can I make a sex link??

[skrlis]

Next spring I'd like to hatch my own chick and I'd love to have them be sex linked. right now I have:

hens:
Barred rock 5
EE 4

Roo's:
Black copper marn 1
EE 1

Is it possible to get a sex link out of any of them? they all came from hatchery's.

 

[donrae]

Yep, you sure can. Your Marans rooster over your barred Rock hens will make black sex links. Males will hatch with a white spot on the head, females will have solid dark heads.

Your EE rooster is more of a wild card. What color is he? If he's red based, you've got a good chance of getting easily sexed chicks from him over your barred hens, same coloring as above. Depending on his genetics, the offspring pullets have a decent chance of laying green eggs. If he's silver colored, the chicks may not have dark enough down to be able to see the head spot at hatch. You'll still probably be able to sex them around 6 weeks when they feather in as the males will be barred, but by then you can usually sex birds anyway.

Your EE hens can't be used to make sex links.

good luck to you!

 

[Michael OShay]

Yep, you sure can. Your Marans rooster over your barred Rock hens will make black sex links. Males will hatch with a white spot on the head, females will have solid dark heads.

Your EE rooster is more of a wild card. What color is he? If he's red based, you've got a good chance of getting easily sexed chicks from him over your barred hens, same coloring as above. Depending on his genetics, the offspring pullets have a decent chance of laying green eggs. If he's silver colored, the chicks may not have dark enough down to be able to see the head spot at hatch. You'll still probably be able to sex them around 6 weeks when they feather in as the males will be barred, but by then you can usually sex birds anyway.

Your EE hens can't be used to make sex links.

good luck to you!

Agreed. )

 

[Eliza1313]

Interesting. Does this apply to any barred breed or just the barred rocks? I have Barred Hollands.

And can you point me in the right direction to find out more info please.

 

[Michael OShay]

Interesting. Does this apply to any barred breed or just the barred rocks? I have Barred Hollands.

And can you point me in the right direction to find out more info please.

You can make a Black Sex Link using any solid colored rooster (as long as it's dark enough to see the white spot on the head of the male chicks) and any barred hen. BYC has some good articles on sex linking at https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...beginners-what-they-are-and-how-to-breed-them and https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information.

 

[Eliza1313]

Thanks, will read up on it. I can't breed them yet, no solid colored roosters. Have Barred Hollands, Silver-Penciled Egyptian Fayoumis, Blue-Red Cubalayas, and Black-Breasted Red Cubalayas. Oops, maybe I can, forgot about the Black Cochins....hmm, that could be an interesting combo. Wonder if it would work with the Silver-Penciled Fayoumis, most likely not since the chicks are a more wild brown color, but the adult feathers look like a much smaller barred patterning.

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks, will read up on it. I can't breed them yet, no solid colored roosters. Have Barred Hollands, Silver-Penciled Egyptian Fayoumis, Blue-Red Cubalayas, and Black-Breasted Red Cubalayas. Oops, maybe I can, forgot about the Black Cochins....hmm, that could be an interesting combo. Wonder if it would work with the Silver-Penciled Fayoumis, most likely not since the chicks are a more wild brown color, but the adult feathers look like a much smaller barred patterning.

It's possible to breed Black Sex Links with non-solid colored roosters, but it's a much more iffy proposition so I'd recommend sticking with the solid colored roosters. Your Black Cochin roosters would definitely work though.

 

[Eliza1313]

The one link did say the BBR Cubalaya could be used, the Blue Red most likely can too but it is a less common color. Those would be some small birds. I think the Cubalayas are white egg layers and so are the Hollands. The Cochin/Holland mix would probably produce some good dual purpose birds though.