Red Sex Link

[minna]

I've searched and can't find the exact answer I am looking for. My dh likes Black Sex links. They are easy to raise and sell good. We have the RIR and the Barred Rock to breed these.
We were told that red sex link lay better, we should try those. So I go to the hatchery I use website and found Golden sex link. I like them, they look good, but dh says that is not a red sex link. So my question is,

What do you breed to get red sex link? Someone said just switch and use a barred rock roo and a RIR Hen, is this correct?
And what is crossed to get the golden sex link? I like them and think I will order some to see how they do, but eventually I want to get away from ordering and raise only my own, so I would like to know what to cross, but I can't find consistency in answers?!

 

[digitS']

You can go to Ideal Hatchery's site and "click" your way thru Standard Chickens to the Sex-links. Clicking on any one will give you an explanation of the breeds they use to produce their chicks.

Here's some more information. I think it is accurate:

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

http://newenglandbantamclub.homestead.com/sexlinkbreeding.html

http://www.users.on.net/~greggles/sexing.html

Hope these links to information are of help

.

Steve

 

[minna]

Thanks for replying, that is still not what he says he is looking for, he claims the mix he is looking for produces barred roos and light red females. IDK. I told him to just ask the guy locally who breeds them, I have decided it must be some sort of local mix. I am bookmarking one of those sites I hadn't found yet, b/c some of those mixes might be interesting to try to breed. Thanks again.

 

[crperdue]

The red sex-link that lays so well is a cross between a male RIR (production strain) and a female white leghorn with the sex-linked silver gene.

To produce sex-linked chicks you must use a female that carries a sex-linked gene. The two common ones used are the barred gene (barred rocks, barred hollands, etc) and the silver gene (white leghorns, RIW, etc). Keep in mind that everything that looks barred or looks white actually might not carry the correct gene. You have to do your homework!

Using a barred rooster on a RIR hen will not produce sex-linked chicks. You have to use a female with the sex-linked gene not the male.

I can't think of any way to produce sex-linked chicks where the females are red and the males are barred. Barred rocks are actually black chickens that also carry the barred gene. The barred gene puts a white line at the end of each feather (think about french tipped nails). The males carry two copies and the females only carry one copy. Thats why the males look lighter, their white stripe is wider. The problem is that black is dominate over red and the female offspring get the black color but no barring so they are solid black.