Possible color of my chicks?

[a_harrison9]

I am a new chicken owner, and this is my barred rock rooster and hens.
We are incubating some eggs, and I was wondering what color the chicks might be? Would all or some of the chicks be lighter in color or would only roosters (if we have any) be lighter like my roo?

 

[NatJ]

I am a new chicken owner, and this is my barred rock rooster and hens.
We are incubating some eggs, and I was wondering what color the chicks might be? Would all or some of the chicks be lighter in color or would only roosters (if we have any) be lighter like my roo?View attachment 3865421View attachment 3865422View attachment 3865423View attachment 3865426

For Barred Rocks, the males have the lighter color and the females have the darker color.

The barring gene is what adds the white, and it is located on the Z sex chromosome. Roosters have chromosomes ZZ, so the rooster has two barring genes, and that makes him have more white so he looks lighter. Hens have chromosomes ZW, so a hen has only one barring gene (only one Z chromosome), which means she looks darker (less white.)

If you cross Barred Rocks with other breeds, you can also get darker roosters (barring on one Z chromosome from the Barred Rock parent, no barring on the Z chromosome from the other parent.) You can't get lighter hens by any amount of crossing, because a hen can never have more than one Z chromosome with one barring gene. There are some other genes that can make a hen have more white and look lighter, but they change the appearance of the barring pattern too, so hens never really get the color/pattern of a Barred Rock rooster.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Barring is a sex linked gene, it is only found on the Z chromosome (in birds, males are ZZ, females are ZW so the sex chromosomes are opposite of mammals). Barred rock roosters are lighter in color because they have two copies of the gene for barring which caused the white bands on their feathers to be wider. Since barring is found on the Z chromosome females can only inherit one gene for barring, and the narrower white bars cause the plumage to be darker overall than in double barred birds (which must always be male).

In your flock, male chicks will inherit one barring gene from your rooster and one barring gene from the hen. Female chicks will inherit one barring gene from the rooster and one solid black gene from the hen. Since barring is dominant over solid all of the chicks will appear barred but the female chicks will [eventually] appear darker.

 

[NatJ]

Barring is a sex linked gene, it is only found on the Z chromosome (in birds, males are ZZ, females are ZW so the sex chromosomes are opposite of mammals). Barred rock roosters are lighter in color because they have two copies of the gene for barring which caused the white bands on their feathers to be wider. Since barring is found on the Z chromosome females can only inherit one gene for barring, and the narrower white bars cause the plumage to be darker overall than in double barred birds (which must always be male).

In your flock, male chicks will inherit one barring gene from your rooster and one barring gene from the hen. Female chicks will inherit one barring gene from the rooster and one solid black gene from the hen. Since barring is dominant over solid all of the chicks will appear barred but the female chicks will [eventually] appear darker.

Wow, you and I made simultaneous posts of the same information-- I don't think we could have timed it that precisely if we had deliberately tried!

 

[a_harrison9]

Barring is a sex linked gene, it is only found on the Z chromosome (in birds, males are ZZ, females are ZW so the sex chromosomes are opposite of mammals). Barred rock roosters are lighter in color because they have two copies of the gene for barring which caused the white bands on their feathers to be wider. Since barring is found on the Z chromosome females can only inherit one gene for barring, and the narrower white bars cause the plumage to be darker overall than in double barred birds (which must always be male).

In your flock, male chicks will inherit one barring gene from your rooster and one barring gene from the hen. Female chicks will inherit one barring gene from the rooster and one solid black gene from the hen. Since barring is dominant over solid all of the chicks will appear barred but the female chicks will [eventually] appear darker.

For Barred Rocks, the males have the lighter color and the females have the darker color.

The barring gene is what adds the white, and it is located on the Z sex chromosome. Roosters have chromosomes ZZ, so the rooster has two barring genes, and that makes him have more white so he looks lighter. Hens have chromosomes ZW, so a hen has only one barring gene (only one Z chromosome), which means she looks darker (less white.)

If you cross Barred Rocks with other breeds, you can also get darker roosters (barring on one Z chromosome from the Barred Rock parent, no barring on the Z chromosome from the other parent.) You can't get lighter hens by any amount of crossing, because a hen can never have more than one Z chromosome with one barring gene. There are some other genes that can make a hen have more white and look lighter, but they change the appearance of the barring pattern too, so hens never really get the color/pattern of a Barred Rock rooster.

Thank you for replying! I am new to the chicken world lol.

 

[a_harrison9]

Barring is a sex linked gene, it is only found on the Z chromosome (in birds, males are ZZ, females are ZW so the sex chromosomes are opposite of mammals). Barred rock roosters are lighter in color because they have two copies of the gene for barring which caused the white bands on their feathers to be wider. Since barring is found on the Z chromosome females can only inherit one gene for barring, and the narrower white bars cause the plumage to be darker overall than in double barred birds (which must always be male).

In your flock, male chicks will inherit one barring gene from your rooster and one barring gene from the hen. Female chicks will inherit one barring gene from the rooster and one solid black gene from the hen. Since barring is dominant over solid all of the chicks will appear barred but the female chicks will [eventually] appear darker.

Thank you for replying! I am new the chicken world lol.