ameraucana crosses... worth the effort?

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:54 am

Yes OC I agree that it's more of a gamble as the "hybrids" are already a mix of lines/breeds. it'll be fun.

Bayvistafarm · Post by **Bayvistafarm** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:15 am

WLLady wrote:QR_BBPOST Yep blue x light brown = blue or very blue as opposed to green. Blue x brown = green. Blue x marans 4/5 or darker egg = olive. Bvf someone must have been carrying blue somewhere way in the past maybe a rogue cockerel got in and donated a blue gene but not muffs and beard so the looked like non-blue carriers....i think somewhere down that line you got some feathered legged black birds from me....maybe one of them was a carrier-i have had ees and ameraucanas from the beginning of forever and i did have someone farm sit and a massive breakout that i had to resort once...maybe i got one wrong? Its very possible....so....who knows. Maybe someone crossed a pen 3 generations before you got the birds?

I made these black sex links myself. From YOUR barred rock line... and Marks RIR line. I kept the girls... and sent the baby boys to Hagersville. (remember, you went with me that day, and I never did get paid for those boys). Those BSL girls never left that barn they grew up in. There were coronation sussex in the pen across from them. I threw the Swedish Flower Rooster from Paula in there... and thats where I got my crosses. Those chicks were raised in a separate pen they never left... and the two have feathered feet, and that are the only birds in that middle barn, even now. The corries are gone. Now THOSE crosses are with a younger Swedish flower rooster, to see what I get out of them crossed twice with the SFR's.

There is ONE EE in there, with the puffy face... so technically I get 3 blue eggs daily, lol. So, I know all the birds I used for my breeding were pure. So, you guys screwed me up somehow, lol. Don't get me wrong.... they are nice birds. They look like marans... although they are black sex link shaped...big...But the only marans I have BRED in forever, are old birds in the layer coop... and just sold those 3 girls you gave me, when your hen murdered most of her clutch on you. Don't have any clue where those BIG feathers came from on the feet.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:28 am

Ameraucana over rsl brown layer will give you half green layers, half brown. And an astonishing variety of feather colours, body shapes and sizes, and comb types from tiny nubby peas on girls, to big tall peas on boys, to single blades on both genders. I even get the odd cushion. They lay like champs.
The pea combed ones will lay green and the single combed ones will lay light brown or cream. Makes it easier to choose if you want coloured eggs and plan to keep a rooster from this cross.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:22 pm

Only a rooster can "hide" the blue egg gene, since it's dominant. Heterozygous hens will still lay a blue egg.

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 12:27 pm

I hope you folks are keeping records or a log so those of us trying our own crossbreeding can follow a known path.

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:04 pm

baronrenfrew wrote:QR_BBPOST I hope you folks are keeping records or a log so those of us trying our own crossbreeding can follow a known path.

Too many variables Baron.......... even with the same cross, your mileage may vary!!!

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:18 pm

Double post sorry

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:19 pm

Robbie wrote:QR_BBPOST
Robbie wrote:QR_BBPOST Only a rooster can "hide" the blue egg gene, since it's dominant. Heterozygous hens will still lay a blue egg.

I should add, (even if I'm talking to myself, probably a bad sign....) The pea comb is closely linked to the blue egg gene, it can be broken but only about a 1 in 100 chance, but muffs and beards are not closely linked to the blue egg gene. So having muffs and/or beards is no guarantee of the blue egg gene.
So chances are more likely it's a pea combed rooster or hen (the gene is autosomal, ie not sex linked) that carries the blue egg gene, ( of course only if an ancestor had it- a Buckeye or Cornish will never lay a blue egg! Thankfully!). Now if someone had a pea combed Americauna or easter egger that laid white eggs, I'd be very interested! That would be like winning the lottery.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:36 pm

Robbie wrote:QR_BBPOST Only a rooster can "hide" the blue egg gene, since it's dominant. Heterozygous hens will still lay a blue egg.

Not sure what that means LOL , but if it means all F1 Amer/RSL cross girls will lay coloured eggs, nobody told my hens

Muffy, Fuzzy Face and Pigeon were all blissfully unaware they were supposed to lay green eggs LOL

Post by **Killerbunny** » Sat Feb 20, 2016 1:54 pm

Mouse laid a cream egg (not that sort )!