Parent Stock For Red Sex links

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

Hey BYC,

I wanna produce my own Red Sex links! I'm targeting Columbian Rocks, Columbian Wyandottes, and Delawares for the hens side.

And for the roosters my choices are Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, and Production Reds.

I would like to my Red sex link hens to be PROLIFIC brown egg layers and my roosters to be processed as meat birds.

What combinations would be best?

I know some might say im crazy to want all these different flocks just to produce my own egg layers, but to each his own and i am kinda crazy, so if you have the experience and knowledge and your willing to share, lay it on me. I'm all ears, or eyes i guess lol!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’d stay away from the Production Reds. They are bred for egg laying and probably won’t get very big for meat.

For the others it purely depends on the parent stock. Different hatcheries have different people selecting which chickens get to breed, they all have their own criteria for that selection. You can get different chickens of the same breed from different hatcheries chickens with different traits.

Each breeder has their own criteria and skill level too. Some are really really good. If you can find one of them and they happen to be breeding toward your criteria you are in great shape. If you find one that takes hatchery chicks and just breeds them with no real criteria you are probably better off with hatchery chicks.

There is another issue. A couple of times I’ve gotten several cockerels from different hatcheries to grow out to eat (I was ordering a few specific birds and filled out the order to meet the minimum with cockerels). There was a big difference in the same order in how fast they grow and mature and how big they get. If you just get one cockerel at random, you may get a great bird or you may get a runt. How does your luck run?

Breeders run into the same type of thing. Not every chick they hatch is a show quality grand champion. If you can find a breeder that breeds to your criteria and they have been doing it long enough to establish a line, you’ll be much better off with one of their culls than a hatchery chick or a chick from a less qualified breeder that may or may not be breeding for your criteria.

My suggestion is to pick something and get several of males and females. You can limit it to one breed of each or get both Buff Orp and RIR males and some females of any or each of those breeds. Evaluate them and decide which best suits your criteria. Those are your breeders, you eat the rest.

 

[Michael OShay]

I've had a lot of Red Sex Links over the years and they are all egg laying machines, but temperament does seem to vary somewhat depending on which parent breeds are used. Based on my experience with these birds I would go with crossing a RIR rooster with a Delaware hen as that particular combination seems to typically had the best temperament among my RSLs.

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

Thanks for the advise! I'll keep you posted I already ordered 22BPR pullets and 5BPR cockerels, 10RIR pullets and 5RIR cockerels, and I found some nice Delawares locally too. I heard Plymouth Rocks lay better than Delawares so I was leaning towards Columbian Rocks to produce those great layers, and even though meat birds aren't as important to me, I was thinking Delawares might produce better meat on the cockerels.

What about feed consumption, are any of the breeds I mentioned heavy eaters?

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks for the advise! I'll keep you posted I already ordered 22BPR pullets and 5BPR cockerels, 10RIR pullets and 5RIR cockerels, and I found some nice Delawares locally too. I heard Plymouth Rocks lay better than Delawares so I was leaning towards Columbian Rocks to produce those great layers, and even though meat birds aren't as important to me, I was thinking Delawares might produce better meat on the cockerels.

What about feed consumption, are any of the breeds I mentioned heavy eaters?

You're welcome. I honestly haven't been able to tell a lay rate difference between RSLs bred using PR hens or those using Delaware hens. Both crosses outlay either parent breed and will consistently give you more than 300 large brown eggs per hen per year. It's one of the interesting quirks of hybridization. Another thing to be aware of if your use Plymouth Rocks is that not all Plymouth Rocks (not even all White Rocks) carry the silver factor necessary for breeding RSLs so using PRs is a risk. With Delawares you always get the silver gene necessary for RSLs.
RSLs tend to run a little lighter than the parent birds (another interesting quirk of hybridization) and as a result actually typically eat somewhat less than the parent breeds.

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

yea I want to get columbian rocks that carry silver, and the barred rocks are for making Black Sex Links. I didnt mention but i wanted to produce BSLs too

 

[Michael OShay]

yea I want to get columbian rocks that carry silver, and the barred rocks are for making Black Sex Links. I didnt mention but i wanted to produce BSLs too

Black Sex Links (RIR rooster X Barred Rock hen) are my favorites. They have generally been friendlier than my RSLs, have tended to lay longer, and have been slightly better layers in really cold winter weather than my RSLs.

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

I will def be producing BSLs first. And RSLs will come soon. but im finding out that breeding BPRs entails using sports(4 different color varieties) to maintain the proper barring. Now im wondering if Columbian Rocks also have sports to breed true so to say.

 

[cmom]

Hey BYC,

I wanna produce my own Red Sex links! I'm targeting Columbian Rocks, Columbian Wyandottes, and Delawares for the hens side.

And for the roosters my choices are Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, and Production Reds.

I would like to my Red sex link hens to be PROLIFIC brown egg layers and my roosters to be processed as meat birds.

What combinations would be best?

I know some might say im crazy to want all these different flocks just to produce my own egg layers, but to each his own and i am kinda crazy, so if you have the experience and knowledge and your willing to share, lay it on me. I'm all ears, or eyes i guess lol!

For the mating's to work the physical characteristic must be carried on one of the sex chromosome - thus the term ‘sex-linked’- and the correct male and female breeds should be selected. For example, a Delaware female mated to a New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red male is a sex-link cross where the males will have the Delaware feather pattern of their mother and females will have a solid red feather pattern like their father. If, however, you mate a Delaware male with a New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red female, all the offspring will have the same Delaware feather pattern.

Golden Comet, Gold Star, or Cinnamon Queen depending on the specific cross used) are produced by a number of different crosses. White Plymouth Rock hens with the silver factor are crossed with a New Hampshire rooster to produce the Golden Comet, Gold Star. A Silver Laced Wyandotte hen is crossed with a New Hampshire rooster to produce the Cinnamon Queen. Additional possible red sex-link cross combinations are the Rhode Island White hen and a Rhode Island Red rooster Which produce a male that will hatch out white and can feather out to pure white or with some black feathering and the females Redish color with white on the tail feathers and maybe around the neck also called a Red Sex-Link, Again, a Delaware hen with a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster. Males hatch out looking like the Delawares females, depending on the cross. Females hatch out red like the Rhode Island Red male. Coloring will depend on the cross, and they how they feather out. In the breeding's the males can be New Hampshire Reds but most use Rhode Island Reds.

The Black sex-links (also known as Rock Reds) are produced by crossing the Barred Plymouth Rock hen with a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster. At hatch both sexes have black down, but the males can be identified by the white dot on their heads. Males feather out with the Barred Rock pattern along with a few red feathers, while females feather out solid black with some red in the neck feathers.

Here is a post with a chart for the breeds for Sex-Links. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information#post_3100338

Many of my Sex-Link males go to freezer camp since they do not breed true so why keep them. Once in awhile I will sell some just because the people who buy them want a rooster and think they are pretty, which they are but for me if I can't breed them I still have to feed them. When they get to be around 6 months old they are processed. Good luck and have fun...

 

[SunnySideUpGUAM]

For the mating's to work the physical characteristic must be carried on one of the sex chromosome - thus the term ‘sex-linked’- and the correct male and female breeds should be selected. For example, a Delaware female mated to a New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red male is a sex-link cross where the males will have the Delaware feather pattern of their mother and females will have a solid red feather pattern like their father. If, however, you mate a Delaware male with a New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red female, all the offspring will have the same Delaware feather pattern.

Golden Comet, Gold Star, or Cinnamon Queen depending on the specific cross used) are produced by a number of different crosses. White Plymouth Rock hens with the silver factor are crossed with a New Hampshire rooster to produce the Golden Comet, Gold Star. A Silver Laced Wyandotte hen is crossed with a New Hampshire rooster to produce the Cinnamon Queen. Additional possible red sex-link cross combinations are the Rhode Island White hen and a Rhode Island Red rooster Which produce a male that will hatch out white and can feather out to pure white or with some black feathering and the females Redish color with white on the tail feathers and maybe around the neck also called a Red Sex-Link, Again, a Delaware hen with a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster. Males hatch out looking like the Delawares females, depending on the cross. Females hatch out red like the Rhode Island Red male. Coloring will depend on the cross, and they how they feather out. In the breeding's the males can be New Hampshire Reds but most use Rhode Island Reds.

The Black sex-links (also known as Rock Reds) are produced by crossing the Barred Plymouth Rock hen with a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster. At hatch both sexes have black down, but the males can be identified by the white dot on their heads. Males feather out with the Barred Rock pattern along with a few red feathers, while females feather out solid black with some red in the neck feathers.

Here is a post with a chart for the breeds for Sex-Links. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information#post_3100338

Many of my Sex-Link males go to freezer camp since they do not breed true so why keep them. Once in awhile I will sell some just because the people who buy them want a rooster and think they are pretty, which they are but for me if I can't breed them I still have to feed them. When they get to be around 6 months old they are processed. Good luck and have fun...

thanks so much i may want to get SLW too!