Sex-link white layers?

[scfk]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to find another option for a sex-link cross out of a white egg laying breed. I've had some success in the past with crossing Silkie roosters over Leghorn females, but my source for sexed Silkie roosters has moved. I have had horrible luck trying to purchase them from My Pet Chicken and do not want to go that route again.

I came across some information on a google search that I would like to verify-

Is the California White (California Grey rooster x White Leghorn hen) actually a sex link? Or, is the California Grey breed itself auto sexing?

I had looked into the Flowery 55 breed from Greenfire Farms as an auto sexing white layer, but got feedback from some hatchers that the eggs do not incubate well- and that is what I need them for.

Thank you!
Kate

 

[NatJ]

Is the California White (California Grey rooster x White Leghorn hen) actually a sex link?

No, that cross does not produce sexlink chicks.

Or, is the California Grey breed itself auto sexing?

California Grey should be somewhat autosexing, just like Barred Rocks or Cuckoo Marans or any other black breed with white barring. Selective breeding can make that more effective (for your own breeding stock, keep the most obvious females and the most obvious males, not any ambiguous ones.)

It works because chickens with two copies of the barring gene (males) show more white than chickens with one copy of the barring gene (females.) The barring gene is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ and females have ZW.

Barring can also be used to produce sexlinks, by crossing a barred hen to a not-barred rooster (the hen gives barring to her sons, and gives a W chromosome with no barring to her daughters. Since the father does not have barring, he does not give it to any of the chicks, so only the sons have/show barring.)

I am trying to find another option for a sex-link cross out of a white egg laying breed.

You could use California Gray hens (black with white barring), and a rooster of any colored breed that doesn't have white barring (so Brown Leghorn, or Black Minorca, or Gold Pencilled Hamburgs, or many other options.)

The sons will have barring (shows as a pale dot on the head of the chicks at hatch), while the daughters will not have barring (no dot.) The dot is easiest to see on black chick down. If you use a rooster that is blue or splash (like a Blue Andalusian), you will get some chicks with blue color. That makes the dot harder to see, but it does let you sell chicks that look different (blue rather than black), so I don't know if it would be good or bad for your purposes.

I've had some success in the past with crossing Silkie roosters over Leghorn females, but my source for sexed Silkie roosters has moved. I have had horrible luck trying to purchase them from My Pet Chicken and do not want to go that route again.

Can you keep a small breeding flock of Silkies, to produce your own roosters?

Or buy straight-run Silkies from some other hatchery? You might be able to sell the pullets to people who want pet Silkies but can't keep roosters, or of course you could use them to breed your own Silkies in future.

 

[scfk]

No, that cross does not produce sexlink chicks.


California Grey should be somewhat autosexing, just like Barred Rocks or Cuckoo Marans or any other black breed with white barring. Selective breeding can make that more effective (for your own breeding stock, keep the most obvious females and the most obvious males, not any ambiguous ones.)

It works because chickens with two copies of the barring gene (males) show more white than chickens with one copy of the barring gene (females.) The barring gene is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ and females have ZW.

Barring can also be used to produce sexlinks, by crossing a barred hen to a not-barred rooster (the hen gives barring to her sons, and gives a W chromosome with no barring to her daughters. Since the father does not have barring, he does not give it to any of the chicks, so only the sons have/show barring.)


You could use California Gray hens (black with white barring), and a rooster of any colored breed that doesn't have white barring (so Brown Leghorn, or Black Minorca, or Gold Pencilled Hamburgs, or many other options.)

The sons will have barring (shows as a pale dot on the head of the chicks at hatch), while the daughters will not have barring (no dot.) The dot is easiest to see on black chick down. If you use a rooster that is blue or splash (like a Blue Andalusian), you will get some chicks with blue color. That makes the dot harder to see, but it does let you sell chicks that look different (blue rather than black), so I don't know if it would be good or bad for your purposes.


Can you keep a small breeding flock of Silkies, to produce your own roosters?

Or buy straight-run Silkies from some other hatchery? You might be able to sell the pullets to people who want pet Silkies but can't keep roosters, or of course you could use them to breed your own Silkies in future.

Thank you!! I appreciate your help. I run an embryology program for schools and we try to only utilize sex link crosses or auto sexing breeds; we do the RIR/BR cross for brown layers, and Cream Legbars for the turquoise eggs, but I need white eggs for the teachers to candle.

I don't have the ability to maintain a small flock of Silkies, and getting straight run Silkies was my next plan- but it's much easier for us to just purchase males! I usually purchase my flock each year and then sell the hens at the end of my embryology season.

I love the idea of the California Greys crossed with a non barred rooster- I will definitely have to investigate that.

Thank you again!
Kate

 

[NatJ]

Thank you!! I appreciate your help. I run an embryology program for schools and we try to only utilize sex link crosses or auto sexing breeds; we do the RIR/BR cross for brown layers, and Cream Legbars for the turquoise eggs, but I need white eggs for the teachers to candle.

Interesting! Why do sexlink chicks matter for this project?

I don't have the ability to maintain a small flock of Silkies, and getting straight run Silkies was my next plan- but it's much easier for us to just purchase males! I usually purchase my flock each year and then sell the hens at the end of my embryology season.

Meyer Hatchery seems to sell sexed silkies.
For example:
https://meyerhatchery.com/products/Buff-Silkie-Bantam-Day-Old-Chicks-p217985912

(I have no personal experience with that hatchery, just happened to remember seeing sexed bantams on the website.)

I love the idea of the California Greys crossed with a non barred rooster- I will definitely have to investigate that.

I had originally assumed you wanted chickens that lay white eggs when they grow up. If they just need to hatch from white eggs, and you have access to California Grey hens, then it is pretty easy.

You could use California Grey hens with the same RIR roosters you use for the brown layers. (This is probably the easiest.)

Or you could use California Grey hens with a Cream Legbar rooster. All chicks will be pure for barring, so you could sex them the same as pure California Grays or pure Barred Rocks or any other black-based chicken with white barring. Pullets from this cross will grow up to lay blue eggs. If the pullets are getting sold or re-homed, some people might like ones that lay blue eggs. (Daughters from RIR x California Grey should lay light brown eggs.)

 

[scfk]

Interesting! Why do sexlink chicks matter for this project?


Meyer Hatchery seems to sell sexed silkies.
For example:
https://meyerhatchery.com/products/Buff-Silkie-Bantam-Day-Old-Chicks-p217985912

(I have no personal experience with that hatchery, just happened to remember seeing sexed bantams on the website.)


I had originally assumed you wanted chickens that lay white eggs when they grow up. If they just need to hatch from white eggs, and you have access to California Grey hens, then it is pretty easy.

You could use California Grey hens with the same RIR roosters you use for the brown layers. (This is probably the easiest.)

Or you could use California Grey hens with a Cream Legbar rooster. All chicks will be pure for barring, so you could sex them the same as pure California Grays or pure Barred Rocks or any other black-based chicken with white barring. Pullets from this cross will grow up to lay blue eggs. If the pullets are getting sold or re-homed, some people might like ones that lay blue eggs. (Daughters from RIR x California Grey should lay light brown eggs.)

We live in an area where there are quite a few restrictions on roosters- in an effort to be responsible, we sex-link so that if I have hatchers who want to keep chicks, or people who want to purchase pullets, they don't end up with roosters. We already have enough roosters that get dumped around here, I don't need to add to that! The rooster chicks do go to a specific farmer, so I have an outlet for them as well.

We offer a mixture of white, brown, and the turquoise eggs to the schools- some teachers have gotten very good at candling the brown and turquoise eggs, but others prefer the white- I like to offer a mix of them all. (Side note: I found out that if I take a picture of the turquoise eggs, flash off, when I'm candling, I can see inside the egg better than I can with my naked eye- my accuracy has greatly improved lately)

Oh wow- I don't know how I missed checking Meyer hatchery! Thank you for pointing that out.

I might play around with the California Grey crosses this year in preparation for next year- we've had the Leghorn/Silkie crosses for a while, it might be time to add something new to the mix I just have to make sure they don't look too similar to the black star chicks- I'd like to be able to tell them apart! The Blue Andalusian rooster might be fun.

 

[NatJ]

I might play around with the California Grey crosses this year in preparation for next year- we've had the Leghorn/Silkie crosses for a while, it might be time to add something new to the mix I just have to make sure they don't look too similar to the black star chicks- I'd like to be able to tell them apart! The Blue Andalusian rooster might be fun.

If you can get a Splash Andalusian rooster, mating him to California Grey hens will produce only blue chicks. They will be sexlinks (males with the dot on the head, females without), but they will be different from the black stars because they are blue.

Any breeding of blue x blue chickens will produce some black, some blue, and some splash. Many hatcheries sell the colors mixed, but some do sell them separately. The Splash variety of any other breed should work equally well for producing the chicks, although of course they will not all produce chicks that lay the same color of eggs or numbers of eggs.

Basic numbers of black/blue/splash:
Using a black rooster (or almost any other color) with California Grey hens will give black chicks. Using a blue rooster will give about 50% black chicks and 50% blue chicks. Using a splash rooster will give 100% blue chicks.

One copy of the blue gene make the bird look blue, two copies make it look splash, no copies let it look black. This affects all the black parts on the chicken (so Blue Laced or Splash Laced chickens have the black lacing turned to blue or splash. A Splash Laced rooster would work just as well as one that is splash all over.)