Sex linked chickens- help?

[HeritageFan]

I have really tried to read through past posts, have screen shots of the charts that are typically shared…. But have a few questions still.

If someone has a more comprehensive article about sex link chickens, please share!

My questions-
Are the sex link chicks only “sexable” at hatch in the first generation of the original cross?
Or, are the future generations still sex linked?
What are your favorite crosses, and why?

We don’t necessarily have a red / black preference, but I’d love to see pix of what the adults look like out of any crosses that you have raised.

There are a lot of people around here that look for breeding groups, or, can’t have cockerels/ Roos because they live in town.
I love hatching eggs, and would prefer a larger chicken variety so the Roos can be…..useful….

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

 

[DemeterAD9]

I’ve only played around with barring to create sex linked chicks but I know there are color combos you can do. From my understanding only the first generation can be labeled as sex linked. Any birds being sold as a sex link are a first generation cross between two pure bred parents.

Barring is one of those things where they either have it or they don’t. It can’t be a hidden gene unless the bird is white, or at least not that I know of. Crossing any barred hen, mutt or not, with any non barred rooster (assuming neither is white) will give you solid colored pullets and cockerels will have a white or yellow dot on their head at hatch. Here's a couple groups I hatched last year.

These four were from a hen that was both barred and laced crossed to a blue copper maran. It was an even split of genders, one of each color. The pullets looked like the typical black star hybrid but were a shade of blue rather than black.

These 5 were from mutt hens, both faintly barred but one was blue and the other looked like a cream legbar but with feathered feet, both with crests and lay green eggs. Also crossed to the blue copper maran. Only one pullet who is on the top left. Even a faint spot like the two on the right implies barring and therefore cockerels. I got lucky and the one pullet ended up laying a green egg. The cockerels got unlucky and were invited to dinner.

And here’s two I hatched this year, both from a barred rock hen and a blue EE cockerel. Black has a white head spot and I believe blue one does as well though it is yellow. They had a black sister but she didn’t make it out of the shell alive.