Sex linked Dermal Inhibitor goes beyond the Shanks, it actually has better effect on the birds body skin. Silkie/Cemany rooster mated to Yellow shanked hens Will produce black skin hens(with black/slate shanks) and white skin rooster(with white or dark shanks), the Shanks may still retain epidermal melanin due to Extended black.I was just curious if any of you lovely chicken geneticists out on the forum know if crossing a silkie or other melanistic breed rooster to a standard hen with yellow or white legs always gives dermal sex linked chicks? Yellow legs to the cockerels and black legs to the pullets? Someone here mentioned it in passing, but wanted the experts opinion.
Thanks for your time, I appreciate it!
From what I understand from my limited research is yes it would work with any yellow or white legged hen, but NOT with slate or grey legged hens. I have some silkie/ameraucana crosses in the same hatch that do not have this characteristic. You also have to look at the skin color of the chicks and not just the leg color, as the male chicks can still have darker legs. In my two chicks above, the suspected male chick has only slightly lighter legs than the suspected female chick, both have a greenish tinge to them.
Yes of course! I kept the one I believe to be female, though she has a good sized comb for her age,2 weeks old!
