Elk Creek Rock
Breeding Project
Our Elk Creek Rock breeding project has a long term goal of a very hardy, productive dual-purpose bird who enjoys foraging, and also lays a variety of mid-tone colored and speckled eggs (We find the pastel shades of the Easter Egger just a little boring).
Most importantly, we are looking for dual-purpose birds that are productive in our Pacific Northwest climate: cold, dreary winters with bouts of snow, and dry, hot summers with bouts of extremely high temperatures.
At present, the breed mix in this project is Silverudd’s Blue, French Black Copper Marans, Bielefelder, and Swedish Flower Hen. A project history is included at the bottom of this page.
All birds from 2025 were fathered by a Silverudd’s Blue x Bielefelder rooster with one blue egg gene. To our surprise, a type emerged that really excited us, and, even more surprising, we are considering keeping the pea comb (see our Silverudd’s Blue page for how the pea comb got into our Elk Creek Rock project).
We have three lines under our Elk Creek Project for 2026: Main Line, German Line, and Plymouth Line.
| Line | Expected Egg Colors | Expected Feather Color | Dual Purpose Expectation |
| Main Line | Rainbow Variety – Mostly Green Shades, Possibly with Speckling & Heavy Bloom | Mostly Blue (possibly diluted shades) and Black; Rare Patterns and Birchen likely; about 65% barred | Somewhat |
| German Line | Mostly Olives and Beiges/Browns (Less variety than Main), Brown Speckling likely | High Variety, All will have barring | Yes |
| Plymouth Line | 50% Olive and 50% Brown, Beige, & Pink | Expecting Blue or Black; all males will be barred, females 50% barred and 50% solid | Yes |
Elk Creek Rock – Main Line
Several hens from our 2025 Lichen and Moss lines have a Bielefelder leaning body type (albeit much smaller and less severely “heavy”), and this paired with the pea comb makes quite a picture. We are including these hens (our favorites), along with our 2025 Lichen and Moss Line hens in our Main Breeding Pen.
For our 2026 Main Pen breeding rooster, we liked so many of our grow-out roosters, but one in particular stood out. Black as a dominant color was not our first choice, but this gentleman always has a group of ladies around him in a very mixed flock, is always chatting to them, and almost always dances before mating. He has a similar body type to his father but a more dual purpose leaning form. On top of that, we believe he’s carrying the Silver gene (possibly two) and has spangling on his chest. A criteria for this project is some sort of pattern to help with camouflaging from aerial predators, though we have not set out with a specific pattern as the end goal.
Chicks from this pen will have a variety of egg colors ranging from off-white to brown, pale blue or green to darker moss shades, and pale to dark pink. Many eggs will have speckling. Our rooster is carrying a blue egg gene, so 50% of chicks will inherit a blue egg gene from him; most of our hens in this pen are carrying one or two blue egg genes. Most chicks will end up laying a shade of green, with the other colors being possible but less likely.
Elk Creek Rock – German Line
Under our 2026 Elk Creek Rock – German Line, we are pairing up our 2023 Import Bielefelder Rooster with our dual purpose appearing hens from our 2025 Elk Creek Rock grow outs, as well as our Woods Line (French Black Copper Marans x Swedish Flower Hen) hens from 2025. Chicks from this pen are expected to lay beige/brown and shades of olive eggs, with brown speckling being likely.
Expect some variety in feather coloring from this pen, and all chicks will be barred. We expect almost all offspring from this pen will be dual purpose.
Elk Creek Rock – Plymouth Line
Under our 2026 Elk Creek Rock – Plymouth Line, we are pairing up our 2025 Elk Creek Rock Breeding Rooster with a group of Barred Plymouth Rock hens that we obtained from Hoover’s Hatchery. These ladies are delightful and follow us around for no reason at all. They are vigorous foragers and were mostly brooded outside without issue.
Our rooster carries one blue egg gene, so all chicks from this pen will have a 50% chance of laying an olive colored egg (otherwise eggs are expected to be brown/beige). Feather coloring is expected to be 50% blue and 50% black. All males will be barred, and females will be 50% barred or and 50% solid colored. We expect these will be hardy birds and very strong layers and that most offspring from this pen will be dual purpose.
For an in depth look at egg color genetics and expected egg colors from our Breeding Projects, be sure to check out our page All About Egg Colors.
Elk Creek Rock Breeding Project History
2025:
(SRB x BF) Rooster over: (FBCM x SFH), (FBCM x SRB), (SFH x SRB)
The project was born out of loving certain qualities of our Silverudd’s Blue, French Black Copper Marans, and Bielefelders, but not finding them to be the perfect fit for our farm. Silverudd’s Blue was originally intended by Martin Silverudd to be a highly productive breed: a strong layer with low feed requirements that was still worthy of processing for meat. Certainly they are good layers and strong foragers, but we have found that the birds are a little too small to make processing worthwhile. Bielefelders have incredibly wonderful personalities, and, once they finally start laying, are incredibly productive layers, but they eat like it is their last day on earth and suffer terribly on very hot days. And then there is the French Black Copper Marans who lay those gorgeous dark eggs, but which we have found to be somewhat delicate and not too productive.
So, with a heavy influence of the green-egg-laying Silverudd’s Blue and the dark-laying French Black Copper Marans, a little bit of the Bielefelder (tracing the “Rock” back to the Plymouth Rock through the Bielefelder’s heritage), and the hardiness of the Swedish Flower Hen, we are excited to see how this year’s grow-outs turn out. With the exception of the Bielefelder grandparent, which came from another small breeder, all grandparents originated from Greenfire Farms.
2025 – Woods Line
The Woods Line will come from our hens that are out of a French Black Copper Marans rooster over our wheat-colored Swedish Flower Hen. These hens are blue or black with deep gold/light copper birchen coloring and lightly feathered legs. They have the larger, round bodies of the Swedish Flower Hen, and the Woods Line is most likely to produce dual-purpose worthy offspring out of this year’s Elk Creek Rock project.
(FBCM x SFH)
2025 – Moss Line
The Moss Line will come from our hens that are out of a French Black Copper Marans rooster over a blue Silverudd’s Blue hen. These hens are blue self-laced or black with faint copper or white leakage about the face. They have faintly feathered legs and are slightly larger than Silverudd’s Blue.
(FBCM x SRB)
2025 – Lichen Line
For the Lichen Line, we have only one hen, out of a Swedish Flower Hen rooster over a blue Silverudd’s Blue hen (This cross is available under Rising Mist). She is white with faint gray lacing around her neck and dilute splash markings. She started laying at 20 weeks on the dot and has quickly become a favorite.
(SFH x SRB)
Our Other Breeds & Breeding Projects
Elk Creek Rock Breeding Project
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