Amberlinks and brown eggs...or are they???

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

that's what i was thinking too when i read it and the color being white. i thought that an amberlink or golden comet that turns white ends up being a male. and don't they have a reputation for 'turning' male if there isn't one around or something happens internally? maybe i'm getting the breed wrong.

 

[catjac1975]

HAH!

Actually the rooster contributes more genetically to egg shell color than hens. Theyve identified 13 different genes that can affect the brown on the egg. One of those is a sex link gene. That means the rooster gives it to his daughters if he has it but the hens do not give it to their daughters. So the rooster can contribute more than the hen to shell color.

That ear lobe thing does not work either. There is no genetic connection between ear lobe genes and egg shell genes. Most purebred chickens do follow that red ear lobe brown eggs/white ear lobe white egg rule, but not all do. And when you start crossing breeds there is no telling what you will get. Amberlinks are crosses. I've got a couple of crosses with white ear lobes that lay brown eggs.

If you look through Hendersons breed chart you can find a few breeds where the ear lobe thing is not true. The Penedesenca for example, very dark eggs and white ear lobes. Or the Phoenix, red lobes and white eggs.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html#p

 

[Ridgerunner]

HAH!

Actually the rooster contributes more genetically to egg shell color than hens. Theyve identified 13 different genes that can affect the brown on the egg. One of those is a sex link gene. That means the rooster gives it to his daughters if he has it but the hens do not give it to their daughters. So the rooster can contribute more than the hen to shell color.

That ear lobe thing does not work either. There is no genetic connection between ear lobe genes and egg shell genes. Most purebred chickens do follow that red ear lobe brown eggs/white ear lobe white egg rule, but not all do. And when you start crossing breeds there is no telling what you will get. Amberlinks are crosses. I've got a couple of crosses with white ear lobes that lay brown eggs.

If you look through Hendersons breed chart you can find a few breeds where the ear lobe thing is not true. The Penedesenca for example, very dark eggs and white ear lobes. Or the Phoenix, red lobes and white eggs.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html#p

I was talking about his offspring. It just dawned on me what I think you meant by him not contributing to the egg color. Yeah, he does not contribute anything to the color of the egg the hen he mates with lays, just their offspring. Is that what you meant?

Your use of "genetic" confused me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Why would a Welsummer lay a light colored egg?

One answer is genetics. Unless you select the breeding birds for a certain trait, you will lose that trait over a few generations. Those genetics have to be constantly reinforced. Different hatcheries have different people selecting their breeding birds and those people have different criteria when selecting their breeders. I suspect some reinforce that dark egg color a lot less than others.

Breeders breeding purely for show have no reason to reinforce dark eggs other than personal integrity. The judge doesnt see the eggs so the egg shell color does into enter into the judging. Many people trying to win a grand prize will select the appearance of the chicken over the color of the egg. Just because you get a Welsummer or a Marans does not mean you will get that deep chocolate egg color. It depends on what the person selecting the breeders is selecting for. So what color have they always laid?

Ive noticed that my eggs get lighter as the hen lays. When they finish a molt and first start laying or when a pullet starts laying, the egg is as dark as it will get. By the time they get around to molting again, the egg shell color can be a lot lighter than where they started from. Some of mine go from a medium brown to a real light color, especially pullets that skipped a molt their first winter and laid on through to the following fall.

Ive read that they store up pigment while they are molting or before they start to lay and gradually use up that pigment so the eggs get lighter. Ive read that they get that pigment from recycling red blood cells that get old and die. Would this be enough for you to confuse Welsummer eggs with Orpingtons? Doesnt seem likely but maybe a combination of the two. Or maybe something else.

 

[MontyJ]

The egg (it looks white to me):



The suspect:









She is the only one with white earlobes. She is also the only one with a tail that sticks up. All the other chickens have tails that point straight back, or down. She also has that huge comb.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Is she a bit small compared to the others? Looks like it to me. I'm guessing leghorn. They lay white eggs and the eggs are usually fairly large.

 

[MontyJ]

She is built lighter than the other chickens. We noticed awhile back that she was more "aerodynamic". Leghorn would make sense, TSC had Leghorns at the same time. We are worried about the very large comb when winter gets here.

 

[MontyJ]

and on an unrelated note...I cracked a few eggs this morning for breakfast. In the pic above, top row second from the left was a double yolk. Kind of surprised me since the egg was only about the size of a store bought medium.

 

[catjac1975]

I did mean to the color of the original eggs, not the offspring. Yea, what happened does not make sense to me.

HAH!

Actually the rooster contributes more genetically to egg shell color than hens. Theyve identified 13 different genes that can affect the brown on the egg. One of those is a sex link gene. That means the rooster gives it to his daughters if he has it but the hens do not give it to their daughters. So the rooster can contribute more than the hen to shell color.

That ear lobe thing does not work either. There is no genetic connection between ear lobe genes and egg shell genes. Most purebred chickens do follow that red ear lobe brown eggs/white ear lobe white egg rule, but not all do. And when you start crossing breeds there is no telling what you will get. Amberlinks are crosses. I've got a couple of crosses with white ear lobes that lay brown eggs.

If you look through Hendersons breed chart you can find a few breeds where the ear lobe thing is not true. The Penedesenca for example, very dark eggs and white ear lobes. Or the Phoenix, red lobes and white eggs.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html#p

I was talking about his offspring. It just dawned on me what I think you meant by him not contributing to the egg color. Yeah, he does not contribute anything to the color of the egg the hen he mates with lays, just their offspring. Is that what you meant?

Your use of "genetic" confused me.

 

[catjac1975]

The birds in question were laying dark eggs and they lightened over a short period of time when moved in with the Lavenders. The dark color does come from a coating which is said to lighten over time-but they became near white. It was not a new generation. Makes no sense to me from the little I know about it.

Why would a Welsummer lay a light colored egg?

One answer is genetics. Unless you select the breeding birds for a certain trait, you will lose that trait over a few generations. Those genetics have to be constantly reinforced. Different hatcheries have different people selecting their breeding birds and those people have different criteria when selecting their breeders. I suspect some reinforce that dark egg color a lot less than others.

Breeders breeding purely for show have no reason to reinforce dark eggs other than personal integrity. The judge doesnt see the eggs so the egg shell color does into enter into the judging. Many people trying to win a grand prize will select the appearance of the chicken over the color of the egg. Just because you get a Welsummer or a Marans does not mean you will get that deep chocolate egg color. It depends on what the person selecting the breeders is selecting for. So what color have they always laid?

Ive noticed that my eggs get lighter as the hen lays. When they finish a molt and first start laying or when a pullet starts laying, the egg is as dark as it will get. By the time they get around to molting again, the egg shell color can be a lot lighter than where they started from. Some of mine go from a medium brown to a real light color, especially pullets that skipped a molt their first winter and laid on through to the following fall.

Ive read that they store up pigment while they are molting or before they start to lay and gradually use up that pigment so the eggs get lighter. Ive read that they get that pigment from recycling red blood cells that get old and die. Would this be enough for you to confuse Welsummer eggs with Orpingtons? Doesnt seem likely but maybe a combination of the two. Or maybe something else.