Breeders? I have ?'s about crosses and breeding

[4H kids and mom]

Ok, now that I have extra roos, AND incubators (hehehe!) I am thinking about what neat or interesting breeds or crosses I could come up with. So,,,any gueses (or knowledge) on these crosses possible offspring?

What would I get if I crossed...

1) An RIR roo with a California White pullet?
2) An RIR roo with a Golden Comet pullet?
3) A California White roo with a RIR pullet?
4) A California White roo with a Barred Rock pullet?
5) An RIR roo with a Barred Rock pullet?
6) An Ameraucana roo with a Cuckoo Maran pullet? (And what color eggs would a pullet of this cross produce since both the very dark eggs AND the blue egg gene are dominant?)

Or, can you think of other mixes I may not have? For roos I have an RIR, a California white, a bronze duckwing Easter Egger, a Black Splash Ameraucana, and a Red/Black Easter Egger. For pullets I have RIRs, California Whites, Barred Rocks, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummers, Golden Comets, Cinnamon Queens, Ameraucanas of many colors, Easter Eggers of many colors, a Buff Orp, and then all the fancies listed in my signature below that I dont know sexes of yet.

My long term, several generations down the road goal is to breed a 'unique' chicken that will become my signature bird. You know, something that no one else really has, or something. Like a frizzled polish, or a cochin with a polish top hat, or something that lays an odd color egg, or something. I know thats aways off, but I still want to try my hands at mixing and seeing what I get! Ideas?

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I can tell you that your RIR crossed with a BR pullet will be a sexlink like they sell at the hatcheries. Crossing him with a Golden Comet, who is a sexlink anyway, just gives you more of a mutt.
An Ameraucana crossed with a Cuckoo Maran pullet would probably give you barred cockerels, since barring is a sex linked gene. Since both contribute something to egg color, according to a genetics person I know, I cant say on the egg color.
I have the red/black Easter Egger/ Barred Rock cross in two pullets. Here are their pictures-one started laying and she lays pinky-tan eggs.

 

[4H kids and mom]

Thats a very pretty cross! What do hatcheries call it? You say its a sex link bird (which is good for beginner breeders like me!) what color are the chicks?

 

[speckledhen]

The pullets in the pictures above were surprise crosses from my friend's flock of Barred Rock hens. We didn't realize her EE roo, a young one, was getting around like that already, so it isn't sold in a hatchery. I didnt get any cockerels from that cross, but I know they would have had barring from their mothers. Sons get the mother's traits and daughter's get the father's traits, that's oversimplified but that's what happened with all of mine.
I did get some from her Barred Rock hens with a Silver Phoenix roo and an elderly Cochin/Silkie cross roo we thought was infertile.
The Phoenix cross cockerels had ghosty barring and looked similar to BR pullets, but the Phoenix cross pullet was gorgeous-solid black with the shape of a phoenix hen. We named her Raven because that's what she looked like as a chick.
The Cochin/Silkie x Barred Rocks produced a cockerel that looked just like a Barred Rock cockerel, but with a poufy head. I have three pullets, solid black with poufy heads, but two have some gold in the hackle area. One has one feather on one foot from her dad in addition to her poufy hairdo, LOL. Very pretty little girls and the best personality of any Ive ever had.
If the rooster was a Barred Rock, ALL chicks would be barred. That's why the barred bird in the sexlink needs to be the mother. There of course are other sexlinks that are not barred at all, but if you use a Barred Rock hen with various roosters, you will get some sexlinked chicks.
I am not a genetics expert by any means, not even close, but by accidental experience, I've learned quite a bit about this little phenomenon with the barring.

 

[4H kids and mom]

Thank you for the info.

I also (think) found that a California White (or other white chicken?) hen with a RIR roo (or it may be reversed?) makes a Golden Comet chick which is also a sexlink, is that right? I like the idea of raising sexlink chicks as I get bigger because then I know at hatch what I have!

So, if I understand you right, if I mix any two pures (not 'mutts') the cockerels carry the 'dads' genes and coloring, and the hens would carry the 'moms' genes? So, then mixing any two pures of different colors would result in a sexlink type breed? Do I have that right, or is that only the case with some breeds?

 

[speckledhen]

Actually, my pullets have their dad's traits and the cockerels have the mother's traits, in my case, barring. I know a Rhode Isl Red and a Rhode Isl white makes a Sexlink-the rooster is the gold/red one. I dont know if it would work with every breed, but it might, such as in the case of Blue Orp and Buff Orp, however, I'd need someone with more knowledge than I to confirm that. You could do it with a Buff Orpington rooster (gold) and a Barred Rock hen. As I said, I am far from a genetics person, but I've had to learn some of this because of my own situation.

 

[Barb Schuetz]

Check this out- http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html

 

[ella]

No, not just any cross between pure breeds will create a Sex-Link. There are quite a few that will though. One I know of and have had personal experience with is a dark leg cross:

A dark legged male (like most EE's) with a light legged female will produce male chicks with light legs and females with dark legs.

With the breeds you listed in your original post, I think you could have quite a few different sex-link crosses.

Here's a cool page with info on sexing traits: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/chickens_retired/20865

 

[justusnak]

Quote:
HMmmmmm this has me thinking...my little "freebie" from MM is a Dominique (sp) hen....and she is in with my BO. So...The hens will have the golden color, and the roolets will have the stripes?? Maybe? Possibly?? LOL They are not laying yet, so I wont know untill NEXT spring. I will have to see what comes from that! LOL

 

[speckledhen]

Actually, then hens would probably look something like the Black Sexlinks with gold around the hackles/chest/neck area, if I recall from what I learned. Whether the roo is red or gold, it's still considered gold, I believe. Yep, the cockerels should have some barring and be black. The barring would be cuckoo barring, not crisp, though, most likely.