Guess the dad: Barred Rock or Black Australorp on Sapphire Gem hens

[NewJourney]

I was "sure" that by the time we incubated fresh eggs that the old rooster DNA should be GONE from the hens' oviducts... Well, now that they've hatched, I'm questioning if that's the case. LOL

Here are some pics of our hatched chicks. Please help me figure out if the dad was a Black Australorp (that viciously attacked my mom and was a very RUDE and aggresive during mating), or if it's our calm, lovely Barred Rock roo. The reason I ask is because I see white wing tips on some of them. We do NOT want to propagate that Australorp's genes!

For reference... Our hens are Sapphire Gems (believed to be Barred Rock x Old/Blue Andalusian), we got them from TSC last year. The Polish chick(s) in the photos we picked up from a local farm store, we didn't hatch them from OUR eggs. We only have the Sapphire Gems and a Barred Rock (previously a BA cockerel). There is a neighboring Dominique roo that is always at the back fence but he's NEVER hopped over into our yard as far as we know. Just in cease he actually does hop over and we don't know about it - you amazing, smart people will help me know that - if you believe it's the case.

Since it's very likely one of our roosters that fertilized these eggs, I'll work under the assumption that the genetics are either:
1. Barred Rock x Blue Andalusian or
2. Barred Rock x Blue Andalusian x Black Australorp

These lovelies were born March 13th.

The next day - March 14th:

March 19th (6 days old):

It's been very windy today, but if you need more/better photos let me know and I will go in to the brooder coop and pick some up and take more photos.

Thank you!! I look forward to hearing your opinions.

 

[sourland]

How long had the 'old' rooster been removed from the flock?

 

[The Moonshiner]

If your roosters are a true Barred Rock and a true black Australorp than any chicks with barring are from the Barred Rock any that are not barred are from the Australorp.
I see some head spots and some without so I'd say you have a mix of both.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

A female's eggs will stay fertile for two weeks after she is mated by a male. How long has your old rooster been removed from the flock? If it has been less than two weeks, then your old rooster might have sired some of the chicks.

 

[sourland]

I see some head spots and some without so I'd say you have a mix of both.

This is what I thought.

A female's eggs will stay fertile for two weeks after she is mated by a male. How long has your old rooster been removed from the flock? If it has been less than two weeks, then your old rooster might have sired some of the chicks.

Actually a hen may retain some fertility up until 4 weeks after a rooster has been removed.

 

[NewJourney]

How long had the 'old' rooster been removed from the flock?

The BA had been gone about 3 weeks. The BR was added the next day.

If your roosters are a true Barred Rock and a true black Australorp than any chicks with barring are from the Barred Rock any that are not barred are from the Australorp.
I see some head spots and some without so I'd say you have a mix of both.

Well, our hens are a hybrid between Barred rock and Andalusian. So, it's possible that barring could be passed down even if the Australorp sired the chicks.

A female's eggs will stay fertile for two weeks after she is mated by a male. How long has your old rooster been removed from the flock? If it has been less than two weeks, then your old rooster might have sired some of the chicks.

I believe it was 3 weeks since they last mated with the Black Australorp, but I could be wrong. I used eggs that were super fresh. They were only at most two days old. We tend to get 5-7 eggs daily from our 7 hens.

 

[NewJourney]

Actually a hen may retain some fertility up until 4 weeks after a rooster has been removed.

Oh wow I didn't expect it would be that long! I read that it would last only about two weeks. I read that ducks can last a month though. Well, that would explain the white wing tips I am seeing in some of them - the BA roo must have sired some of them!

 

[sourland]

A general rule of thumb is : High fertility at 1 week, moderate fertility after 2 weeks, some fertility after 3 weeks, and occasional fertility up to 4 weeks after removal of a healthy/vigorous/ fertile rooster.

 

[NatJ]

Oh wow I didn't expect it would be that long! I read that it would last only about two weeks. I read that ducks can last a month though. Well, that would explain the white wing tips I am seeing in some of them - the BA roo must have sired some of them!

I would ignore the white wing-tips and look for barring in the feathers instead.

IF the Barred Rock rooster is a pure Barred Rock, then every one of his chicks will have white barring. So for any chick with no barring, it must have a different father (and not the Dominique next door, because he would also produce barred chicks.)

Sometimes people have Black Sexlink roosters, that look quite a bit like Barred Rock but only have one copy of the barring gene. Those roosters give barring to half of their chicks, and not-barring to the other half of their chicks. You could post a photo of your rooster, if you want opinions on whether that happened with yours.

Well, our hens are a hybrid between Barred rock and Andalusian. So, it's possible that barring could be passed down even if the Australorp sired the chicks.

Do those hens show barring?
For any hen that has no barring, she will not give barring to any of her chicks.

For any hen that has barring, her sons will also have white barring. But she cannot give barring to her daughters, so any barred pullets have a barred father.

Barring is on the Z sex chromosome. A hen has ZW, so she gives Z to her sons (with Barring if she has it), and she gives W to her daughters (which makes them female.) A rooster is ZZ, and he gives one Z to each chick he sires. Because barring is dominant, a rooster will look barred if he has one or two barring genes. But if he has just one barring gene, that means he has a not-barred gene that he can give to half of his chicks, which can be confusing in a case like this.

So to sort out chicks, once they are old enough to tell male from female:
--barred pullets have a barred father
--pullets that are solid black or blue with no barring have a not-barred father, or a father with just one copy of the barring gene (so he looks barred but can give them the not-barred gene.)
--cockerels that have no barring come from not-barred mothers and not-barred fathers (or not-barred mother and a father with just one barring gene, who can give not-barred to half of his chicks.)
--cockerels with barring have at least one barred parent (mother or father)
--cockerels with two copies of the barring gene will show more white than cockerels with just one, and these cockerels must have two barred parents.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Well, our hens are a hybrid between Barred rock and Andalusian. So, it's possible that barring could be passed down even if the Australorp sired the chicks.

Doesn't matter. IF they are SG hens then they don't have a barring gene so not possible they'd pass it on.