Black, white and red males and sexlinks

[NatJ]

If I did a red male with a barred hen would the sons have red barring or normal black barring?

The white bars are caused by one gene, and can be on any feather color.
The black vs. red is caused by a combination of other genes, but if the hen is pure for black, then the chicks will all look black. There's a chance of some red leakage when they grow up.

If you want red birds with white barring, you can get there in a few generations.

-Cross the red male to the barred hen, keep a son.
-Cross that son to a red female--some chicks will be red, some black, some of each color with white barring and some without. Choose females that are red with white barring.
-Cross those red barred females with a red not-barred male to get sexlinks in red, with barred males and not-barred females.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The white bars are caused by one gene, and can be on any feather color.
The black vs. red is caused by a combination of other genes, but if the hen is pure for black, then the chicks will all look black. There's a chance of some red leakage when they grow up.

If you want red birds with white barring, you can get there in a few generations.

-Cross the red male to the barred hen, keep a son.
-Cross that son to a red female--some chicks will be red, some black, some of each color with white barring and some without. Choose females that are red with white barring.
-Cross those red barred females with a red not-barred male to get sexlinks in red, with barred males and not-barred females.

Okay, thanks

 

[Compost King]

That's an interesting point. If your "not-barred" rooster really has barring that you didn't notice, then instead of sexlinks, you would have barred chicks of both genders.

I imagine you'd figure it out after hatching a dozen or so barred chicks and no not-barred ones, but it would be quite frustrating

Certainly set you back 21 days, which for some people might not be an issue.

 

[The Moonshiner]

That's an interesting point. If your "not-barred" rooster really has barring that you didn't notice, then instead of sexlinks, you would have barred chicks of both genders.

I imagine you'd figure it out after hatching a dozen or so barred chicks and no not-barred ones, but it would be quite frustrating

Most roosters that are barred buff can be spotted pretty easily by breeding age.
Recessive whites would be one that could throw you a loop.