Determining sex in chicks

[Isaiah53]

Can anyone advise whether, in Orpingtons and Orpington cross with Ameraucanas, if a chick has a spot on its head can we safely say it's a Cockrell??

 

[Pyxis]

That depends, was the mother barred and the father solid?

 

[Isaiah53]

That depends, was the mother barred and the father solid?

Father is more than likely my Cuckoo Orpington He's my main rooster. Pretty well the last few hatches all my barred/cuckoo chicks turned out to be Cockrells There are a couple mixed Orps/Amer that are barred that are about 12 weeks old and look to be pullets.

 

[Isaiah53]

I am trying to eliminate my Cuckoo /barred Cockrells as I have at least 7 that are 18 weeks. Plus at least another 4 that are around 12 weeks and another possibilly 2 that are almost 3 weeks. I also have another 60 eggs hatching over the next 2 weeks. I'd like to cull my roosters before it gets out of hand.

 

[Pyxis]

If the father was barred (cuckoo) then no, there's no way to determine the chicks' sexes by head spot. A male passes the barring gene to both genders of offspring, so he can produce both barred male and barred female chicks.

 

[Isaiah53]

If the father was barred (cuckoo) then no, there's no way to determine the chicks' sexes by head spot. A male passes the barring gene to both genders of offspring, so he can produce both barred male and barred female chicks.

Thank you, very kind of you to answer!
And so sorry to ask, but two other questions now come up,

Is barring always dominant regardless of one or the other being solid ? IOW if my rooster is barred and my hen solid chicks will always be barred. But if my rooster is solid and my hen barred will chicks be 50/50 or all solid or all barred?

And is barring passed down in any way to the second generation, as in can it pop up unexpectedly?

I'm asking only as I'm trying to weed out barring in my flock.

So appreciate your time.

 

[Pyxis]

Thank you, very kind of you to answer!
And so sorry to ask, but two other questions now come up,

Is barring always dominant regardless of one or the other being solid ? IOW if my rooster is barred and my hen solid chicks will always be barred. But if my rooster is solid and my hen barred will chicks be 50/50 or all solid or all barred?

And is barring passed down in any way to the second generation, as in can it pop up unexpectedly?

I'm asking only as I'm trying to weed out barring in my flock.

So appreciate your time.

Barring is dominant, luckily, so it's really easy to get rid of. Just don't breed barred birds and it'll be gone for good.

It's sex linked, meaning a male could have two copies, but a female can only have one. When bred to a non barred female, a double barred male produces all single barred offspring, and a single barred male produces half single barred offspring and half solid offspring.

 

[Isaiah53]

Perfect! I will be eliminating those hens from my breeding stock anyway.

Thank you for your time and assistance! Much appreciated.