Sex- linked Information

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When I was looking into that, the best thing I could come up with was Rhode Island Red x Barred Rock. Or, if you want a smaller, more feed efficient laying hen, and don't care if the males are smaller too, a Rhode Island Red x Ideal Poultry's California Grey would make a very good laying Sexlink. I decided against these because I like dual purpose birds.

Close runners up were Black Australorp x Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red x Rhode Island White. I decided against these two because the Aussie Sexlink hens would look just like a pure Aussie, which could be confusing. And I decided against RIWs because I don't like white chickens (more prone to predators).

BTW, when I say "Rhode Island Red," you can also use Production Red or Cherry Egger.

This is incredible information - especially for a newbie still learning so much. I printed this off and I bookmarked this page. Thank you so much for this information. Now if I can just read through it and understand. Thank you for sharing your wealth of information.

id say most hatcheries lines of sexlink pullets are not the product of crossing two lines together. the parent stock has been bred for decades to produce the modern sexlink fowl that are purchased. you will not produce as good as pullets by crossing two breeds together in your back yard, even if they are "sexlink" there is a science to making the sexlink pullets. and its much deeper subject than a RIR cock over BR hen.

so will the sexlink pullets from a hatchery out perform a recognized pure bred line of fowl. like rir, br, or nhr.....absolutely. ive proved to myself and my family has proved it, two generations back.

http://www.isapoultry.com/

interesting link. genetics is a big business.

so you see. anyone can produce a sexlinked chicken. but no one can produce in their backyard a sexlink chicken like you can get from most hatcheries. unless your willing to invest in the grandparent. or parent stock from these geneticly " perfected" lines.

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Your own Sexlink pullets will not lay as well as Sexlink pullets from a hatchery, it's just not gonna happen no matter what breeds you cross. The hatchery's source for hatching eggs has spent tons of time, effort, and money perfecting their strains. It's very high-tech, not just random breedings.

However, if you hatch out your own chicks, that can save you about $2.50/pullet chick, so it can still make sense. Plus, if you do a dual purpose Sexlink, you can probably sell the male chicks for $0.25-$1.00 each, bringing down the cost. I have also noticed that my hybrids are hardier and grow faster/better than my purebreds. I'm a Sexlink lover.

two yrs ago. and again this past season. ive experiemented with crossing a rir brood cock over sex link hens. thinking that im going back toward one of the original crosses. it creates a larger bodied hen. lays good. but not as good as the "pure" sexl link hen. much more vocal....which can be a aggrevation. and the hens come the red or golden with white feathers like a sexlink hen. or they come a dark red like the rir side. so if some one wanted to produce their own. id say its worth doing. but they wont compare with what you can buy

i also tried, and a good friend of mine has been doing this for yrs.......breeding a golden sexlink rooster over the golden hens. the pullets come all different colors. and they lay good. but just like the above mentioned experiment. i found the pullets dont lay quite as well and the eggs, size and shape arent as consistant as the hatcheries sexlink pullets. good enuff to keep doing it. but the rooster doesnt stay very fertile for long and the hatchability of the eggs suffer tremendously. i tried it this past two seasons. and my firend has done it for yrs as mentioned. but even he will go back to buying true sexlink hatchery hens every few yrs.

Thank you "Ridgerunner" for answering my questions. I kind of understand now.

I have a question:
I have a rooster who's dad was a Silver Laced Whyandotte and mother was a Silver Spangled Hamburg. He has come out black with yellow feathers around his neck and a few white dots here and there, and a rose comb with black legs.
Another rooster I have came from an Isa Brown hen and the father is most probably SS Hamburg as he looks just like one but with only half the spots, although he could also be SLW, and he also has a rose comb but with slate coloured legs and eyes.
Just wondering if either of them fall into any sexlink catagory, they were just random eggs collected and hatched so no intention of trying to breed sexlink chicks.
Just curious

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No, and no. SLW and SSH are BOTH silver, so you won't get sexlinks from this cross. SSH x ISA Brown=silver x dominant white/red, so no sexlinks here either. You need red or gold x silver to make red sexlinks, and non-barred and non-white x barred to make Black Sexlinks.