Question about sexlinks

[LilyD]

I have a question about red sexlinks. I just ordered 25 from Welp hatchery and they said they are color sexable at birth. I am wondering if anyone else breeds them and if they know if that characteristic carries on to future generations. Like if I breed my hens to a sex link cockerel will I get color sexable babies? Just curious.

Lily

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Sex linked chickens are bred from two different varieties or breeds of chicken. Although there are a few true sex link breeds. In the case of your reds it was a white hen and red rooster resulting in the red chicks being pullets and white chicks being cockrels. Sexable at birth. It's a one time crossing. If breeding two sex links the result will not be a sex link.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Here is a helpful link I came across recently:

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html

 

[LilyD]

Okay now here's my next question. I love the fact that they are good layers and a lot of people say they make a good dual purpose bird as a meat bird as well. They are also supposed to have great dispositions and be very friendly will those characteristics carry on to the babies. I am okay if they look different from their parents if they are born. My main concern is if my hens get broody and want to hatch eggs will the babies be okay or should I not let them hatch eggs?

 

[Ridgerunner]

The chicks will inherit traits from their parents. There are a whole lot of different genes involved so you do get some variety, but if the parents are from good egglaying stock, the offspring will be from good egglaying stock and will probably be good egg layers. If the parents have good dispositions, the chicks will probably have good dispositions.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with breeding them. If you can determine which are your best egg layers and hatch eggs from them, you have an even better chance of getting a good egg layer.

There is a common misconception that red six links are good egg layers because of the way they are crossed. You normally take a hen with a silver gene, such as a Delaware, and cross her with a rooster pure for gold genes, such as a Rhode Island Red. The result is a sexable by down color chick at hatch. That is a huge reason they are so popular. People that want pullets are assured of getting pullets. But if you reverse that and cross a Delaware rooster with a RIR hen from the same flocks, you do not get a color sexable chick, they will all have yellow down, but the odds are she will be just as good an egg layer. The egg laying genes and color genes are not linked.

 

[LilyD]

Does anyone have pictures of sexlink eggs they have hatched? I am curious as to what they would look like when you breed them. Would they just be a combination of the parents two colors or would they look totally different?

My main concern is that I want a bird that will be quiet and have a good disposition because I constantly have kids in and out of my animal pens. In order to live here any animals I have will have to be super friendly and nice or they will have to go because I can't have any of them attacking the kids that come over. Good egg laying is a bonus

 

[Ridgerunner]

A whole lot depends on what actual breeds and colors were used to make the red sex links to start with. There area lot of different genes that go into the mix for basic colors and the patterns can vary quite a bit. That is part of the fun in hatching from mixed chickens. You never know what you will get.

I don't have any photos that can help you, but what you will get if you hatch enough for the statistics to mean anything and assuming that the father and mother are both red sex links is that a lot will be some shade of white or off-white and a lot will be some shade of red. That shade of white or red can vary a whole lot, even with the same parents. That's just for the basic body color.

Then you have pattern colors. This is mainly neck, wing, or tail colors, but can be other body parts. These can also vary all over the place, even with the same parents. They may look a whole lot different from the parents. There are just too many different genes involved and they sometimes have weird ways of expressing themselves depending on what other genes they pair up with.

 

[Kathi D]

I have my first sexlink chicks--they are black sexlinks, and as they feather in, the black feathers have beautiful red highlights. The chicks do seem very friendly, but all mine are pretty friendly anyway. Of the two sexlinks, one is much smaller than all the other babies--barred rocks are next bigger, and RIRs are the biggest. But one sexlink is noticeably smaller than the other, and seems every bit as healthy.

I'm wondering if there are lots of variations even among the same breedings.

Anyway, the gal at the feedstore said that she likes the sexlinks because they are good layers, the black ones grow up very pretty (black was all they had that day) and they are usually friendly and docile. Sounds like the perfect package!

 

[LilyD]

Cool so it might be fun if one of my new girls decides she needs to hatch some to see what we get as long as the disposition and temperament matches the parents I will still be happy. I really just want friendly birds and to be able to get eggs so I don't have to go back to purchasing from the stores. I love the farm fresh eggs so much more than store bought.

I am having a hard time waiting for my babies to get here can't wait to get started!!

 

[Kathi D]

This past winter, my girls quit laying for a couple of months and I had to buy eggs for the first time in 3 years. I felt like a personal failure! As if I were laying the eggs myself--or not laying them, that is. That's why I am starting 8 more babies this Spring--can't live without our home-grown eggs! Well, not to mention how much fun the chicks and chickens are.



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