Question about a certain sex link chicken

[tcrader]

If I cross a Rhode Island Red rooster with a columbian Wyandotte hen will I get a red sex link chicken? Thanks for your help.

 

[Michael OShay]

If I cross a Rhode Island Red rooster with a columbian Wyandotte hen will I get a red sex link chicken? Thanks for your help.

No, a Columbian Wyandotte does not carry the silver gene necessary for producing sex link offspring. If you use a Wyandotte, you will need to cross a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen with a red gene rooster (RIR, NHR, or Production Red) to produce Red Sex Link offspring. Other silver gene hens that can be used to produce RSLs are Rhode Island Whites, Delawares, Light Sussex, and in some cases White Rocks (not all WRs carry the silver gene necessary for producing RSLs. If you cross a Barred hen (BR, CM, or Dominique) with a red gene rooster, you will get Black Sex Link offspring.

 

[donrae]

I usually agree with Michael, but here I've got to disagree. I've not used them myself, but Tim said you can use them in his classic sex link thread....see the chart at this link, and read the explanation below. You don't need to read the entire massive thread, the good stuff's on the first page

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information

 

[Michael OShay]

I usually agree with Michael, but here I've got to disagree. I've not used them myself, but Tim said you can use them in his classic sex link thread....see the chart at this link, and read the explanation below. You don't need to read the entire massive thread, the good stuff's on the first page

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261208/sex-linked-information

That's interesting. I've never heard of anyone breeding a Red Sex Link using a Columbian Wyandotte (I certainly haven't done it myself), nor am I aware of any hatchery that uses Columbian Wyandottes in breeding their Red Sex Links. The list that I gave tcrader (RIW, SLW, Delaware, Light Sussex, or WR (with silver gene) hens are the only ones that I know of that are used by the better known hatcheries, but if Tim says you can use a Columbian Wyandotte hen for a RSL hen, then you probably can. I'm curious though, why none of the major hatcheries use them.

 

[donrae]

I don't know why the hatcheries don't use them, but there are a lot of crosses that can make a sex link chick you'll never see from a hatchery. I was talking to a lady here a few months ago who inadvertently bred sex links from a buff Orp male over a salmon faverolles female. Not something you're going to see from a hatchery, but the genetics are right. My "blue hens that lay blue eggs" are also not somthing a hatchery is going to produce, but again, the genetics are solid.

 

[Michael OShay]

I don't know why the hatcheries don't use them, but there are a lot of crosses that can make a sex link chick you'll never see from a hatchery. I was talking to a lady here a few months ago who inadvertently bred sex links from a buff Orp male over a salmon faverolles female. Not something you're going to see from a hatchery, but the genetics are right. My "blue hens that lay blue eggs" are also not somthing a hatchery is going to produce, but again, the genetics are solid.

Thanks for the information. A BO X SF would be an interesting sex link cross. It would also be interesting to know why the hatcheries choose the particular hens they use for their sex links. Perhaps those are all breeds they sell a lot of (although I wouldn't particularly think that would be the case with Light Sussex). If I ever have the opportunity, I'll ask someone involved in hatchery breeding that might know.