Have I got sex link chicks? Pic. Warren crossed gold laced

[kellysmall87]

Hi, I have bred my warren hybrid hen with my Gold Laced polish cross roo. The chicks look identical to the warren chicks, some are white and one is buff. Is the buff a female and the other two Roo's?

Here's a pic, its the two in the middle. You can see the buff one and below her, the white one. The others are silkie crosses..

 

[Ridgerunner]

Probably not. I’m not familiar with a Warren Hybrid but from an internet search I think it is a cross that produces a brown or red hen suitable for a lot of egg production. As such, she would be a red sex link and have the gold gene. If she is white instead of red or brown, I’m wrong.

I’m also not sure what you mean by a Gold Laced Polish cross rooster. What breeds and colors is he a cross of? Since he is a cross, it means his genetics are not pure. My guess is that he is more white than red or gold.

What I think you have is a hen that has the gold gene and a rooster that is split for the gold and silver gene. That’s mainly a guess on my part. My reasoning is that I think your hen is a red sex link hybrid with the gold gene and you said your rooster is a cross of some type. With that color combination of their chicks, the rooster being split for gold/silver is the only combination that makes sense.

If I’m right (and remember I’m mainly guessing) that would mean you cannot sex the chicks by down color. The reds and the yellows could be either sex.

 

[kellysmall87]

Thanks for replying Yes, my hen is a red cross. She is a sex link herself, but as I say, as I have crossed the chicks I don't know whether the sex linking would apply to them.
A picture of the roo..


When I got him, the lady said he was a gold laced wyandotte crossed with something else, I have been advised that it could be a polish. He is tiny compared to my hybrid hen!
Hope that answers your questions?

 

[Ridgerunner]

With that red hen the chicks will not be sex linked with the different genders being different colors. Genetically it just does not work.

That rooster has a lot more red in him than I would have expected, but a lot of that depends on what else is present. If you are getting red and yellow chicks form this cross, he has to be split for gold and silver.

By crossing crosses like that, you may get some really interesting colors and patterns. Some of those may surprise you in the adult plumage. I generally cross crosses. I think not knowing what you will get is a lot of fun.

 

[Htul]

..... If you are getting red and yellow chicks form this cross, he has to be split for gold and silver....

...or the yellow chicks are inheriting one copy of dominant white from the Warren (white tailed buff: similar to ISA brown) parent

 

[kellysmall87]

By crossing crosses like that, you may get some really interesting colors and patterns. Some of those may surprise you in the adult plumage. I generally cross crosses. I think not knowing what you will get is a lot of fun.

I agree, I love mixing up the breeds and seeing what I get! I have crossed that roo with my white silkie hen and have some stripey chicks and some all black chicks! I have a real exciting few months to look forward to!

 

[kellysmall87]

... and Thanks Htul! I wish I knew more about genetics!

 

[Ridgerunner]

...or the yellow chicks are inheriting one copy of dominant white from the Warren (white tailed buff: similar to ISA brown) parent

True, especially if the hen has a white tail instead of black or red. There are so many different things that can come up it's hard to be sure what is going on.

If you are really interested in learning about sex links you might want to study the first post in this thread. It takes some reading and thinking but the basics aren't that hard. The problem comes into putting it into practice. A way that might help you sort it out is that the rooster is generous and gives a copy of what he has to both his sons and daughters but a hen is a stingy sexist. She gives everything she has to her sons but is stingy toward her daughters and withholds the sex linked genes from her daughters. That means she controls what sex the chick will be.

Tadkerson’s Sex Link Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208


Something else that can be addicting is this cross calculator. The hard part of using it is knowing what the genetics are to start with but you can learn a lot playing with it. There are a lot of things it doesn’t cover especially in the subtleties, but I learned a lot playing with it.

Cross Calculator
http://kippenjungle.nl/Overzicht.htm#kipcalculator

 

[kellysmall87]

Thank you ever so much, I will do some research using the links that you have provided. Yes, the hen has a white tail.

thanks again!