5 weeks old chicks....and some hybrids too!

[CPT]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share a few pictures of our chicks that were hatched a few weeks ago. Mama hen is a Plymouth Barred Rock, papa is a Red Ranger rooster. We had a total of 10 hatched, 7 of them are barred rocks, but 3 of them are these beautiful hybrids. They have black feathers and beautiful caramel colored feather highlights. They don't mind being picked up either! Anyway, we are enjoying our chicks so far.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

You created a color sexed hybrid called the black sexlink (or black star).Great Chickens,has a few myself.

 

[CPT]

Wow, fantastic! Black Star chickens. And we live in Star, ID. Go figure.

 

[Doc7]

“Pullets feather out black with some red in neck feathers. Males feather out with the Barred Rock pattern along with a few red feathers. Black Sex-Links are often referred to as Rock Reds or Black Stars.“

Sounds like you have got 7 cockerels and 3 females.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/reviews/black-sex-link-chicken.11433/

 

[CPT]

Oh geez....I hope not 7 roosters I think at least one of them is a barred rock rooster, but seven? noooo......

 

[CPT]

Here they are settled in for the night. So sweet.

 

[Doc7]

Can anyone weigh in? Does a Red Ranger throw true sex link offspring with a barred hen? Very hard to find data on this unlike another red based chicken.

 

[CPT]

Yep, it's official.....we have 4 females and 6 cockerels. We looked at earlier pictures when they were tiny chicks and six of them were black with white spots on their heads. Too many roosters, geez!

 

[Doc7]

So you are saying one of the barred patterns is a female? Hence not the sex link pattern previously described?

 

[CPT]

Yes, possibly. We'll have to take a closer look at the cockerels at night when they're roosting just to make sure. They may be one female in there in the mix. The remaining three are black star females.