Black Jersey Giant x Rhode Island White or Bard Rock cross

[WarSmith]

My question is I'm pretty sure that if you cross a solid black chicken with a bard chicken you get a standard black sex-link. Though I imagine without the really cool red or yellow on the chest.

What happens if you do a red sex-link cross with a black rooster instead? I imagine it would work the same. But I don't think I've seen any examples of this.

Does it work? Has it been done? And what was your experience if you have done this? Also is it all right to let a Jersey Giant cross with a regular hen?
Thanks.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Sex linked crosses only work with the presence of genes that are sexlinked. This is because hens can only pass such genes to their sons, never to their daughters. So, by utilizing the right combination of parent birds, you can tell chicks apart at hatch because only males will inherit certain genes. Black sexlinks are produced using the barring gene as the sexlinked gene. Red sexlinks use the silver gene. In either case, certain crosses still wouldn't work if other genes were present that would cover up the features that allow you to sex chicks at hatch.

A Black Jersey Giant male crossed to a Barred Rock hen would, indeed, produce sexlinks. The chicks all get a solid black base coloring from both parents, so there's nothing to hide the expression of the barring gene that only the male offspring inherit. So, you'd end up with pullets that are black and cockerels that are black with a white spot on the backs of their heads. You are correct that they would be lacking the reddish markings of the black sexlinks you get from hatcheries.

Red sexlinks using Rhode Island Red males crossed to Rhode Island White females are utilizing the silver gene; the RIW has the silver gene and the RIR does not, so all male offspring inherit silver from their mothers and the female offspring do not. Thus, the male offspring hatch looking silvery and the female offspring are instead reddish.

Black Jersey Giants may or may not have a silver gene hiding underneath their black exterior for such a cross, but that doesn't matter much because they do have extended black, the gene that causes them to be solid black instead of patterned. The extended black gene is dominant over most other colors and patterns and would cover up any silver-gene sexlinking anyway. It may also be the case that RIWs have dominant white, I'm not totally sure on that. So your chicks from that cross will either hatch black, or they'll hatch white with black flecks. In either scenario, you can't see whether they are gold or silver to determine if they're male or female at hatch, so that cross does not make sexlinks.

As far as the size difference between your rooster and hens, that would probably depend on exactly how big your rooster is. More than likely it will be fine as long as the hens are not bantams or particularly small for large fowl. You'll want to keep a close eye on things, though, especially your hens' backs and sides where the rooster may accidentally claw them during breeding, and the backs of their heads where he holds on during breeding.

 

[WarSmith]

Sex linked crosses only work with the presence of genes that are sexlinked. This is because hens can only pass such genes to their sons, never to their daughters.

Okay so it'll work for a Black link not a Red one thank you.