egg color improvement???

[Stan Alder]

Bantam buffs lay great "egg shaped" eggs that are fairly large for a bantam and generally have good color.
Large fowl are another story.  Their eggs are more in the medium size range on an egg scale, with some small and sometimes large.  Shape is OK.  Color isn't anything to write home about, but mine are getting a little better each year. 
If your eggs are almost white, I think that is easier to deal with than green.  Hatch as many as you can and select for egg color and then size.  Develop three lines from the trio next year, by putting the cock over the pullets and the cockerels over the two hens.  If the eggs have a hint of blue the genes are there for the desired color and with enough breeding you can bring it out.  Keep in mind after an extended period of laying the color will fade and especially at this time of year that may be what you are seeing.
I'm taking my own advice from above, but at the same time working on outcrosses.  As Mike said an outcross is a long road, but you can do both options at the same time.
My LF blacks lay large and extra large "blue" eggs.  For those and other reasons I crossed them to buff and here are some of the chicks.

John, how many generations back to the black cross do these chicks go?

[Cesar Villegas]

Bantam buffs lay great "egg shaped" eggs that are fairly large for a bantam and generally have good color.
Large fowl are another story.  Their eggs are more in the medium size range on an egg scale, with some small and sometimes large.  Shape is OK.  Color isn't anything to write home about, but mine are getting a little better each year. 
If your eggs are almost white, I think that is easier to deal with than green.  Hatch as many as you can and select for egg color and then size.  Develop three lines from the trio next year, by putting the cock over the pullets and the cockerels over the two hens.  If the eggs have a hint of blue the genes are there for the desired color and with enough breeding you can bring it out.  Keep in mind after an extended period of laying the color will fade and especially at this time of year that may be what you are seeing.
I'm taking my own advice from above, but at the same time working on outcrosses.  As Mike said an outcross is a long road, but you can do both options at the same time.
My LF blacks lay large and extra large "blue" eggs.  For those and other reasons I crossed them to buff and here are some of the chicks.

John, were those chicks hatched this season? If not do you have pictures of how they came out? Also how come you got some buff colored chicks. I thought E was dominant over eWh

[John W Blehm]

John, how many generations back to the black cross do these chicks go?

Although I tried a buff/black outcross years ago I gave up on it, as I recall, after the first year.  I have made the cross again this year and plan to follow thru, knowing it could take several years to get back to pure buff color. 

John, were those chicks hatched this season? If not do you have pictures of how they came out? Also how come you got some buff colored chicks. I thought E was dominant over eWh

The chicks in the photo (reply #2) are from one of this season's hatches.  The light colored chicks are actually dominant white, although they show some buff as does the black chick.  E is dominant, but buff is powerful and leaks thru. 

I'm considering culling all the buff split chicks that carry dominant white.  Some say one copy of dominant white (I/i+) makes a better buff color, but that two copies (I/I) dilutes buff too much.  I'm not into breeding birds with one copy of a gene like that, so I'll attempt to breed out dominant white in my buffs.       

[Cesar Villegas]

John, how many generations back to the black cross do these chicks go?

Although I tried a buff/black outcross years ago I gave up on it, as I recall, after the first year.  I have made the cross again this year and plan to follow thru, knowing it could take several years to get back to pure buff color. 

John, were those chicks hatched this season? If not do you have pictures of how they came out? Also how come you got some buff colored chicks. I thought E was dominant over eWh

The chicks in the photo (reply #2) are from one of this season's hatches.  The light colored chicks are actually dominant white, although they show some buff as does the black chick.  E is dominant, but buff is powerful and leaks thru. 

I'm considering culling all the buff split chicks that carry dominant white.  Some say one copy of dominant white (I/i+) makes a better buff color, but that two copies (I/I) dilutes buff too much.  I'm not into breeding birds with one copy of a gene like that, so I'll attempt to breed out dominant white in my buffs.     

Wait, how did (I) get into them? Do all buffs carry (I)?

[Mike Gilbert]

Cesar, many strains of buffs carry I, dominant white.     I covers black quite well, but only lightens the buff/red shades a little.   Yes, it is common in buffs.

[Suki]

  I suspect white egg layers were used by Wayne to create LF wheatens and that would account for the difference in type and that fact that in years past they and the silvers laid the bluest eggs of all the varieties.     

Who is Wayne?  As for blue eggs, my blacks from FS, lay beautiful blue eggs.

[Suki]

An excerpt from Ameraucana History in the ABC by Mike Gilbert


I used some diluted white Leghorn blood in my LF lavenders many years ago .

Hi -- What is diluted white leghorn?

Thanks Brownie.

[John W Blehm]

  I suspect white egg layers were used by Wayne to create LF wheatens and that would account for the difference in type and that fact that in years past they and the silvers laid the bluest eggs of all the varieties.     

Who is Wayne?  As for blue eggs, my blacks from FS, lay beautiful blue eggs.

Wayne Meredith.  He created LF wheaten and blue wheaten Ameraucanas.

[Tailfeathers]

I received the below back in an email on  9/24/15.  I suspect the color has more to do with the retrovirus than the gene.  The individual's comments below seem to confirm that to me.

"Hi Royce,

Hope you don’t mind that I sent this to your work address. I also hope that you are the person that made the post below…if not please ignore this.

I was hunting around the web looking at retroviral info in chickens and came across your post below from April 03, 2015, 05:59:16 AM. I tried to reply on the site but I couldn’t register and I’m not sure if you ever got a reply to your questions. I’m a scientist. I have done some virology and I’ve spent a lot of time working with chickens.

You asked some very good questions and made some accurate interpretations of the paper you read. Well done. These types of viruses can insert their DNA into a genome and behave as promoters (think of a promoter as an engine for a producing a protein. Strong promoter = lots of protein) So by the viral DNA inserting near the SLCO1B3 gene it has caused more of this protein to be produced and this causes the blue egg colour. The ‘O gene’ is SLCO1B3. In the olden days when people didn’t have all the DNA information they merely called a gene by a name and showed how it was linked to a trait. Nowdays we know a bit more but we still don’t know it all!

Retroviruses also have a habit of inserting into genomes at accessible locations - and there are many. Imagine all that DNA twisted and tied around itself in the cell - some lengths on the outside of the bundle and some buried in the middle. The specific sequence can also lend itself to being preferred by retroviruses. So while it is unusual that two retroviruses would independently insert into a similar region it also makes some sense that this area is accessible so is a candidate for  insertion by different retroviruses.

Hope I helped. If there is something I didn’t help clear up please drop me an email.

Have a great day.

Scott"

[Suki]

I would agree with Scott.

[Mike Gilbert]

The retrovirus would not produce anything if the O gene were not there to begin with.  It takes both. 

[Suki]

Some birds from South America, such as the Araucana, carries a dominant gene for blue egg shells.   In addition to calcium carbonate and the other typical minerals, blue egg shells contain oocyanin ( the genetic symbol for blue eggs is O for oocyanin; please note the root “cyan” as well as the lack of + which is used with white eggs i.e. the wild type or  O+).  Oocyanin   is a byproduct from the body’s production of bile. 

This blue pigment is not a coating like brown, but is throughout the egg’s shell.  Thus, the blue egg is also blue inside (before the inner membranes dry to a papery white) and is more difficult to see into when candling.  However, like brown pigment, the amount of oocyanin will also lessen throughout a hen’s laying cycle, and she will lay progressively lighter blue eggs.

https://scratchcradle.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/gms1-genetics-of-egg-color/