Can you feather sex a mutt?

[happymorrows]

I have three mutt chicks that are now 2 weeks old. Two of them have long feathers on their wings and their little tail feathers came in. The third has shorter wing feathers and still has a fluffy tail. The two with the longer feathers are a Dominique x Barred Rock and a Dominique x EE. The third that is still fluffy is Dominique x Buff Orp. Here is a picture, but I don't know how helpful it will be.

Show the long wing feathers on the EE cross (the one to the far right). The other black one is the BR cross, and the yellow and black is the BO cross

 

[jeslewmazer]

I don't know what breeds or crosses can be feather sexed. Have you googled it? As far as the Dominique x Barred Rock you should be able to sex it by a few different factors....but I could be wrong.....try this http://www.dominiquechicken.com/Sexing_Dominique_chicks.html

 

[PunkinPeep]

To dependably feather sex any chicken, they need to have been bred specifically so that it will work.

 

[happymorrows]

I have read some about feather sexing, and from what I have read, you can do so with most heavy breeds. However, I am wondering what the "mutt variable" adds, as well as the fact that my parents are all hatchery bred.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

You can feather sex anything with wing feathers, and some random percentage of the time, your results will be accurate

To reliably feather sex a bird, the breeding must be properly planned.

 

[Illia]

The barred offspring (ones with the white dot on their heads) can actually be sexed by the size of the white dot. If they're small, they're a female. If they're unusually large, and "spill" out of being a perfect strip or circle, and even go back to the neck - It is a boy.

I see a girl on the far right and a possible girl in the middle.

 

[happymorrows]

Is the dot accurate even though they are mutts? Well, the one with the distinct dot I am pretty sure is the BR x Dominique, so that should be.

I was curious too about the yellow one. I read on here that barring is dominant. Shouldn't they all have been barred? Or is that inaccurate. That is the BO x Dominique chick and is yellow with dark markings across the back.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Yes, the dot is indicative of the barring gene. The photo looks like the yellowish chick also has a head dot?

Barring is dominant, but if the father only carries one copy, approximately half his daughters will not be barred. Likewise, half his sons will not inherit barring from him. A barred hen's sons will always inherit the gene from her. A non-barred hen's sons can never have two copies of the gene.

 

[happymorrows]

Thanks Sonoran, that helps. Is the barring sex linked then, if it matters which parent was what? I am sure the BO cross will have some barring, but I think the two black chicks will be completely barred. Mutts might not be desirable but it sure is fun to see how the genetics play out!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Yes, barring is sex-linked. A barred hen passes her barring gene to all her sons. The hen is darker in colour than a male with two copies of the gene. It has a dose affect, and so he would be lighter (wider white bars) than she, with her single copy.