Buff brahma x barred rock eggs

[Erie26]

My buff brahma, Caramel, had bred my barred rock hen. I have heard how long it takes before the eggs are fertile, but I would like some insight or more knowledge about the breeding and how long it usually is before the egg is fertile. I like to raise some baby and hope to have some of this mix. . I am new at this so any info is greatly appreciated! .

 

[Ridgerunner]

It takes about 25 hours for an egg to make its way through a hen's internal egg making factory. That egg can only be fertilized in the first few moments of that journey. That means if a first mating takes place on a Friday, Friday's egg is not fertile. Saturday's egg might or might not be, depending on timing. Sunday's egg will be fertile.

About the last part of the mating act is that right after the rooster hops off the hen stands up, fluffs up, and shakes. This fluffy shake moves the sperm to a special container near where the egg starts its journey. The sperm can remain viable in that container and available to fertilize eggs from 9 days to maybe even more than 3 weeks. It varies some. Most of us count o two weeks.

 

[Erie26]

Ridgerunner,
oh ok! that helps a lot for me to understand. I was looking elsewhere and most of them seem to say that the egg is not fertile til at least 2-3 weeks. so I was very confuse about this. thank you so much for a very clear and detailed information.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've seen that statement before. Where the confusion may have come in the sperm stays viable for about 2 to 3 weeks in that special container. Some people can misunderstand and then repeat things incorrectly.

Part of the reason I explain it the way I do is to show the logic behind it, not just give an unsupported statement. Part is that I hope it makes it easier to remember.

 

[Mosey2003]

Depending on how Buff works in Brahmas, they may be sexlinked chicks. Pay attention when they hatch, some will likely have reddish faces and others very pale, the reds will be the pullets. That's how it went with my Buff Orpington over Barred Rocks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I forgot to mention a couple of things you may already know. A buff rooster over a barred hen will give you black sex links. The boys will have a spot on their heads when hatched, the girls will not. The boys will grow up barred, the girls will not be barred when they feather out. The exception to this is that the down color has to let you see the spot. Usually with this cross you can.

In theory that should give you a solid black pullet and a black and white barred cockerel. But real life usually doesn't work that way. The genetic modifiers that make the red an actual buff color quite often have a strong effect on black. When they feather out they will have black, but sometimes some feathers will be yellow. It can be quite striking. I'd love to see photos of yours after they have feathered out. @Mosey2003 , how did yours turn out when they feathered out. Any photos?

To make red sex links the rooster has to have gold and the hen has to have silver genetics. The Buff male will have gold, the Barred Rock hen may have gold or she may have silver. Often they do have silver but it is not guaranteed. You also have to be able to see the difference in the down at hatch. The pullets will have reddish down and the males will have yellow. Genetically there are different ways to make black too, that can play a factor. So while it is possible you might see some difference in the down, especially on the face, the typical black genetics of the Barred Rock hen makes it unlikely.

 

[Mosey2003]

@Ridgerunner, the buff reallllly bleeds a ton more than red! Thus the reddish faces rather than all-black pullets like you'd normally see. They were still dead easy to tell apart, but it wasn't what I expected. And they were wild colored as hens, let me look here and see what I have for pictures...
This is a male:

Female (hard to see, but face much redder, and much smaller area of color):

This is how they feathered out (hens):

 

[Ridgerunner]

I can't see the spot on that male chick. Maybe it's just me but with that down color I'd think it would be more obvious. I can see differences in the yellow and reddish down in the face.

That's the yellow coloring you often see on that kind of cross. I've had that before and think it makes for an attractive hen. I've never seen orange splotches myself but several years back someone posted photos of a hen that had big orange splotches on a black hen from a buff/black barred cross, really spectacular. Just like there are different ways to make black there are different ways to make buff. Those orange splotches may have come from a different way to make buff.

 

[Mosey2003]

I can't see the spot on that male chick. Maybe it's just me but with that down color I'd think it would be more obvious. I can see differences in the yellow and reddish down in the face.

That's the yellow coloring you often see on that kind of cross. I've had that before and think it makes for an attractive hen. I've never seen orange splotches myself but several years back someone posted photos of a hen that had big orange splotches on a black hen from a buff/black barred cross, really spectacular. Just like there are different ways to make black there are different ways to make buff. Those orange splotches may have come from a different way to make buff.

Yeah, they didn't come out with spots on their head at all, even though they *should* have. Just big yellow face, or small red-orange face. Like I said, I was surprised. It was an English Buff Orpington rooster and hatchery Barred Rock hens, nothing else on the farm. The Buff really goes wild, compared to an actual red that's normally used for a black sexlink.

 

[mwells6chicks]

I forgot to mention a couple of things you may already know. A buff rooster over a barred hen will give you black sex links. The boys will have a spot on their heads when hatched, the girls will not. The boys will grow up barred, the girls will not be barred when they feather out. The exception to this is that the down color has to let you see the spot. Usually with this cross you can.

In theory that should give you a solid black pullet and a black and white barred cockerel. But real life usually doesn't work that way. The genetic modifiers that make the red an actual buff color quite often have a strong effect on black. When they feather out they will have black, but sometimes some feathers will be yellow. It can be quite striking. I'd love to see photos of yours after they have feathered out. @Mosey2003 , how did yours turn out when they feathered out. Any photos?

To make red sex links the rooster has to have gold and the hen has to have silver genetics. The Buff male will have gold, the Barred Rock hen may have gold or she may have silver. Often they do have silver but it is not guaranteed. You also have to be able to see the difference in the down at hatch. The pullets will have reddish down and the males will have yellow. Genetically there are different ways to make black too, that can play a factor. So while it is possible you might see some difference in the down, especially on the face, the typical black genetics of the Barred Rock hen makes it unlikely.

I have a Buff Brahma dad and barred rock mama. Just recently hatched a completely black chick at 28 days incubation under Chancleter surrogate. I almost threw the egg out after 23 days but the mama was so faithful to those eggs that I waited. So glad I did. 3 eggs hatched. One on day 21 (Buff Brahma and brown leghorn cockerel), The black chick day 28) that the surrogate decided to start pecking at so I separated them, Then another on day 30 (Buff Brahma and brown leghorn).
I was wondering where the solid black chick came in, thankful that I found the answer here.~ Michelle