sex link question

[embkm]

I read that to get red sex link chicks, you cross a red roo with a white hen. Does that mean you have to use a RIR or NHR? If you crossed a BO with a white hen, would there be a color difference in the sex of the chicks?

 

[warhorse]

I don't know if BO would work the same. I had read somewhere that it has to do with the black in the tail of the red breed rooster that makes the sexlink, but I am curious to hear the genetic gurus explanation.

 

[lone cedar farm]

I bred a Partridge Rock Roo to a Barred Rock hen last year and got beautiful black sex links with red splashed heads. I would think Bred to a white rock hen he would produce a red sex link.

Wonder what my PR Roo would produce if bred to Buff Orphington hens that I have now?

 

[Kim_NC]

RIR or NHR roo X white hen gives a red sexlink - but it can't be a dominant white.

Buff roo crossed with white hen won't work. You'll get brown (dun) birds and black birds in both sexes.

Partridge roo x buff hen will give all buff birds (male and female) with columbian patterning - some brownish (dun) hackles/tails and some black hackles/tails.

The partridge cross with the barred rock hen worked because of the way the barred gene is carried on the Z chromosome. Try reading this topic on the breeders/backyard forum. It was a discussion about sexlinks as well, has more details

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=127298

I don't think the Partridge roo crossed with a white rock hen will work for a sexlink. I may be wrong, but I'm fairly sure you would need a columbian patterned white hen to get a sexlink result in that case.

 

[embkm]

Quote:
So, how do you know if a hen is dominant white? Are Leghorns dominate white?

 

[lone cedar farm]

Good info Kim_NC, so you have to use a Barred rock hen to get a black sex link! Is that correct? Also would you still have the hybrid vigor with a PR Roo and BO hen?

The reason I'm asking is I'm thinking of going with a Different Roo hoping for better egg production, possibly just a pure BO roo.

 

[Kim_NC]

Quote:
I think it's easiest to tell when they're chicks. Chick down is all yellow in a dominant white bird. Chick down is a grayish-yellow in a recessive white.

White leghorns are dominant white. There are other breeds...White Rocks for example...which have both strains of either dominant or recessive white.

Of course, the best way is to know the lineage of the individual bird, but that's often not possible.

 

[Kim_NC]

Quote:
Yes, you're right. The most common Black Sexlink is RIR (or NHR) roo x Barred Rock hen.

You should get hybrid vigor with the PR Roo x BO hen. Most sensible crosses result in hybrid vigor. This is why some folks do quite well with 'barnyard mutts'. If you select good layers and roos from good layers, then crosses will result in better laying daughters with hybrid vigor.

But if unmanaged and breeding is just will-nilly in the barnyard, then results tend to deteriorate over time.