mutt chicks lol

[TnClayboy]

I crossed a Rhode Island Red rooster and a a Plymouth White rock hen and ended up with what looks like a black sex link got about 25 of them lol I was shooting for brown sex link chickens but that's not what I got except for 3 l

 

[TnClayboy]

One ?? I have is are the ones with a white spot on head supposed to be males it sorta seems that way . There are 4 that have this and they also have shorter even flight feathers

 

[Lady of McCamley]

If you are certain that those are the parents, then I'm going to make a guess that your White Rock hen was a cross between a Barred Rock and a White, so that your white was actually white barring on white, masking the barring...which came out on this pairing. White can mask a lot of genetics.

My initial reaction is that yes, you got more of the Black Sex Link pairing but the females came out red/brown instead of black...so the black with head dot should be male (barred), and the brown female....but I am only beginning to understand breed genetics so hope to have someone more confident confirm my thoughts as you would be the results of other genes in play from a potential mixed hen.

Play around with this calculator to see what I mean:
http://www.breedbook.org/?action=geneticscalculator&tab=CHICKEN


LofMc

 

[TnClayboy]

. Moma chicken.

Dady rooster Thanks I will , I was told to ask hatchery if the white rocks had what is called the silver factor . I was told they did could this be what we are seeing or not seeing ? I don't really care I just wanted to supply my family with some good egg laying chickens , I think I did , but we will see

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes, you want the silver factor because that is not dominant white, (nor if I understand things not recessive white either). You definitely do not want to use dominant white as it covers up stuff like barring in the visible bird and dominates all other color/patterns so males and females are identical white. I'm seeing recessive white can do that to in the first generation, but have things crop up in the second generation.

The only way to truly see what the genetics of a bird is to carefully breed it to see the outcome.

If the hen were white dominant, all the chicks would be white (with maybe a speck or two black here and there).

If the hen were recessive white, I'm seeing the chicks coming out black...but if she had barring hidden underneath that white, then you would get black barred males...or simply half of them black with white head dots (male and female) and half red (male and female)....which is probably what happened now that I think a bit more on the possibilities.

If she were silver, you would have had the RSL's you were going for, males yellow/gold with the females red/gold.

That is of course assuming the issue is with the hen...the RIR roo might not be as pure as you thought as well...then it becomes a crap shoot as to what you get with all the extra genes mixing through the Punnett squares.

My best guess with my current knowledge,
LofMc

 

[TnClayboy]

Thanks for the info

 

[Lady of McCamley]

A Rock x RIR should produce some excellent layers, with hybrid vigor. I like my barnyard mixes. They lay early, are hardy, and overall excellent birds...if a bit of a guess as to what they'll look like, which honestly adds to the fun.

LofMc

 

[donrae]

White rock hens are known to carry barring and other weird genetics, so they're not the first choice for red sex link crosses, as you've found. Since apparently she has barring, you did get the black sex link trait with the white spot indicating males. Sounds like things worked out anyway!

 

[Michael OShay]

White rock hens are known to carry barring and other weird genetics, so they're not the first choice for red sex link crosses, as you've found. Since apparently she has barring, you did get the black sex link trait with the white spot indicating males. Sounds like things worked out anyway!

X2 on that. Not all White Rocks carry the silver factor so you wouldn't get Red Sex Links unless you bred a Rhode Island Red rooster with White Rock hens that do carry the silver factor. Ideal Poultry breeds Red Sex Links by crossing RIRs with silver factor White Rocks.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

White rock hens are known to carry barring and other weird genetics, so they're not the first choice for red sex link crosses, as you've found. Since apparently she has barring, you did get the black sex link trait with the white spot indicating males. Sounds like things worked out anyway!

So this F1 would be sex linked then...my first guess...males black with white dot and females coming out wild type red?

Thanks for clarifying that...
LofMc