MIXED UP: BCMs with BCM X CCL

[AnimalCrazed]

Hey everyone, so here's the scoop. I was trying out a different cross for Olive Eggers, for the first time, using a CCL hen with a BCM roo. However I mixed them up with my pure BCM chicks.

My questions are: Do the CCL X BCM Olive Eggers get a crest like their mother? So as they mature I'd be able to tell them apart? Because I can tell what ones are the boys already by the (barring) head spot, just don't know who the girls are!
(Pic for fun)

 

[NatJ]

Hey everyone, so here's the scoop. I was trying out a different cross for Olive Eggers, for the first time, using a CCL hen with a BCM roo. However I mixed them up with my pure BCM chicks.

My questions are: Do the CCL X BCM Olive Eggers get a crest like their mother? So as they mature I'd be able to tell them apart? Because I can tell what ones are the boys already by the (barring) head spot, just don't know who the girls are!
(Pic for fun)
View attachment 3786101

Yes, the Crested Cream Legbar should give a crest to all of her chicks, which the pure Marans would not have.

So you should be able to sort out the two kinds of females as they grow.

And you can double-check your sorting when they start laying eggs, because of course the CCL-mixes are expected to lay olive eggs, while the pure BCM are going to lay dark brown eggs.

 

[AnimalCrazed]

Yes, the Crested Cream Legbar should give a crest to all of her chicks, which the pure Marans would not have.

Perfect! I've been doing BCM and Olive Eggers with Ameraucana X BCM for a few years. This was the first time using a CCL instead of the Ameraucana for the Olive Eggers. I just wasn't sure how the crest came into play with this cross.

I never used CCL before because I didn't have a good line that laid blue eggs, the ones I had before were light green so they were sold and didn't join my Olive Egger pen. This time I got a good blue egg laying gene so they were incorporated into the Olive Eggers pen. (Picture of my CCLs eggs)

I'm pretty excited for these Olive Eggers to mature I can't wait to see how they look. I have loved the Olive Eggers with Ameraucana. They look like this mostly, some get the beard from the AM.
This one is my favorite.

 

[NatJ]

This was the first time using a CCL instead of the Ameraucana for the Olive Eggers. I just wasn't sure how the crest came into play with this cross.

Crest is caused by a dominant gene.

A pure Crested Cream Legbar is supposed to have two crest genes, which would mean she gives one to each chick, and every chick shows a crest.

Because the crest gene is dominant, if the Cream Legbar has one no-crest gene, she will still have a crest, so you won't know she is missing a crest gene until half of her chicks show up with no crest. I've been assuming she has the correct genes (2 crest genes), but I'm mentioning this just in case she doesn't, so you will know what's up.

If you know how many Cream Legbar eggs hatch (count the right number of empty eggshells), you should be able to match that to the number of crested chicks when they grow enough feathers. If you only find half that many crested chicks, then you'll know she is missing one crest gene.

 

[AnimalCrazed]

Thank you so much @NatJ that is exactly what I needed!

Honestly it was my fault they are all mixed up, as I was expecting them to be easier to tell apart. Turns out... not so much! I guess that's why I typically use the Ameraucana with a pea comb.