If you want to breed guaranteed blue or green egg laying hens, there is a very simple breeding recipe you can follow! It produces 100% blue or green laying offspring (whichever you prefer) and the best part is that it’s EASY to do! Here is how to breed guaranteed blue & green egg layers:
How to Breed Blue & Green Egg Layers
Understanding basic chicken egg color genetics is always the first step to beginning any breeding project. Hens who carry at least one blue egg gene but zero tint genes will lay a blue egg. Hens who carry at least one blue egg gene and one or more of the 13+ known tint genes will lay a green colored egg. (The shade of green can vary from a very faint bluey-green to the darkest olive.)
It is possible for a hen to carry two blue egg genes. We call these hens homozygous for the blue egg gene. A green egg laying hen can be homozygous:
The Rooster’s Genetics Matter!
Once you understand that a hen only needs one copy of the blue egg gene to lay blue or green herself, you can easily plan your breeding. In order to breed guaranteed blue and green laying hens, you need to use a homozygous (2 copy) blue egg gene rooster. This means you will need to use a purebred rooster who is a Whiting True Blue, a true Ameraucana from a breeder or a Crested Cream Legbar. Easter Egger roosters are often heterozygous, meaning they carry only one copy of the blue egg gene and a recessive white egg gene. Blue laying Easter Egger hybrids, like Prairie Bluebell Eggers, are expected to be heterozygous. Opt for a homozygous blue egg gene purebred rooster.
Why Do I Need a Homozygous Blue Egg Gene Roo?
If you want to breed guaranteed blue or green egg laying offspring, you need to be absolutely certain that your rooster is always passing on one blue egg gene to his offspring. Remember, a hen only needs one copy of the dominant blue egg gene to lay a blue or green egg. The homozygous blue egg gene rooster guarantees his offspring always gets one copy from him.
Crossing the Rooster & Hens
Surprise! Your homozygous blue egg gene rooster will produce blue or green laying offspring, no matter what hen he is mated to! Even if a chick hatches from a cream, peach, tinted, brown or chocolate egg, the female chicks will lay a shade of green:
Blue Laying Chicks Will Only Hatch from Blue Eggs
Chicks fathered by the homozygous blue egg gene rooster who lay blue will always hatch from a blue egg. Why? Because tint genes are dominant and they are always passed on, even if only very faintly. A chick who hatches from a green or brown egg will lay a shade of green.
Use Blue Laying Hens to Breed Blue Laying Offspring
If you want chicks who will grow up to lay blue eggs, you need to breed your rooster to hens who lay blue eggs.
Use Green Laying Hens to Breed Green Laying Offspring
If you want chicks who will grow up to lay green eggs, breed your rooster to hens who lay green eggs in a shade you prefer. Offspring is expected to lay green tones slightly lighter in color than their mothers.
What About Chicks Who Hatch from Brown Eggs?
Chicks who hatch from any shade of cream, tinted, or brown egg will lay a shade of green if they are fathered by a homozygous blue egg gene rooster. This is because he always passes on one dominant blue egg gene and a hen only needs one copy of the blue egg gene to lay a green egg. (Chicks who hatch from brown eggs will inherit tint genes from their mothers. They cannot lay pure blue eggs; they will lay green eggs.)
How Do Tint Overlay Genes Work?
Egg shells can only be blue (dominant) or white (recessive). Tint overlay is a brownish colored pigment the hen’s body applies over the egg shell shortly before it is laid. The lightness or darkness of the brownish colored overlay is controlled by 13+ known genes, often called tint genes. If even one tint gene is present, the hen’s body is going to apply the tinted overlay and the egg will be some shade of green.
Breeding Guaranteed Blue & Green Egg Layers
If you have used a homozygous blue egg gene rooster to breed your chicks, they will all be guaranteed blue and green egg layers. Remember, only the chicks who hatch from blue eggs will lay blue. The chicks who hatch from green or brown eggs will lay a shade of green eggs themselves.
Learning how to breed blue & green egg layers is an important first step to building a colorful egg basket. If you’re interested in learning how to breed even more colors, keep reading to learn more or check out the secret breeding recipe eBooks available in my shop!
Emily says
Thank you for the very education and easy to understand post! So helpful!!