BSL confusion

[alpacasandchicks78]

My mom brought home half dozen chicks of which two are black sex links. One of them is black with red extending into it's wings, the other is black with the normal amount of red I'm used to seeing. I've read that roosters of the breed always look like a standard barred rock. Is that true or do I possibly have the world's first black sex link cockerel to actually be black??

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Do you have photos? Black sex-link cockerels will always be barred, so either yours is a very colored pullet or a different breed. Lately I’ve seen increasingly red sex-links, with a lot more leakage than usual, so it’s quite possible yours is a girl.

 

[alpacasandchicks78]

I'd have to take one in the morning. She (he?) isn't full on barred with red, I just have never seen it go that far back in bsl and my mother hasn't either and we're both very intrigued. These came from Family farm and Home and were completely black with one having a single yellow spot that has since been molted and and been replaced with black.

Do you have photos? Black sex-link cockerels will always be barred, so either yours is a very colored pullet or a different breed. Lately I’ve seen increasingly red sex-links, with a lot more leakage than usual, so it’s quite possible yours is a girl.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

I'd have to take one in the morning. She (he?) isn't full on barred with red, I just have never seen it go that far back in bsl and my mother hasn't either and we're both very intrigued. These came from Family farm and Home and were completely black with one having a single yellow spot that has since been molted and and been replaced with black.

I look forward to seeing her! How old are they?

 

[alpacasandchicks78]

I look forward to seeing her! How old are they?

They're five weeks. They were molting a bit so I decided to wait a couple days. I couldn't get a frontal shot but it is mostly black with a small spot of red on the chest and then the back looks like this. It was the one with the single yellow feather almost all black from 2 days to 10 days old. Neither has any significant waddle or comb development.

 

[NatJ]

My mom brought home half dozen chicks of which two are black sex links. One of them is black with red extending into it's wings, the other is black with the normal amount of red I'm used to seeing. I've read that roosters of the breed always look like a standard barred rock. Is that true or do I possibly have the world's first black sex link cockerel to actually be black??

They're five weeks. They were molting a bit so I decided to wait a couple days. I couldn't get a frontal shot but it is mostly black with a small spot of red on the chest and then the back looks like this. It was the one with the single yellow feather almost all black from 2 days to 10 days old. Neither has any significant waddle or comb development.

That is not a male Black Sexlink.

A Black Sexlink male would have barring (white lines across the feathers), and that chicken does not.

You would not get a Black Sexlink male without the barring, because the barring gene is the whole point of that hybrid: the males have it and the females do not, so that can be used to sex them.

I can't say for sure whether that actually is a female black sexlink (it certainly might be), or whether it is some other kind of chicken that was mis-labeled at the store.

 

[alpacasandchicks78]

That is not a male Black Sexlink.

A Black Sexlink male would have barring (white lines across the feathers), and that chicken does not.

You would not get a Black Sexlink male without the barring, because the barring gene is the whole point of that hybrid: the males have it and the females do not, so that can be used to sex them.

I can't say for sure whether that actually is a female black sexlink (it certainly might be), or whether it is some other kind of chicken that was mis-labeled at the store.

I'm going with more colorful female. The only other chicks that had black on them in the feed store were the barred rocks, same age (we took two) and they look nothing alike. The others were isa brown, amberlinks, and a couple Cornish cross. I appreciate all the help as always from you and @HorseGirlAbby

 

[Autumnrgullion]

That is not a male Black Sexlink.

A Black Sexlink male would have barring (white lines across the feathers), and that chicken does not.

You would not get a Black Sexlink male without the barring, because the barring gene is the whole point of that hybrid: the males have it and the females do not, so that can be used to sex them.

I can't say for sure whether that actually is a female black sexlink (it certainly might be), or whether it is some other kind of chicken that was mis-labeled at the store.

I actually work at an FFH and this actually happens more than you would think. I took home 2 BSL, one ended up male and one female. The Female has a few orange feathers on her neck but I had a customer come in that had a female BSL that had feathering closer to a Golden Laced Wyandotte, definitely was a black sex Link though, so I think the feathering varies quite a bit.

 

[Fluffydoodlebutt]

First and second ones are female, third is male...

How do I know how to sex them when babies, again?

 

[Autumnrgullion]

First and second ones are female, third is male...

How do I know how to sex them when babies, again?

I'm not an expert but the girls don't look like Black Sex Links to me. Female BSL tend to take on a more solid color and not so barred.