Genetics

Genetics: How to breed for Egg Color — **Please Note: The egg colors shown below are only representations of a huge range of colors a hen may lay.**

You’ve got a rooster and you know the genes he’s carrying but you’re wondering what color eggs his offspring could lay? The infographics below make poultry genetics a little easier to understand, at least when it comes to inherited egg color!

Our chart shows a visually simple version of the underlying egg color genetics for ease of use by backyard keepers. The hen’s body color indicates the color egg she lays while the small eggs to her left reveal her genetics.

When Breeding or Crossing Americanas & Easter Eggers:

It is safest to assume that every blue laying Easter Egger, Americana or blue layer hybrid is carrying one recessive white egg gene unless you are certain of their genetics through testing. Green laying Americanas/Easter eggers are always carrying a tinted (brown) overlay which will be passed on to offspring, even if only lightly. If the individual is carrying a dark brown overlay, the hen will lay olive eggs, not green.

• Blue Easter Egger Rooster •

When crossed to speckled laying hens, thinner speckling is expected to show in the offspring, as depicted.

• Green Easter Egger Rooster •

• Homozygous Blue Rooster •

Homozygous blue layers carry 2 copies of the blue egg gene. Breeds include true Ameraucanas, Whiting True Blues and Crested Cream Legbars.

• Olive Egger Roo •

• Welsummer Roo •

Because speckling is most strongly inherited from the father, fully speckled eggs are shown in this chart to illustrate that offspring would be expected to lay eggs with some speckling. **This is only true if the father hatched from a heavily speckled egg himself.** The speckled overlay is generally passed on to offspring, no matter what shell color is inherited. If an olive egg is shown, shade can range from light to dark depending on each bird’s individual genetics.

• Chocolate Layer Roo •

This chart assumes a very dark #7-#8 shade rooster, such as a Black Copper Marans, is being used.

• Dark Layer Roo •

This chart assumes a dark laying roo carrying genes for #5 to #6 eggs on the Marans egg color chart.

• Brown Layer Roo•

If you use a #4 shade Marans or standard brown laying rooster, expect a LOT of green and brown laying offspring. Olive eggs will lighten to sage and pistachio shades and offspring will be considered Easter Eggers or barnyard mixes.

• White Layer Roo•

White egg layer laying rooster brown leghorn bred to various colored egg laying hens easter egger olive egger breeding outcome chart graphic infographic genetic genetics help visual breeding breeder charts — Roosters carrying two copies of the recessive white egg gene will pass on NO tint genes, which is expected to lighten the shade of all green and brown eggs his offspring will lay. When bred to blue egg layers, the offspring will lay blue or white. Blue tones may lighten to very faint powder blue shades. This rooster’s genes are expected to have a lightening or “pasteling” effect on all his offspring’s egg colors.

• Olive Eggers x Olive Eggers •

WARNING: This chart is a visually simple illustration that is likely to NOT have the correct shade of eggs shown. These are simply estimates of possible shade outcomes.

Olives can come in a LOT of shade variations. This chart attempts to show expected outcomes from a few different shade ranges of olive egger hens.

Olive Egger roosters provide some of the most unique laying offspring and are delightful to keep! This chart shows what you can expect if you have unique Spearmint and Sage laying hens in your flock. Egg colors are not accurate but represent a range of colors possible.

• Speckled Olive Egger Roo•

WARNING: This chart is a visually simple illustration that is likely to NOT have the correct shade of eggs shown. These are simply estimates of possible shade outcomes.