Anyone know the genetics of popular production breeds? Please post.

[Citron_d'uccle]

Just wondering if anyone happened to know the genetics of popular production breeds? Like for instance, I know the genetics for the following breeds-

Rhode Island Red rooster X Delaware Hen = Red Sexlink
Rhode Island Red rooster X Barred Rock Hen = Black Sexlink
Rhode Island Red rooster X Rhode Island White Hen = Gold Sexlink
Rhode Island Red rooster X New Hampshire Hen = Production Red

Any others that are known please add them.

 

[Illia]

RIR x RIW actually still produces a "red" sexlink. Black vs Red Sex-link isn't actually about color, it's about how the genetics play. Black Sex-link refers to crossing a barred to non-barred, making the males barred and the females not barred. Gold/Red refers to a silver female and non-silver male.

Also, Rhode Island Whites actually aren't used in that cross as no hatchery or commercial laying producer has them. They're an exceedingly rare breed.


But, on topic -

I can't think of any other "commercial" color combos. Other basic color genetics, like the blues, are usually found on non-hatchery/commercial breeds.

I think you covered most of it, which is, Sex-Linking.

PS - Production Reds, doesn't matter who the rooster or hen is.

 

[Citron_d'uccle]

Sorry I was unsure. I was going by what Stromberg's has listed as the genetics for thier Sexlinks. Also, any known crosses that produce a certain breed are welcome.

 

[Illia]

No actual crosses produce a breed per say.

But some crosses produce certain groups/labels. The most well known are the Sex-links, the next well known are Easter Eggers, which really, just requires crossing any blue or green egg layer with another green, blue, or brown egg layer.

Beyond that, the next well known product are Cornish X, but the parentage is a "secret recipe."

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Anyone can produce a sex-link. All you need are the right hens and roosters and they are easy to come by along with charts showing how it's done.

But that won't necessarily give you "one of the popular production breeds" if by that you mean birds such as the ISA Browns or one of the other commercially produced sex-link high production laying hens.

Those birds are the products of long-term massive breeding programs. Their genetics have been carefully selected for many years to get fast growing, high production hens with good feed conversion efficiencies, shell qualities, and so on. Yes, they are sex-linked because it allows the hatcheries to separate the valuable pullets from the worthless cockerels at hatch. But that's only a small part of what goes into those particular birds. You are not going to be able to replicate that by simply crossing a rooster of Breed X with a hen of Breed Y.

"Production Red" in itself is a meaningless term. You have to know what the breeder of the birds in question means when they say that to determine what those birds are. They may be a cross, they may be a straight Rhode Island Red, they may be New Hampshires, or they may just be a mutt chicken that is red in color that hopefully lays well.