Breeding Questions...

[Justines Coop]

Hi all,

So, I have a Red Sex-Link hen that I want to breed with a Leghorn for chicks. I've heard time and time again that sex-links don't "breed true" since they're crosses, but what does that mean? Will their daughters lay well?

I'm also interested in olive eggs, and I've only ever heard of crosses with a blue egg hen and a dark egg rooster, can olive also be achieved vice versa (with an EE cockerel and a Marans pullet)?

Thanks!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I've heard time and time again that sex-links don't "breed true" since they're crosses, but what does that mean?

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

Not breeding true simply means that if you bred a sex link to a sex link you will NOT get sex linked offspring. They will stay lay eggs according to the genetics they contain, so yes good layers in your mentioned cross.

The problem with an EE cockerel being used for Olive eggs is that he may not be pure for the blue egg gene and thus if he throws brown crossed to your other brown egger you get brown eggs... as was the case when I crossed my EE to Marans. And no, it doesn't matter whether it comes from the hen or rooster in this instance. And it doesn;t even have to be a Marans... you can get olive colored eggs from breeding any true blue egger to any shade brown egger. Here are a couple charts that give you good ideas but don't have ALL the details of what genetics you're working with... so not completely accurate.

Please note all eggs are white inside and the pigment is laid on at the end... with exception to true blue eggs, the color goes all the way through. Since almost all eggs start as white... if you breed a white egg to brown egg you will get brown eggs as that is the dominant color between the two. Blue bred to white will be a lighter shade of blue as blue is also dominant to white in the egg color department.

Hope this helps clear up a little more confusion than it creates!

Happy chicken-eering!

 

[nicalandia]

it doesn't matter whether it comes from the hen or rooster in this instance.

Research done and actual management guidelines from commercial products(from corporations like Hyline) have confirmed that the cross from a Brown egger sire mated to a White egger dame will produce F1 females that lay darker shade of eggs than the reciprocal cross(White egg sire x Brown egg dame)

For example the Hyline Pink is the result of the cross of a White Leghorn type sire x Brown Dame(same dame used in Hyline brown) = will start laying eggs pink colored at 46 units scales and the Hyline Sonia is the result of the RIR type sire(same sire used in Hyline brown) with a Leghorn Type dame = they will start laying tinted/brown eggs at 52 units, if we compared that to the standard Hyline brown starting at 87 units, so going from that we can confirm that 87/0 = 43.5 which is closer to the average of both parents in the Pink but a clearly sex linked difference in the Sonia product