Cream Legbar cross genetics and (auto)sexing

[LAFreewayChickens]

Well, I just took the plunge at the San Diego area meetup and bought a pair of Cream Legbar chicks.

I am trying to plan ahead and think about what other hens it might make sense to put in the same pen (since I have only one Cream Legbar female), particularly if I hope to be able to sex the (mixed) offspring by coloration at hatch.

Does anybody have either theoretical or practical knowledge on this matter? I am guessing that if one bred the Cream Legbar roo with black barred hens (e.g., Barred Rocks), it might be possible to sex with some (perhaps imperfect) degree of certainty, if one knew what to look for.

I say this since Barred Rocks can usually (I've heard 90% of the time) be sexed at hatch by coloration. And a Cream Legbar x Barred Rock chick would get the barred gene from both parents. But perhaps some of the other genes would do unpredictable things to the coloration.

Any thoughts or experiences to share?

 

[Habibs Hens]

you cannot sex when crossing a autosexing with a non sexing breed

a legbar is a Brown leghorn X BPR in the first instance anyway


you will get a weird hybrid if you cross a Legbar with a BPR which will not be autosexing at all


the rule of thumb is this

to get what we call a sex link is to cross 2 non sexing breeds (alot of people use BPR but others can be used depending on which breed it is) this will result in Sexlinkage

Autosexing on the other hand is differen, this is where you breed pure autosexing breeds together to get a chick that can be sexed at day old


in the legbar situation to get autosexing you must breed a Legbar with a Legbar and that will be autosexing and will breed true
this is basically breeding a sexlink with a sexlink as the legbar was derived by using the sexlinkage combination

the main thing to remeber is you cannot cross a sexlink with a non sexlink to get a sexlink that wont happen

and you have to breed a autosexing with a autosexing to get a autosexing that will breed true

 

[LAFreewayChickens]

I understand the difference between sex-linked hybrids and autosexing.

But Barred Rocks are autosexing (although the Cream Legbars it is more distinct and more reliable).

I found more information on my question in this post (#886):
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/459044/the-legbar-thread/880

 

[Chris09]

If you cross a Legbar with a Barred Plymouth Rock the chicks should be sex-able by the head spot at birth just like a Plymouth Barred Rock.
As for the color as adults, they should be somewhat the Legbar color but with better cleaner barring. More a Crele color.


Chris

 

[LAFreewayChickens]

Thanks Chris,

That's what I was guessing (about the head spots), but I wasn't sure how the other traits would come into play and if they might make things more confusing.

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

If you cross a legbar hen with a non-barred rooster like brown leghorn hen, you will get sexlinks where the cockerels are barred and pullets are not. Otherwise there really isn't a reliable sexlink cross using the rooster that I can think of.

 

[Hangtown Farms]

what about a legbar with a welsummer or crele penedesenca? all three are autosex types

I have a few of these that I want to breed back to a crele penedesenca roo

 

[nicalandia]

you cannot sex when crossing a autosexing with a non sexing breed

Barred Rocks are a Sexing breed...

 

[nicalandia]

Well, I just took the plunge at the San Diego area meetup and bought a pair of Cream Legbar chicks.

I am trying to plan ahead and think about what other hens it might make sense to put in the same pen (since I have only one Cream Legbar female), particularly if I hope to be able to sex the (mixed) offspring by coloration at hatch.

Does anybody have either theoretical or practical knowledge on this matter? I am guessing that if one bred the Cream Legbar roo with black barred hens (e.g., Barred Rocks), it might be possible to sex with some (perhaps imperfect) degree of certainty, if one knew what to look for.

I say this since Barred Rocks can usually (I've heard 90% of the time) be sexed at hatch by coloration. And a Cream Legbar x Barred Rock chick would get the barred gene from both parents. But perhaps some of the other genes would do unpredictable things to the coloration.

Any thoughts or experiences to share?

if I were you and I want more cream legbars, I would use light brown leghorn females or brown leghorn females(about 5 of them will give you lots of white eggs to hatch) raise them up, use your best looking rooster over you cream legbar hen(separate pen just for them) and in a different pen use your best looking hens with your boy, that way you will have 2 separate lines and after a few generations you could use the best of both pens and mate them, this will give you fresh blood, but keeping the other 2 lines separate,

 

[TheFF]

I crossed my Cream Legbar Roo with my EE hen who is white and a grey Cochin and these are the two chicks that I got. I can clearly see chipmunk strips on the light chick and a head spot on the dark chick. So my question is: Am I right to think the chipmunk is a hen and the one with the spot is a roo? Or does it not matter because the momma hens weren't barred?
Thanks,