One of my red sex linked roosters is grey???????

[bossynbella]

I wasn't sure where to put this question I hope this is the right area.

We bought 5 Red sex linked Roosters from Cackle hatchery We gave three to my father in law and kept two all three of his and one of ours are white with red speckling. The other one has no red in it at all. It is smaller then the other one we kept. We love him anyway but want to know if he is really a red sex link as next spring we plan to hatch eggs from them and are Red Star Sex linked hens.

I would post a pic but I can't figure out how

any help would be appreciated

Melissa

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Your roosters could very well be Sex Link roosters. There is no set color for them. It depends on what breed was used to produce them, & they may or may not display traits from these breeds. They may pass on colors that they do not show to their offspring.


I don't know if you know this or not.
Breeding them to your sex link hens will not produce sex link chicks. You will get a variety of different colors coming from the breeds used to make your sex links. They will not be able to be sexed by color. These chicks will not produce eggs as well as your sex link hens you have now. You will have a variety of very pretty chickens though, & some may lay very well.

If you want to hatch eggs to get more hens for laying, put an egg laying breed rooster with your hens. We use RIR roosters with our Red Star Sex Link hens. We get pretty hens, they lay very well.

Others will say do not breed them, because you will get mutts. We have several pure bred breeds & we have some mixed breeds which I use mainly for eggs that we sell. If it lays well, I don't care if it is a mutt.


Jean

 

[greyfields]

You are correct that the females from a sex-linked mating will be a predicatable offspring, wheras the males can be all over the place. I'm not to imply that all the females look identical, but they are a helluva lost closer in resemblence than the males are. That's why sex-linked males are very rarely used for mating, you just have no idea of what you'll get as resultant offsprings. But if you enjoy them, have at it and follow your whims.

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, they have made the sex links just for the girls. Even if you want more layer, using the sexlink girl won't give more females with as high as a productivity as the production of sexlinks is maximized for the F1 generation.

 

[bossynbella]

Wow! I did not know that the resultant offspring would not be as good layers. We love the three hens and just thought we would get the same kind of roosters I never even considered the fact that they where really just mixes and that we don't even know what kind of mixes they are.

Would we get better egg layers by breeding them to our Cherry Egger rooster??? or to our Barred Rock Rooster???

Also on another topic. Are Silkys the only chickens with 5 toes. Our banty rooster is a mix and some of our babies have 5 toes does this mean they are deff from a silky hen or could it be something from his background?
Thanks for all the help

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

I don't know about the Cherry Egger rooster, but I know the offspring will lay better bred with your Barred Rock rooster than with the Sex Link rooster.

I don't know what colors you will get.

We use a RIR rooster with the Red Sex Link hens & a Barred Rock rooster with the Black Sex Link hens.

Try which ever rooster you want. I would be interested in seeing what the offspring looks like & how they lay.

Jean

 

[Dawn419]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16110

Scroll down to Suggested Reading...#2. How to Post Pictures...we/someone can help, if need be.

Dawn