Barred Buff Orpington Genetics

[cdezayas]

I have a full Orpington flock consisting of mostly buffs, some lavenders and a couple of blacks who are mixed with other Orpington colors because their heads have some brown. I’ve started hatching chicks for this year’s layers and I got a surprise Barred chick! I believe it is a cockerel. My question is, how did the barred pattern come about? I don’t have any others in my flock. How can I make more of him? And if I keep him as a breeder will i be able to make sex link Orpingtons down the line? I have two Buff roosters right now and I’m not sure who the parents are.

 

[NatJ]

I have a full Orpington flock consisting of mostly buffs, some lavenders and a couple of blacks who are mixed with other Orpington colors because their heads have some brown. I’ve started hatching chicks for this year’s layers and I got a surprise Barred chick! I believe it is a cockerel. My question is, how did the barred pattern come about? I don’t have any others in my flock. How can I make more of him? And if I keep him as a breeder will i be able to make sex link Orpingtons down the line? I have two Buff roosters right now and I’m not sure who the parents are.

I agree that chick seems to have barring.

Barring is caused by a dominant gene. A chick with barring should have at least one parent with barring. Do you have any hen or rooster with barring? Or any white chickens? (White barring is not exactly obvious on a white chicken, so that is the most likely place for it to hide in a flock.) If you do not have any chickens that show barring or could have barring without it being visible, then check whether a rooster could have come visiting, or whether you recently bought a hen that could have been exposed to another rooster, or whether you could have gotten an egg from another source.

Yes, you can use him to breed more chicks with barring.

If you breed him to not-barred hens, you should get some sons and some daughters with barring.

If you want to raise sex-linked chicks, use this cockerel to produce some daughters with barring. Then use those barred hens with a not-barred rooster to create sexlinks (barred sons, not-barred daughters.)

 

[cdezayas]

I agree that chick seems to have barring.

Barring is caused by a dominant gene. A chick with barring should have at least one parent with barring. Do you have any hen or rooster with barring? Or any white chickens? (White barring is not exactly obvious on a white chicken, so that is the most likely place for it to hide in a flock.) If you do not have any chickens that show barring or could have barring without it being visible, then check whether a rooster could have come visiting, or whether you recently bought a hen that could have been exposed to another rooster, or whether you could have gotten an egg from another source.

Yes, you can use him to breed more chicks with barring.

If you breed him to not-barred hens, you should get some sons and some daughters with barring.

If you want to raise sex-linked chicks, use this cockerel to produce some daughters with barring. Then use those barred hens with a not-barred rooster to create sexlinks (barred sons, not-barred daughters.)

The only possibility is a buff hen who has some very light patterns to her feathers. You almost miss it if you aren’t looking in detail. None of the other scenarios you listed are possible. Thank you so much! I’m excited to produce sexlink Orpingtons in the future.

 

[NatJ]

The only possibility is a buff hen who has some very light patterns to her feathers. You almost miss it if you aren’t looking in detail. None of the other scenarios you listed are possible. Thank you so much! I’m excited to produce sexlink Orpingtons in the future.

If that buff hen does have barring, then every son she produces will also have barring. Breeding her to a Black or Lavender rooster would answer that fairly quickly: chicks should be mostly black, with sons having white barring and daughters not having barring.

Since you are sure there is no other chicken that could have barring, she probably is the one.