French Black Copper Moran

[flowerbug]

do any chickens lay pink eggs?

i only have heard of one bird that lays pink background (with spots on the rest of it) eggs. funny enough which brought this question to mind is that it was yesterday that i heard of this bird for the first time.

Chuck Will's Widows

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Sapphire Gem is a sex-linked hybrid created by a breeder in the Czech Republic. It is a hybrid that contains the Dominate Blue gene and is known for being a good layer of large brown eggs.

With Sapphire Gems the dominant blue gene they are talking about is feather color, not egg shell color. All the articles on Sapphire Gems I found said the Sapphire Gem lays a brown egg.

@ninnymary I don't think you have a Sapphire Gem hybrid. Bee, did yours look like that silver/grey one in her photo in post #14? To me Mary's pullet looks more white but she's into colors more than I am and she is looking at it live. The photos I saw online show a totally different bird in feather color. I found another chicken just called Sapphire, across between a Cream Legbar and a White Leghorn. They lay a colored egg but are white, not silver/gray like yours and they have a single comb. I can't see the comb on your pullet. If you don't mind I'd like to see a photo of her showing the head just out of curiosity.

I don't know why they are calling it a Sapphire Gem, it's not. I'm asking Bee to back me up on that. It may be a Sapphire. But Sapphire and Sapphire Gems are not breeds recognized by the American Poultry Association. I don't know if the terms are copyright protected or not, I'd doubt it. To me they are more marketing names than anything else.

Mary, I don't know what kind of breeding went into that pullet. If the breeder said she will lay a colored egg she probably will, as you said you'll find out before too long. I don't remember you mentioning it, have you named them?

 

[Ridgerunner]

do any chickens lay pink eggs?

Remember that color is in the eye of the beholder. What you might call pink someone else might call something different.

Most of the brown coloring on an egg is put on after the egg has formed in the shell gland. You can usually rub or sandpaper the brown or green off the surface of an egg and see the base shell color underneath, either white or blue. Or when you crack the egg, remove the membrane from the inside and look at the inside of the shell. But since it is chicken genetics nothing is hat simple. There is a gene that if it is present will "tint" the base shell color all the way through. It is almost but not white white, I've seen some of those. I've never noticed it affecting the shade of blue but it might.

I don't know of any chicken breeds that are suppose to lay pink eggs but several lay what some people call tinted. Perhaps this "tint" comes from that gene that changes the egg shell color all the way through, otherwise it might be a white egg. I would not call that pink but someone else might. Or maybe it's just the way some of the genes that affect the brown shade come together.

But there is another way they might get a pink tint. The last thing a hen puts on her egg just before it is laid is a clear liquid layer called bloom. Bloom quickly dries and forms a layer that helps keep bacteria from entering the porous egg shell. That's why a newly laid egg looks wet, it is. I personally have not seen this effect but I've read that some hens put on a really thick layer of bloom, so thick that it can give a "tint" to the shell, also making it look more glossy then usual. If it is thick enough it could cause a pinkish tint.

 

[flowerbug]

ah, thanks! interesting. my above post is not really right IMO as what i see in pictures is grey or could be reflecting the color of the leaves around them to make them appear off-white, but i don't see those as pink eggs.

then in looking around further i see that some bluebird eggs are pink and there are reds and splotchy reds from other birds on the eggs... (peregrines and ...).

 

[catjac1975]

View attachment 31209
I could see these girls walking around your back yard. Gentle and talkers. Unfortunately not the best layers. Her confirmation is lacking-to be expected while they set the color.

Confirmation lacking? I think she is a beauty.

 

[catjac1975]

And I am getting tired of beautiful birds that are not fantastic layers. We are in a slow down right now.

 

[ninnymary]

Ridge, I will try to get good pictures of my Sapphire Gem. She is gray/silvery. She has some lighter color on her back. I regret not getting he ones that had more even gray throughout. I think it showed their feather markings better. When I googled Sapphire Gem Olive egger, it shows a dark olive egg color which is what the gal who sold it said. Check out Hoovers Hatchery. It shows them with a dark head and much darker gray than mine. But the egg color is dark olive. She did mention that Hoovers are ones that they get chicks from.

Yes, I have named all but one. They are:

Luna - Black Australorp
Misty - Sapphire Gem
Raven - Black Easter Egger with black head that looks like a hawk.
Moonlight - Whte Easter Egger
Unnamed - Black Mottled Java Can't seem to find a name that fits her.

Mary

 

[Ridgerunner]

I copied this from Hoover's site.

Our Sapphire Gem TM will amaze you with its grey to light grey plumage. This Czech breed is an excellent egg layer and a great forager. It does well in hot and cold climates and is a breed very close to the Old Andalusians. Please note that gray to light gray plumage is referred to as blue or lavender feathering in the chicken industry. APPROX. 290 LARGE EGGS/YEAR | EGG COLOR: BROWN | MATURE WT: MALE 7 LBS. FEMALE 6 LBS.

 

[flowerbug]

...
Yes, I have named all but one. They are:
...
Unnamed - Black Mottled Java Can't seem to find a name that fits her.

Mary

Checkers?
Cheechee?
Astra?
MeatyYore

 

[Beekissed]

Here's the confusion....there are Sapphire Gems and just plain ol' Sapphire Olive eggers, both can be found at Hoover's Hatchery. Both are a hybrid mix but not a particular breed.

Sapphire Gems lay brown eggs...nice, big dark brown eggs. Sapphire Olive Eggers lay the olive egg...they look slightly different than the Sapphire Gems but still carry the blue feather gene. They just don't tend to have the black head and legs, like the Sapphire Gems.

Sapphire Gems~

Sapphire Olive Eggers~