Choosing breeding birds for sex link: utility or show quality?

[halefamily_flock]

I wouldn't expect it to cause a problem, but I have never tried it, so I can't be positive.

I have a Cream Legbar rooster with very messy barring (the people on the Cream Legbar breeders forum make fun of him/me). But he's a great sire for sex-linking and auto-sexing, and a great flock leader to protect my girls from hawks and manage frisky young cocks...

 

[suburbanfarm]

You could get a Cream Legbar hen too, and your kids could collect the occasional blue egg, and you might just not incubate those eggs.

Or you could incubate some of the blue eggs, and not know which chicken will lay what color eggs (until the crests of the Legbar-daughters become visible).

Or you could incubate eggs of both colors, in separate incubators, and keep the chicks separate if you want to sell them to people, so they can choose which ones they want.

Or you could just go with Barred Rocks, and only brown eggs.

Lots of options!

Yes we may end up picking up a legbar too, just to see how it goes. But would keep separate for hatching so we know what's what. But I think this conversation is helping me be practical and stick to the rocks

We'll also be breeding pure australorp so we'll keep them separate for hatching. The aim is to have a pure option and a sex link option.

I have a Cream Legbar rooster with very messy barring (the people on the Cream Legbar breeders forum make fun of him/me). But he's a great sire for sex-linking and auto-sexing, and a great flock leader to protect my girls from hawks and manage frisky young cocks...

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Glad to hear you have no problems with sex markings with him. Which breeds do you pair him with?

I think he's handsome

 

[Amer]

I have a Cream Legbar rooster with very messy barring (the people on the Cream Legbar breeders forum make fun of him/me). But he's a great sire for sex-linking and auto-sexing, and a great flock leader to protect my girls from hawks and manage frisky young cocks...

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Actually he won’t work for sex links.
The barred bird has to be female.

 

[NatJ]

Cream Legbar rooster... a great sire for sex-linking and auto-sexing

Actually he won’t work for sex links.
The barred bird has to be female.

I assumed gold/silver sexlinks because he is gold, and autosexing chicks when bred to a barred female.

 

[Amer]

I assumed gold/silver sexlinks because he is gold, and autosexing chicks when bred to a barred female.

No, autosexing would work for other autosexing birds only.
But you’re right, if @halefamily_flock has only silver hens, sexlinks would work.

 

[halefamily_flock]

No, autosexing would work for other autosexing birds only.
But you’re right, if @halefamily_flock has only silver hens, sexlinks would work.

I am doing my first test breeding with Legbar rooster over Silver Spangled Hamburg hen. So, although he has proven to produce auto sexing chicks with multiple breeds of hen, sex linking is only theoretical so far.