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Thanx Kat! That helps a lot. I'm still trying to get a better grasp of the sex-linked gene, but as long as I just start with one good pair of (black) barred, all offspring are barred and future generations should be barred - correct? I guess what I'm wondering is, do I really need to be concerned with the fact that the Barred gene is sex-linked if all I want to do is continue breeding for black barred?
As far as sex-linking...it only plays a part when crossing barred hens to a solid colored rooster. If you just cross barred to barred you will always get barred.
In the same way that you can create Black sex link large fowl birds by crossing Barred rock hens X RIR roosters (etc). It works the same way in cochins. I crossed my Barred Cochin hens with a RIR rooster and created sex linked cochin crosses. The hen was black with red on her neck and the roosters were all barred.
If you were just wanting to create broodies or something of that sort, it would be a great way to breed pure cochins and not have to "waste" time and feed on boys. Cull them straight out of the incubator.
I currently have a blue cochin rooster I could cross over barred cochin hens........if I ever get around to splitting them into their own flock.
Interestingly enough.......and completely off topic. My sex linked RIR/Cochin mixes were interesting. I had 4 hatch.....3 boys and 1 girl.
You can see the boys here, they are the barred guys. I got rid of them pretty soon after that pix was taken.
The girl is HUGE and went broody right around 30 weeks. She is doing a great job of taking over a staggered bunch of eggs, hatching out a baby a day....and then not killing me when I steal that baby away and give it to one of my bantam cochin broodies who has chicks already.
Here is the pure bantam cochin hen (mixed colors) who is taking the babies. Good broody so far.
