Chicken Farmer

[debbytingen]

Here is myi question:
I am breeding a Delaware Rooster to a Red Sex Link . When the chicks hatch and you have girls that are red and the boys are white.
A person will want to buy 4 girls and 1 boy so that she can raise her own. Can the boy (brother) mate with his red (sister)? Will you get eggs and keep the cycle going on hatching more chicks?

 

[Kelsie2290]

A long BYC thread on sex links and breeding them. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information In general you can't use a sex link to breed more sex links... if you are using Delawares you usually want a red rooster like a RIR or NHR over the Delaware hens, it doesn't work the other way around. Most people don't mind breeding brother/sister for a generation or two.

 

[debbytingen]

Maybe I did not explain it right. I have 8 RIR Hens and 7 Red Sex Link Hens. I bought a Delaware Rooster so that when the chicks were born, the boys would be white and the girls would be red. If a lady bought 1 white chick and 4 red chicks, could she raise her own flock? Would her new born chicks be the same color no matter the sex? or does it continue with the girl chicks red and the boy chicks white? Will you have to have a purebred Delaware Rooster chick for all the red chicks? I am so confused.

 

[Old Rando]

Breeding you Delaware rooster with the hens you have will NOT give you chicks that are sexable by color at hatch as Kelsie2290 stated. Breeding the offspring of this cross together will also not give you chicks that can be sexed by color at hatch. Read the link that Kelsie2290 provided.

 

[debbytingen]

Is there a breed of chicken called a DelaRed? This is a cross between a Delaware Rooster and a RIR hen?

 

[Kelsie2290]

That is just a name for a popular mix (but a red rooster over the Del hens). People/ hatcheries give mixes all kinds of names, some having to do with the breeds in the mix, like that one, others just are made up names, the mixes are not a breed as such. Most of the names for popular mixes are just made-up by the breeder or hatchery that sells them. Some mixes/ hybrids are combinations of 2-4 lines that have generations of breeding behind them, and while they are not purebreds as we consider a breed, the names are registered trademarks and can't be used by anyone else (like the ISA Browns).

 

[dheltzel]

If the roo is silver (like a Delaware), ALL the chicks will be yellow and will grow up mostly white. To get sex links, you need to reverse the cross, Delaware hens covered by a RIR roo. That will give you reddish brown pullets and yellow cockerals, the "classic" red sex link.

In no case, can you breed a red sex link hen to anything and get sexable chicks. If you want chickens that breed true and pure in every generation, you should get an autosexing breed like Rhodebars or Legbars.