Is this barred rock a pullet or a Cockerel

[ghostsnare101]

Black sex link is when you can tell their gender from when they are born I believe. There is some obvious trait like wing color that determines gender

Black sex link is when a Rhode Island Red rooster mates with a barred rock hen.

 

[ChattyChickens4Life]

Black sex link is when a Rhode Island Red rooster mates with a barred rock hen.

Oh alright. I heard somewhere that sex links had that trait that told the gender. Thanks for the correction!

 

[speckledhen]

What does black

What is a black sex link?

Sex linked means they are colored differently at hatch so you know immediately which is male and female. That's how the barring gene works. A barred hen carries one barring gene, making her appear darker than males, who carry only one. She passes her gene only to a son, never a daughter. A barred Rock rooster passes one of his barring genes to every chick. When you breed a non-barred rooster over a barred hen, she will pass one barring gene to only her sons. Her daughters will not get one.
A red rooster over a barred hen is the usual black sex link. Pullets will have no head spot at all and be almost solid black because she will inherit no barring gene. Males will have a head spot and grow up to look like a badly barred BR, having only the barring gene from their barred mother. So, at hatch you cannot tell a black sex link male from a pure Barred Rock male, only later.

 

[speckledhen]

Black sex link is when a Rhode Island Red rooster mates with a barred rock hen.

Usually, yes, but not always a RIR or a BR hen. Can be a Dominique hen or a Cuckoo Maran hen. And the rooster can be something different than a RIR. Once I had three sisters, all with BR mothers, but their sire was a Cochin/Silkie cross male. Barred brother, solid black sisters. Also, the Silver Phoenix over BR hens produced black sex links as well.

 

[ghostsnare101]

Oh alright. I heard somewhere that sex links had that trait that told the gender. Thanks for the correction!

No problem but you were right as well you can tell gender at birth. I have a little black sex link chick and I wanted to know more about her breed and did the research.

 

[ChattyChickens4Life]

No problem but you were right as well you can tell gender at birth. I have a little black sex link chick and I wanted to know more about her breed and did the research.

Alrighty! That's pretty cool to learn more about the sex links. Learn something new everyday!