Should I keep the blue or black Ameraucana roo?

[Lark Rise]

I have 2 Ameraucana roos, 1 blue and 1 black. I can only keep one of them with the Ameraucana pullets (5 black and 1 blue). I hoping to get more blue than greenish eggs in the future. When I had hatched this batch of chicks in July, I only picked the bluest eggs from the lot of eggs I bought. It made me wonder if the black Ameraucanas carry the bluer gene since more blacks than blues hatched out. 2 blues: 6 blacks. Now I can't decide which roo to keep. Would appreciate any opinions.

 

[pinkchick]

Hi!

Do you have photos of the boys to share?

I'm not sure but I don't believe that the color of the bird indicates whether or not the egg is going to be more blue vs the slightly more greener shades, hoping more will come by and help you out with that.

 

[rungirl]

Whether you keep the black or blue rooster depends on what color chicks you want to produce. This is the breakdown of what you'll likely get:

Blue (Bb) X Blue (Bb) = 50% Blue (Bb), 25% Black (BB), 25% Splash (bb)
Blue (Bb) X Splash (bb) = 50% Blue (Bb), 50% Splash (bb)
Blue (Bb) X Black (BB) = 50% Blue (Bb), 50% Black (BB)
Splash (bb) X Black (BB) = 100% Blue (Bb)
Black (BB) X Black (BB) = 100% Black (BB)
Splash (bb) X Splash (bb) = 100% Splash (bb)

So since your hens are blue and black, if you keep the blue rooster you will get Blue, Black and some Splash. If you keep the black rooster, all your chicks will be either blue or black.

Egg color doesn't correspond to the color of the chicken.

Lisa

 

[Lark Rise]

Well, I kept them both, for now, but noticed recently that the black roo has a crooked toe. Should I cull him? I would appreciate any input.

Here is the blue roo:




Here is the black roo. See how the middle toe on his left foot curls to the right :

 

[chickendales]

i would keep the blue that way you could get blue black and splash

 

[RhodeRunner]

As long as both are well-tempered and healthy I would suggest keeping the rooster with the best overall body type. Considering, your boys age they still have a lot of maturing physically and mentally left, so I would give them more time before making a final decision.
As for your crocked toed boy that may not be a large concern if you don't intend to show him. Most crocked toes are from improper incubation where the humidity is to low, or an injury, and neither will affect the offspring. Other cases can occur due to vitamin deficiency, and I have heard some say it can also be genetic particularly in cases of severe inbreeding.