes then all offspring will carry one blue egg gene as it is dominant.

The beard gene is also dominant so if your Roo has a huge full beard, then he likely has 2 copies of the gene and if he has a smaller beard then he probably carries 1. If he has 2 genes, all his offspring will be bearded. If he has one, then half of his offspring will be bearded. Hopefully I got all of that correct!

 

[Radrussie]

Would maybe consider for the following year when I have a larger green laying flock.

 

[Radrussie]

I also was going to suggest blue egg testing your favorite boy. I have used The Silkie Lab and her test is $25 and really fast turn around. It tells you if they carry one or two blue egg genes, then you can have a good idea of what color his daughters will lay based on his genes and the mom’s egg color. Keep in mind that the moms that lay green or blue could only carry one blue egg gene as well, so they could still potentially have white/brown/cream layers if bred to a boy that has 1 blue egg gene. If the Roo or the hen has two blue egg genes then all offspring will carry one blue egg gene as it is dominant.

The beard gene is also dominant so if your Roo has a huge full beard, then he likely has 2 copies of the gene and if he has a smaller beard then he probably carries 1. If he has 2 genes, all his offspring will be bearded. If he has one, then half of his offspring will be bearded. Hopefully I got all of that correct!

Wow. Good info.

Haven't seen these testing options locally. South Africa. Buget option perfered.

Love the big beard little beard.

Moms egg color - I am aware that there is still a chance of other colour's. Just want to increase my chances for future generations.

Would it be an option to use a very green roo without beard and a heavy bearded roo that is unknown egg color over other options?

 

[Slothinc]

Wow. Good info.

Haven't seen these testing options locally. South Africa. Buget option perfered.

Love the big beard little beard.

Moms egg color - I am aware that there is still a chance of other colour's. Just want to increase my chances for future generations.

Would it be an option to use a very green roo without beard and a heavy bearded roo that is unknown egg color over other options?

**edit: sorry my brain went out the window on this one. @Ridgerunner correctly explains below what I failed to explain in this post! Do not pay attention to what I have said here**

Ah yeah, sorry I don’t know what the best testing options would be in S. Africa! But maybe they are decently priced there too.

If your roo hatched out of a green egg, then he DOES carry at least one blue egg gene. So if you breed a roo from a green egg to a hen that lays green or blue… just say that the hen has only one blue egg gene and the Roo does as well - the offspring percentages would be 25% brown/white/tan egg and 75% blue or green egg. So if you want more green/blue layers your best chance of getting some is to breed a roo hatched from a blue or green egg and a hen that lays a blue or green egg!

If you have a fluffy bearded boy that hatched out of a green/blue egg, breeding him to your blue/green egg layers will give the best chance for the next generation to be bearded blue/green layers

In future generations, band chicks that come out of blue or green eggs so that you can ID them as roosters and know that they carry that gene.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If your roo hatched out of a green egg, then he DOES carry at least one blue egg gene.

I do not agree. Since the blue eggshell gene is dominant she may have only one blue eggshell gene at that gene pair. She will always lay a blue or green egg. But unless she has two blue eggshell genes at that gene pair it is 50-50 that she will pass that blue eggshell gene down to any individual chick. So there is a chance he carries a blue eggshell gene but not a guarantee.

It's still sound advice. I only hatched blue or green eggs and kept my replacement hens and rooster from them each year. I got lucky and within three generations every hen was laying a blue or green egg. If the Blue eggshell gene were a recessive gene it would be easy. But it is a dominant gene so the "non-blue" can hide from you.

 

[Radrussie]

Ah yeah, sorry I don’t know what the best testing options would be in S. Africa! But maybe they are decently priced there too.

If your roo hatched out of a green egg, then he DOES carry at least one blue egg gene. So if you breed a roo from a green egg to a hen that lays green or blue… just say that the hen has only one blue egg gene and the Roo does as well - the offspring percentages would be 25% brown/white/tan egg and 75% blue or green egg. So if you want more green/blue layers your best chance of getting some is to breed a roo hatched from a blue or green egg and a hen that lays a blue or green egg!

If you have a fluffy bearded boy that hatched out of a green/blue egg, breeding him to your blue/green egg layers will give the best chance for the next generation to be bearded blue/green layers

In future generations, band chicks that come out of blue or green eggs so that you can ID them as roosters and know that they carry that gene.

Bands would have been a good idea. Will do this in future.

Would blue hatched roos do the same?