I think I picked a cockeral! Maybe three! Oops...

[Griffinsong]

#1 is for sure a roo. From that cross [non-barred roo over barred hen] the cockerels will all be barred, and the hens will all be non-barred, that is why all the stripy chicks you saw were males.

A barred roo over a non-barred hen will give all barred offspring, though, but since you say the marans was the hen, the sex linked genetics should only give barred cockerels.

 

[Boerbok]

Sorry I have to disagree with Griffingsong.
Please keep us updated. I'm on a I phone seem I can only comment on other posts can't chat anywhere not sure I'm still new here.
Now I can't wait to see what it turns out to be. Lol

 

[micheleomal]

Okay then...I'll wait and see but from his/her behavior this afternoon, I'm really thinking roo. I let the chicks meet the big girls for a few minutes this afternoon. They had been running with the big girls at the place I got them from so they had no fear of larger chickens. This barred one however tried to spar with my 20 week old Wyandotte pullet who is HUGE. He/she was fearless...until he got his head peck good a couple times. The others were a bit more wary of Birdzilla. I'm new to chickens but that sounds like roo behavior to me...Boo! I think I'll have a plan B in mind for "him". Thanks for the feedback. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Basskids08]

Last 2 are definite pullets but I want to see pics in a couple weeks on the first one. I'm not convinced it's a cockerel!

 

[micheleomal]

Alright, please be patient with me. I read too many chicken sites. I read on one that gold/red shoulder feathers on this colored EE could mean cockerel. And they seem pointed.


The back of the bird in question previously.



Any change in opinion on sex of either? I have a home lined up for 1 roo if need be but not 2.

 

[Basskids08]

Alright, please be patient with me. I read too many chicken sites. I read on one that gold/red shoulder feathers on this colored EE could mean cockerel. And they seem pointed. That is true if they have red patches on shoulders and wings but yours has a nice even pattern which is what girl EE have. She's still a pullet The back of the bird in question previously. Any change in opinion on sex of either? I have a home lined up for 1 roo if need be but not 2.

I'm still not convinced that the barred are cockerels! Edited for spelling because of auto correct

 

[Griffinsong]

I'd give the barred bird some time but if you are sure you are right on the parentage and the father was not barred but the mother was, then due to genetics it can't be anything other than a cockerel, unless it has some weird genetic mutation. This is due to it being a sex linked trait:

Chickens have Z and W chromosomes, Males have ZZ and females have ZW

Barring is a sex linked trait, bound to the Z chromosome[which means barring can only be on a Z chromosome and not on a W one] which is why male pure barred birds are lighter in color than females, they have two copies of the barring gene, while females can only ever have one, because they only have one Z chromosome.

Now if you breed an unbarred male to a barred female, you only get males with a single copy of the barring gene, and females with none.
The barred female genetically decides the sex, and she always contributes a barred Z to males[males can not take the W, or they'd be female], and an unbarred W to females [females need to have the W from the mother, as the father only has two Zs].Since the father has two unbarred Z's, one of those is the other half of what the chicks get, so the males are always single-barred and the females always unbarred.

It doesn't work the other way around, because a pure barred male has two barred Zs and would thus always give a barred Z to his offspring, resulting in all single barred chicks.

 

[micheleomal]

Wow, thanks for the genetic lesson on barring. The father was a mixed Cochin. I know he wasn't totally barred, and I guess, from the genetics you just laid out you can't have a partially barred bird. If he carried a barred gene then he would be barred himself, correct? I'm glad I have a plan B...

 

[Basskids08]

I'd give the barred bird some time but if you are sure you are right on the parentage and the father was not barred but the mother was, then due to genetics it can't be anything other than a cockerel, unless it has some weird genetic mutation. This is due to it being a sex linked trait:

Chickens have Z and W chromosomes, Males have ZZ and females have ZW

Barring is a sex linked trait, bound to the Z chromosome[which means barring can only be on a Z chromosome and not on a W one] which is why male pure barred birds are lighter in color than females, they have two copies of the barring gene, while females can only ever have one, because they only have one Z chromosome.

Now if you breed an unbarred male to a barred female, you only get males with a single copy of the barring gene, and females with none. 
The barred female genetically decides the sex, and she always contributes a barred Z to males[males can not take the W, or they'd be female], and an unbarred W to females [females need to have the W from the mother, as the father only has two Zs].Since the father has two unbarred Z's, one of those is the other half of what the chicks get, so the males are always single-barred and the females always unbarred.

It doesn't work the other way around, because a pure barred male has two barred Zs and would thus always give a barred Z to his offspring, resulting in all single barred chicks.

Now I have a question, since the bird in questions wasn't pure, half Cochin have rock, then does the genetics still work out for sex link chicks? Not sure if I'm asking the right way either!

Wow, thanks for the genetic lesson on barring. The father was a mixed Cochin. I know he wasn't totally barred, and I guess, from the genetics you just laid out you can't have a partially barred bird. If he carried a barred gene then he would be barred himself, correct? I'm glad I have a plan B...

 

[micheleomal]

I actually called the woman I got them from and asked her about the father. She has a large flock of mixed breed chickens and some purebred hens. She told me the father of the father was Cochin, mother unknown "maybe RIR, not sure". Does this change anything? She assured me that she had been doing this for years, the mother of the chick is a Cuckoo marans... and I got a hen (we're talking about the barred chick). So...I'm really no farther along this path than when I started except I know something about sex linked barring genetics, at least in purebred chickens. Thanks for all the input. He/she will either lay or crow. Cutest little chick though. Named it Dusty for the feather dusters on it's feet

. BTW, thanks for the input on the EE too. I'm glad she's a pullet.