Sex- linked Information

[Clov3r]

I'm trying to figure out a few crosses... we could talk rabbit genetics all day, but I'm still learning hybrid crosses in chickens.

I'm curious about whether there's any kind of linking in:

* Speckled Sussex roo x SL Wyandotte
* Speckled Sussex roo x Orpington
* SL Wyandotte roo x Orpington
* SL Wyandotte roo x Speckled Sussex
* Barred Rock roo x SL Wyandotte
* Barred Rock roo x Speckled Sussex

 

[junebuggena]

I'm trying to figure out a few crosses... we could talk rabbit genetics all day, but I'm still learning hybrid crosses in chickens.

I'm curious about whether there's any kind of linking in:

* Speckled Sussex roo x SL Wyandotte Red sexlinks. May not be obvious at hatching.
* Speckled Sussex roo x Orpington No sexlinking at all
* SL Wyandotte roo x Orpington No sexlinking
* SL Wyandotte roo x Speckled Sussex No sexlinking
* Barred Rock roo x SL Wyandotte No sexlinking
* Barred Rock roo x Speckled Sussex No sexlinking

It all comes down to the hens genetics, primarily. For red sexlinks, you need a silver base color hen and a red base color rooster. For black sexlinks, you need a barred/cuckoo hen.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you understand rabbit genetics you can get this. Try really studying the first post in this thread. To me it’s one of those things that it’s kind of challenging until the light comes on, then the basics are pretty clear. The hen has the dominant sex linked gene, the rooster has the recessive. That’s all there is to that part.

The second part is that you need to be able to see the difference at hatch. That’s where it can get tricky. Junebuggena is much better at that part than I am.

For your matches, the first, Speckled Sussex roo x SL Wyandotte, will give you a red sex link. You should be able to see the difference pretty clearly at hatch. The rest, no. They are not set up correctly for any kind of sex links I’m aware of.

 

[Clov3r]

If you understand rabbit genetics you can get this. Try really studying the first post in this thread. To me it’s one of those things that it’s kind of challenging until the light comes on, then the basics are pretty clear. The hen has the dominant sex linked gene, the rooster has the recessive. That’s all there is to that part.

The second part is that you need to be able to see the difference at hatch. That’s where it can get tricky. Junebuggena is much better at that part than I am.

For your matches, the first, Speckled Sussex roo x SL Wyandotte, will give you a red sex link. You should be able to see the difference pretty clearly at hatch. The rest, no. They are not set up correctly for any kind of sex links I’m aware of.

Any chance you have a recommended source for reading on it? I feel like I have a vague idea of how the sex linking works in theory-- I suppose my hitch is in figuring out the genetics of the parents. A SL Wyandotte is silver based? I guess that makes sense. A speckled Sussex is... red? So... is a red Wyandotte obviously red based? Alright. Heh. I assume this is similar to... say... cats, where you have red or brown base under tabby pattern (as an example).

 

[junebuggena]

Any chance you have a recommended source for reading on it? I feel like I have a vague idea of how the sex linking works in theory-- I suppose my hitch is in figuring out the genetics of the parents. A SL Wyandotte is silver based? I guess that makes sense. A speckled Sussex is... red? So... is a red Wyandotte obviously red based? Alright. Heh. I assume this is similar to... say... cats, where you have red or brown base under tabby pattern (as an example).

You've got the hang of it now. Go through the very first post of this thread. The basics apply to any chicken, it's not limited to specific breeds. For example, I have a red/gold base color cockerel with two silver base color pullets.

They produce easily sexable red sexlink chicks.

The cockerel is the pale (silver) chick in the middle. The two girls are dark red/brown.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You just mentioned the biggest problem I have in all of this. What genetics are you starting with? That’s often not very easy to determine.

There is no set genetic formula required to make any breed or color/pattern. The requirement for a chicken’s color/pattern is that the judge sees what he is supposed to see. It’s up to the breeder to get the right color and pattern. Some of them go about that in different ways. For example, an easy way to get a solid black chicken is to use the Extended Black gene. Most people see a solid black chicken and assume it is Extended Black. I got some black chickens from a breeder that had Birchen with melanizers. Melanizers can turn certain feathers black. When a judge sees a black chicken, he/she does not know genetically how that black was made, they just know that it is black.

A solid white chicken is another one. You can make a solid white chicken with Dominant White. Dominant White turns black feathers white. So you take a black chicken and add Dominant White. If you put Dominant White on a red chicken with a black tail you get a red chicken with a white tail. You only need one of the genes at that gene pair to be Dominant White for this to work. So when you see a white chicken based on Dominant White you don’t know if it is pure for that gene or not.

But you can also make a solid white chicken with Recessive White. When both genes at that gene pair are Recessive White, it is tremendously powerful. It turns everything white. But if it does not pair up, you only have one Recessive White at that gene pair, it’s invisible. So if you pair up a solid white chicken based on Recessive White with some other chicken with no Recessive White, you can get about anything. You have no idea just by looking what is hiding under that Recessive White.

Some people add barring on a white chicken to help make the white even whiter so you may have barring hiding under there. You cannot tell by looking if a solid white chicken has Dominant White, Recessive White, or both. You can’t tell what is hiding under that white.

There are others but that’s enough. With chicken genetics you can have dominant genes, recessive genes, partially dominant genes, and genes that only act if another certain gene is present. An example of a partially dominant gene is the blue feather gene. If you have two copies at that gene pair you get a splash, a white and black chicken. If you only have one copy of the blue feather gene at that location you get a blue chicken. If you have none, you get a black chicken. But this gene only acts on black feather color. If you have a solid red chicken this gene has no effect. If you have a red chicken with a normally black tail, you can get a red chicken with a splash or blue tail.

This stuff is fascinating but it can give me a headache. It has some bearing on what you are asking but your real question is on sex links. The first post in this thread talks about red sex links, black sex links, and feather sexing. If you look through that there are tables that tell you what to cross to get these. It is not all-inclusive, there are plenty of others that can work but it is at least a starting point. Again I suggest you study the first post in this thread. It has a lot of good information in it.

You might also want to play with the cross calculator. It is very simplistic and only has a few genes in it of the total out there. It ignores certain things that can occur. It makes certain assumptions that may or may not be correct. Remember there are different ways to make many colors. It can be addictive but you can get a feel for how some of the genes interact. But I do not have a good source for what the starting genetics are for a certain color/pattern. No matter what anyone comes up with someone can come up with another genetic way to do about anything. There are rules. Certain colors have to be based on gold, certain ones have to be based on silver. But some could go either way.

Cross Calculator
http://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#kipcalculator

 

[cmom]

I was experimenting with my Rose Combs. I put a White Wyandotte with a RC RIR. The chicks came out as Black Sex-Links.

 

[junebuggena]

I was experimenting with my Rose Combs. I put a White Wyandotte with a RC RIR. The chicks came out as Black Sex-Links.

Well, now you know that the Wyandotte is recessive white, and has the barring gene. Neat and unexpected.

 

[bauerdog]

Two separate questions....are white silkies typically dominant white? And are cemani roosters usable for sex linked breeding? I have two cuckoo Marans cross OE pullets.....

 

[junebuggena]

Two separate questions....are white silkies typically dominant white? And are cemani roosters usable for sex linked breeding? I have two cuckoo Marans cross OE pullets.....

Silkies should be recessive white. And cemani roosters can be used for breeding black sexlinks.