Barred Rock/Ameraucana Cross

[LondonKallie]

I have a Barred Ameraucana Cross Rooster, (I'm making this post late at night and don't have a picture so I looked it up) -- which this image is from cackle hatchery and it's classifying this as a Black Sex Link. My two hens are Ameraucana purebreds and I wondered what I'd get if I crossed them. I looked on BYC for another post that mentioned that yes - this would be a Black Sex Link and that you'd be able to tell sex at a young age because of it being "barred" I wasn't sure what this term meant and wanted to ask, and what you guys thought. Since my rooster is already a 50/50 cross, then wouldn't my chicks be 75/25 cross? And if my two hens are both golden colored, would there be a chance to get any chicks that aren't golden? Maybe more black or gray ameraucana chicks?

 

[ladybrasa]

I could be wrong, but I thought the hen had to be barred to get a sex-link chick, not the roo?

 

[LondonKallie]

See that’s what I have no clue on. The post I saw did mention that the hen was the barred rock. But I don’t know much about crosses.

 

[ladybrasa]

I just found this on here, might be helpful:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rs-what-they-are-and-how-to-breed-them.65934/

 

[LondonKallie]

I just found this on here, might be helpful:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rs-what-they-are-and-how-to-breed-them.65934/

Hmmm okay, so if my hen isn't the barred rock, then it would just be whatever it wants to be?

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm no good at this, BUT..

Crossbreed Calculator

if you start with known true breeds, you can use this to generate a cross, then use that output with your desired pairing to take a look at expected outcomes.

Its very powerful.

 

[msiler]

@ladybrasa is correct. In order to get a black sex link type cross, the female must be barred.

If I'm remembering this all correctly, in chickens, ZZ chromosomes are a male and ZW chromosomes are female, so females determine the gender. The barring gene in located in the Z chromosome, not the W, so this means that females can only have one copy of it, and males can have one or two copies.

So if a barred female is crossed with a solid colored male, she will either pass on her Z chromosome or her W chromosome. If she passes on W, the chick will be female but not barred. If she passes on her Z, the chick will be male and barred.

As for your boy, it's hard to know what chromosome his barring gene is on without knowing what color each of his parents are, however it does not matter. Roughly half of his offspring, both male and female will be barred (because a rooster always passes on a Z chromosome).

I don't know enough on Americauna colors to say anything about the possible outcomes there, but there could be some fun ones. Good luck!

 

[LondonKallie]

hmmmmmmm and I love this calculator I absolutely love genetics

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I understand this that is not a photo pf your rooster. Can you tell me a little more on his ancestry? What was his mother and what was his father?

Assuming that he had a red father and a black barred or cuckoo mother, which looks right, you could expect about half barred chicks and half not barred. About half should be mostly black but about half should be mostly reddish. Could be different shades of red.

The chicks will not be sex linked in any way. The barring and feather color could occur on any chick.

If your hens are true Ameraucana all their daughters will lay blue or green eggs no matter what the rooster contributes to egg shell color. Since at least one of his parents was not an Ameraucana none of his offspring will be true Ameraucana. There is a lot more to making an Ameraucana than egg shell color and comb type.

I feel like I did not answer all of your questions but I can't see any more.

 

[LondonKallie]

The way I understand this that is not a photo pf your rooster. Can you tell me a little more on his ancestry? What was his mother and what was his father?

Assuming that he had a red father and a black barred or cuckoo mother, which looks right, you could expect about half barred chicks and half not barred. About half should be mostly black but about half should be mostly reddish. Could be different shades of red.

The chicks will not be sex linked in any way. The barring and feather color could occur on any chick.

If your hens are true Ameraucana all their daughters will lay blue or green eggs no matter what the rooster contributes to egg shell color. Since at least one of his parents was not an Ameraucana none of his offspring will be true Ameraucana. There is a lot more to making an Ameraucana than egg shell color and comb type.

I feel like I did not answer all of your questions but I can't see any more.

Yeah, but that pic is almost exactly like him. I got him from a woman who I know has both barred and Rhode island reds but not sure what the parents were. Just trying to figure out what I’ll get because I like color the most. My other hens are black australorpes, Rhode Island reds and barred rocks. So I think the best coloration will come from my ameraucana hens