Delaware breeding question

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

When you breed a Delaware male to a New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red female you get chicks with the Delaware color pattern.

My question is are these Delaware rooster x NH or RIR hens offspring still silver? Like the original Delaware?

 

[QueenMisha]

The cocks will be heterozygous silver, S/s+. Hens will be silver, S/- because it's a sex linked gene and they can't have more than one copy anyways.

And remember you are likely to see red leakage in the chicks, especially on the shoulders and saddles of the males.

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

thanks you! So what do i get out of breeding reds to a Delaware roo anyway? i just read that you could, but it didn't say why you would.

 

[QueenMisha]

Well... breeding Delaware (or other silver) hens to a RIR (or other red) cock will get you sex linked chicks. Silver males and red females. Beautiful birds. Maybe that's the cross you read as being a good cross.

The opposite won't give you sex links, but it'll give you good layers and pretty birds.

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

i was just reading the livestock conservancy page, and it said you could breed a Delaware male to a NHRed or RIRed and get Delaware pattern offspring, but it didn't say why you would do that cross at all

http://www.livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/delaware

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

it was always my plan to maintain a flock of Delawares to produce Red sexlinks. So in reading about Delawares that cross came up and it got me wondering if that was a tactic I should use in my Delaware breeding program. Maybe its for use when you inbreed too much and you wanna water down the strain. Maybe it would be to add something you like from the Red strain, I don't know i was hoping someone here would know. I guess as long as that cross(Delaware rooster x NHred or RIred hen) always produces silver pullets/hens, I'll be happy!