Sex- linked Information

[donrae]

I just hatched out 5 "black sex link" chicks. Their dad was a Buff Orpington, and their mom was a cuckoo marans. But, 4 out of the 5 chicks are yellow and have a black dot on their head, and other one is black with a white dot on its head. Did I cross wrong? What happened?

do you have pics of the parents and the chicks? Are you sure in your heart the eggs came from the Marans hen?

 

[Kev]

I just hatched out 5 "black sex link" chicks. Their dad was a Buff Orpington, and their mom was a cuckoo marans. But, 4 out of the 5 chicks are yellow and have a black dot on their head, and other one is black with a white dot on its head. Did I cross wrong? What happene

My first guesses are the marans is not pure for the cuckoo color or the parentage is not as said- mismarked eggs or different hen.

Without seeing the pictures it sounds like the light chicks are showing wheaten chick down pattern.

Buff crossed with a cuckoo hen that is not pure for the cuckoo coloring would give half black half not black chicks.

 

[Ridgerunner]

And that half black half not black is just the odds for each chick. It’s not at all unusual in five chicks for those 50-50 odds actually come out 4 to 1. I’ve had plenty of hatches where the 50-50 odds came out that way.

With the hen barred and the rooster not barred, the chicks that show barring when they feather out will be male and the not-barred will be female but you’ll have to wait until you get some feathers, though that black one with the white spot sounds like a sex link male.

The black from the hen is pretty dominant and can mask a lot of other things so you may think she is pure for black when she is not really. I agree with them. Either the parents are not who you think they were or the parents are not pure in the genes you need for the sex link to show up in the down.

 

[junebuggena]

The one with the white dot on the back of the head is a cockerel. Sounds like you got lucky with a predominantly female hatch.

 

[Kev]

The one with the white dot on the back of the head is a cockerel. Sounds like you got lucky with a predominantly female hatch.

That's jumping a bit ahead. The head spot is sometimes not easily seen on lighter chick down due to lack of contrast, especially on chicks not showing much of a striped pattern(like wheaten). This is why sex linking with barring on black birds is used by hatcheries- easier ID and even so, they sometimes combine it with silver to give an even more marked difference between the sexes- RIR x Delaware(barred plus silver) for example gives much lighter cockerel than pullet chicks.

I agree with waiting until the chicks feather out before making a final determination.

 

[junebuggena]

But if the chick is yellow with a black dot on the back of the head, it doesn't have a barring gene. That would mean it's not a cockerel, but a pullet. This is, of course, assuming that the parents are pure for their breed.

 

[Kev]

It was not said where the black dot is, though.

That's the problem with trying to answer when potentially a picture would make it so much clearer. There have been many times replies to description went one way only have to it switch the other way after a picture was supplied.

Legbar pullets sometimes don't show a dot on their head and they are "fully striped". I suspect the black dot description is probably part of the striping that shows up on some wheaten chicks.

Again without a picture, perhaps the dot/stripe is not in the same location as the head spot or.... or.... or......

The point still stands on being careful to assume with this much confidence as you did in this case.


by the way I used to have o shamo line that was wheaten, with the barring present on some birds. It was normally simply impossible to tell which chicks had the barring gene until they feathered out.

 

[Ebove06]

do you have pics of the parents and the chicks? Are you sure in your heart the eggs came from the Marans hen?

Yes, I a positive that the eggs came from my cuckoo marans. Here are some pictures of the parents, and some of the chicks. I only have one picture of the white chicks with black spots, but that is what all of the white chicks look like.

 

[donrae]

And that's why pics are invaluable!

Yes, I a positive that the eggs came from my cuckoo marans. Here are some pictures of the parents, and some of the chicks. I only have one picture of the white chicks with black spots, but that is what all of the white chicks look like.

this bird is not a buff Orpington. with the white legs, he may have some Orpington ancestry back a ways, but I'm thinking he doesn't even have a pure Orp parent. The body shape really puts me in mind of my Dark Cornish. I can't tell what kind of comb he has from the pic. the white in the tail say he's not really a pure buff no matter the breed, so I'm thinking that's where you got the light colored chicks.

Sorry your sex link plans didn't work out.

 

[Kev]

Yes, I a positive that the eggs came from my cuckoo marans. Here are some pictures of the parents, and some of the chicks. I only have one picture of the white chicks with black spots, but that is what all of the white chicks look like.

That is not an buff orpington. It is a mixed breed with dominant white- the white in tail is from that.

The white chicks are white due to dominant white on black downed chicks. The black spots are normal random black flecks on dominant white crosses....

As a result, the white downed chicks will not be sexable. The white covers up all feather color and detail, obscuring any chance to see the sex linked traits either on the chick down and as they feather up.

He will continue to throw half white chicks with the marans and it will mean nothing as for sexing. Sorry.