Testing for Blue Egg Gene

The Silverudds Blue is a breed that lays green eggs, or is supposed to. To consistently lay green eggs the birds have to have two copies of the blue egg gene. The breed is not so fully established where that consistency is fully established. We test our roosters in with brown or white egg layers to see if they consistently give their offspring that blue egg gene. It is dominant, so one copy is all that is needed to get the blue shell and then the brown over the top give a green. We hatch many eggs with the expectation that all hatched will have that blue egg shell in the offspring. While it is not exact, it gives an indication of what the rooster is carrying. Statistically, if he rooster only has one copy, some of the offspring will not get the blue egg. This process is tedious and takes time, space and money. Until now, it has been the only way.

One of the people involved with creating the Silverudds Blue Association has found a lab in Germany that does genetic testing for the blue egg gene in chickens. All one has to do is to send feathers and $25 and you will get back the genetic results of what they are carrying. This is great news for Silverudds Blue breeders. They can now test their birds and cull out birds carrying only one copy of the blue egg gene from their breeding program. While it is ideal to test all birds in a breeding program, getting roosters tested is the first step to getting the green eggs consistent in this breed.

While this testing is great for Silverudds Blue breeders, this testing could also prove useful for those breeding olive eggers. You need roosters with at least one copy of the blue egg to keep getting the olive eggs. If you are a serious olive egg breeder, you should consider testing your males to make sure your program is going forward. 

To find out more about this testing and submit samples for testing you can check out the new Silverudds Blue Association website. Because we need minimum of 20 samples to be sent at a time, it is done periodically over the course of the year. Samples are boxed up and sent to Germany. After being tested results are sent back and the results will then be sent to those who sent the samples. Silverudds Blue breeders are getting certificates back with their results. 

For more info please check out the web page and pm for any questions.