Cream Legbar cross chicks (Maran x CL, Barred Rock x CL), colouring genetics and sexing

[NatJ]

This makes sense for the barring! They'll all be barred, I should further qualify my question, will they be auto-sexing? I'm just now learning about genetics, so if barring is linked to auto-sexing, that's new info! Thanks in advance!

Yes, autosexing requires barring.

It is based on males having two Z chromosomes (so they can have 2 copies of the barring gene) and females have sex chromsomes ZW (so they can only have 1 copy of the barring gene, on their one Z chromsome.)

A chicken with two copies of the barring gene will show more white (in the barring as they grow, and also in the head spot when they are babies, and sometimes also lighter colored legs.) A chicken with one copy of the barring gene will show less white (in the barring as they grow, but also in the head spot.)

Barred Rocks and Cuckoo Marans can be autosexing: males have bigger headspots, lighter-colored legs, and more white in the barring as they grow. They can be easier or harder to sex, depending on whether the breeder was selecting for more distinction between males and females.

The best-known autosexing breeds (like Cream Legbars) have barring on wild-type background color, rather than black. For them, the females (one barring gene) mostly lack headspots. The males (two barring genes) have headspots, and the down color on the rest of their bodies is generally lighter in color as well.

I'm currently incubating Maran×Barred Rock sire with Cream Legbar dam eggs. The sex-link gene should pass to them, correct? I'm really excited to see what we get! It'll be very interesting to see this mix!

What kind of Marans is a parent of the rooster? If it was a Cuckoo Marans, then the rooster is pure for the barring gene. That would mean all chicks are pure for the barring gene, and you may be able to sex them by recognizing which ones have two barring genes (male) and which have one barring gene (female).

But if the father has a different kind of Marans, with no barring, then the father will have only one barring gene. He will give the barring gene to half his chicks, and no barring to the other half. The Cream Legbar mother will give barring to her sons, and a W chromosome to her daughters (makes them female, does not have barring.)

That would give:
--males with two copies of the barring gene (half of males, inherited barring from both parents)
--males with one copy of the barring gene (other half of males, inherited barring just from their mother)
--females with one copy of the barring gene (half of females, inherited barring just from their father)
--females with no barring gene (other half of females, did not inherit barring from their father.)

From this mix, you might be able to identify the chicks with two copies of the barring gene (must be males) and/or the ones with no barring (must be females). But the ones with just one barring gene could be male or female.

 

[MommaBison]

Yes, autosexing requires barring.

It is based on males having two Z chromosomes (so they can have 2 copies of the barring gene) and females have sex chromsomes ZW (so they can only have 1 copy of the barring gene, on their one Z chromsome.)

A chicken with two copies of the barring gene will show more white (in the barring as they grow, and also in the head spot when they are babies, and sometimes also lighter colored legs.) A chicken with one copy of the barring gene will show less white (in the barring as they grow, but also in the head spot.)

Barred Rocks and Cuckoo Marans can be autosexing: males have bigger headspots, lighter-colored legs, and more white in the barring as they grow. They can be easier or harder to sex, depending on whether the breeder was selecting for more distinction between males and females.

The best-known autosexing breeds (like Cream Legbars) have barring on wild-type background color, rather than black. For them, the females (one barring gene) mostly lack headspots. The males (two barring genes) have headspots, and the down color on the rest of their bodies is generally lighter in color as well.


What kind of Marans is a parent of the rooster? If it was a Cuckoo Marans, then the rooster is pure for the barring gene. That would mean all chicks are pure for the barring gene, and you may be able to sex them by recognizing which ones have two barring genes (male) and which have one barring gene (female).

But if the father has a different kind of Marans, with no barring, then the father will have only one barring gene. He will give the barring gene to half his chicks, and no barring to the other half. The Cream Legbar mother will give barring to her sons, and a W chromosome to her daughters (makes them female, does not have barring.)

That would give:
--males with two copies of the barring gene (half of males, inherited barring from both parents)
--males with one copy of the barring gene (other half of males, inherited barring just from their mother)
--females with one copy of the barring gene (half of females, inherited barring just from their father)
--females with no barring gene (other half of females, did not inherit barring from their father.)

From this mix, you might be able to identify the chicks with two copies of the barring gene (must be males) and/or the ones with no barring (must be females). But the ones with just one barring gene could be male or female.

Wow this is a lot of helpful info, thank you! The rooster is Black Copper Maran father × Barred Rock mother

 

[MommaBison]

I'm not sure it will work, because you already have one cross as the sire. He doesn't have 2 barring genes himself, he has 1. Therefore half his offspring, regardless of sex, will get a barring gene, because in birds the males are the homomorphic(WW) sex. The legbar will pass her barring to all her sons, because barring is not on the female designated gene, it is only on the W gene, hence why it is sexlinked. The sire can still pass barring to his daughters since he carries one, and he might not pass it evenly. Hope this explanation helps!

Yes! This makes sense! I didn't realize that it was the barring gene that caused the dot. Very interesting! Thank you.

 

[NatJ]

Wow this is a lot of helpful info, thank you! The rooster is Black Copper Maran father × Barred Rock mother

In that case, the rooster only has one barring gene, so he will give it to some chicks and not others. That would be this situation, with chicks in four categories:

--males with two copies of the barring gene (half of males, inherited barring from both parents)
--males with one copy of the barring gene (other half of males, inherited barring just from their mother)
--females with one copy of the barring gene (half of females, inherited barring just from their father)
--females with no barring gene (other half of females, did not inherit barring from their father.)

From this mix, you might be able to identify the chicks with two copies of the barring gene (must be males) and/or the ones with no barring (must be females). But the ones with just one barring gene could be male or female.

 

[MommaBison]

In that case, the rooster only has one barring gene, so he will give it to some chicks and not others. That would be this situation, with chicks in four categories:

Thank you! This is great education, I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions!