NEW Sussex Color (Cuckoo) - Page 6

cuckoo polish have spoted legges just like that rooster dose it gose with the cuckoo gene
all other polish have slate leggs but cuckoo

Genetics 101

Silver sussex are silver birchen and barring is not going to spontaneously appear in a bird. I think that a marans jumped the fence. The reason your male has some black in his shanks is because he only carries one barring gene. From the pictures- his color is not any lighter than the females. His white barring should be wider and this will make his color lighter. With two barring genes the leg color should be white.

Examine the middle of the birds sole- this should be a white or pink color. I am betting the color is pink or white. The color in his legs is due to the extended black gene he carries.

Cuckoo marans have two extended black genes and that is not a problem. You want birds that  have two extended black genes. If you start  producing  males that show heavy white on the shoulders and some white in their hackles that means the males have two birchen genes. Birchen birds are going to have a tendency to show white. Do not use these males for breeding.

Only breed males that have the lighter color. These males will only produce barred females. If a male produces black hens- he does not carry two barring genes.

Tim

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  Hi Tim,
  What do you think about the intruder being a Barred Holland instead of a Cuckoo Marans?
Also, wouldn't a barred chick be obvious when Greenfire was making up the original  shipment?
Unless the barred chick was one of the silver/light splits? In which case the  barring might only
show in the tail when the juenile plumage showed up? Whaddayathink?
   Best,
   Karen Tewart

Why would they even sell silver "splits" beause the can not be "split" beause they are both based on silver (Silver S, and Light S)??

I see a few dark tail feathers, but other then that it reminds me much of Cuckoo marns colouring

How was the cuckoo sussex achieved?

Karen,

The only problems I see with a barred holland is a yellow skin issue and a size issue. Barred holland have yellow skin-so it may eventually show up in the offspring. Yellow skin is recessive- so you have to cross two individuals that are carriers of the recessive gene for the trait to show up in the offspring. The barred holland I had in the past were smaller birds. It has been my experience that if a large bird is crossed with a small bird- the birds in later generations are smaller than the larger parent.

I would think it would be obvious but the person putting together the order may have not known better. People sell chicks but have no clue about the phenotypic expression of down. They were filling orders from a tray.

Zonal barring is typically expressed in birds that are not a solid black. A Silver Sussex and Light Sussex cross would genetically be E^R/e^Wh, Co/co+, plus a lacing factor.  This combination would produce a bird that had quit a bit of silver in the anterior plumage of both the male and female. The male would have a silver back and saddle hackles. Silver sussex have heavy lacing on the breast-this would be apparent in the juvenile offspring.

I believe the bird is  birchen/extended black- the black in the offspring is too clean to be birchen/wheaten. If the original bird carried wheaten you would have problems with the black background color in some of the offspring.

In the case of a juvenile male, you are correct barring should show in the tail and wings and any black areas on the body.

Tim

Split for wheaten and birchen-not silver.

Tim

Hi River Rock,
I found another mention of the Cuckoo Sussex and the Black Sussex in Sharpe's book, "The Sussex Fowl".    Best guesstimate on publishing date is 1920. 
Apparently, Sharpe was quite a fan of the Cuckoo Sussex.  Look on pages 43 and 44. The book is fully readable online.  The URL is :  http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924003091398#page/n63/mode/2up
Sharpe was the originator of the Light Sussex. Anyone breeding that color, this book is a great read for all colors of Sussex, esp. the Light.
Best,
Karen in western PA

gorgeous!