Sex link with silkie or frizzle?

flockoffour

Chirping
7 Years
Jun 28, 2012
176
8
96
West Coast
Is it possible (depending on the hen) to havrnsex-linked chicks with a silkie or frizzle roo? If so, what color would it have to be and what color/breed would the hen have to be?
 
Tadkerson’s Sex Link Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

Read the very first post in this thread. It tells you the genetics required to make red sex links, black sex links, and for feather sexing to work. Breed isn’t important as long as the basic genetics are right. I would not worry about the feather-sexing. You won’t have enough information to know if that will work or not.

To make red sex links, the male has to be pure for the gold gene. That means both copies at that gene pair have to be gold. The hen has to have silver. She will only have one gene at that location, that’s what makes sex-links possible. Since Silver is dominant over gold, the female chicks will be reddish where the male chicks will be yellow.

To make a black sex link, the female has to be barred (only one gene again) but the male has to not have any barred genes at that location. Since barred is dominant the male chicks will be barred and the females will not be barred. The barring can be seen at hatch by a light-colored spot on the males head. Females will not have this spot.

That’s only half of it though. You have to either be able to see the red and yellow or the spot on the down at hatch. There are several combinations of colors and patterns where you won’t be able to see these. For example, if your chick is solid black or solid yellow, you won’t see any difference in red or yellow down, even if the parents are set up right for the gold and silver. If the chick is solid yellow, you won’t be able to see the spot, even if the chick is carrying the barred gene. These are simple examples. It can get trickier.

Silkies and Frizzles are often mixes. They can have very mixed up genetics so it’s hard to tell even by looking at the adults if they have the genetics to make sex links possible. Still, if you have a rooster that has some red and a hen that has some white, you can try. It might work. If you have a hen that is barred and a rooster that is not, especially if one or both are black, try it. It might work.

I don’t know what colors and patterns your roosters are but an easy one to try if he is not barred is to cross him with a Barred Rock, Dominique, or Cuckoo Marans to try to make a black sex link. If your rooster is red, try using a Delaware, Light Brahma, or Light Sussex hen to try for a red sex link. I can’t give you any guarantees since I don’t know the genetics of your roosters or how pure they are genetically, and sometimes the differences may be subtle, but I’d try one of these. You’ve got a reasonable chance.

Good luck!
 

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