Austrolorp x Dominique = sexlink?

[Aziara]

The way I understand it, a sexlink is created when you cross a solid colored rooster to a barred hen. So I would think that a Australorp roo to a Dominique hen would create a black sexlink, correct? The chicks would be black hens and barred roos?

Let's take this a step further. Here's a 'recipe' for creating an autosexed breed:

(No, this isn't something I'd be able to do now, I have a very small yard that is filled at the moment with my 4 precious Bielefelders )

What on earth would the F2 look like? Is there any brown to come forward in these two breeds? With the usual autosexed breed, you end up with a brown and gray barred roo and a brown partridge-looking hen. Would a 3rd breed be necessary on the F1 level to introduce the brown? Or is Australorp a bad breed to begin this with??

I may have seen something about needing to have a 'wild type' chick (chipmunk color) for the solid color breed. If so, the Australorp is out.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

No. You'll get all barred from that barred cockerel x black australorp female. It appears you need a third variable to use for proper sorting of the F3.

I'd say Australorp is a bad breed to begin with. The chicks already look like barred rocks, and they don't carry a color that differs from the barred rock (ie something other than black or white).

 

[donrae]

I'm not positive, but I believe for an auto sexing breed, you need the barring gene on top of a wild-type or BBR type pattern. You need that specific base color, not extended black. So an Australorp wouldn't work as the second breed, you'd simply have barred or non-barred chicks as the genetics dictate.

 

[Aziara]

Oh well. Thanks so much for the info.
Does anyone know of a list of which breeds have the wild type and BBR type?
Are all colors called partridge considered wild type?
Which does give me a thought--silkies come in partridge. .. autosexing silkies would be awesome.

Prerequisites for breeds would be that they're friendly (to humans and each other), good layers that are occasionally broody ( incubators are a hassle), and not flighty/noisy.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Oh well. Thanks so much for the info.
Does anyone know of a list of which breeds have the wild type and BBR type?
Are all colors called partridge considered wild type?
Which does give me a thought--silkies come in partridge. .. autosexing silkies would be awesome.

Prerequisites for breeds would be that they're friendly (to humans and each other), good layers that are occasionally broody ( incubators are a hassle), and not flighty/noisy.

The only problem is that now your aren't just trying to reach the autosexing goal - you'll be trying to breed them back into being silkies as well (crest, feather legs, skin color,#toes,etc). I'm not saying it can't be done, but it would be quite the task!

 

[donrae]

Plus, I think the silkie feathers kind of mess with the head spot. In cuckoos, at least, seems folks have a harder time sexing them like you would another barred breed, because the feathers make the spot harder to define.

 

[Aziara]

I'm really glad I started this post . I had so many wrong ideas about how this works.
As for using silkies somewhere, I don't really care if the fluff comes through the cross, just the personality.

If I ever have the opportunity to work on this (ie, move to the country), the end goal isn't going to be looks. I want to make a dual purpose--pets that are excellent layers
If the silkie fluff interfers with the autosexing trait, I'd use a different wild type breed for the F1 cross to ensure it doesn't come back. But from what I can tell, most silkie crosses have normal feathers, but I'm sure being 2/3 silkie would be pushing it.

 

[donrae]

The silkie feathers are recessive, so you lose them on the first time cross. If you want to get them back, you have to do crosses back to regain them in the next generations. It's a multi-generational project for sure.

But, it's always fun to think about future projects. Especially in the winter when we can't do much besides research anyway......

 

[Aziara]

I finally found out the proper name for the autosexing coloration is called crele.
I just realized something while looking up info on silkies--both partridge and cuckoo are colors that exist within the breed.
Sexing the cuckoo/barred chicks might be difficult, but I could always wait longer for the F1s to mature before selling the pullets. I'm thinking that the difference in the F2 chicks would be much more pronounced...
So... it looks like full-blood silkies in crele is possible.