Sex- linked Information

[donrae]

I got a surprise sexlink chick

. I've got Colombian Wyandotte eggs in the incubator, but one hatched out black

. Spoke with the seller, the Wyandotte is her only rooster. Besides the Wyandotte hens, she has red sex links and barred Rocks. Pretty sure this is a Wyandotte/Rock cross, and with her nice dark head, it should be a pullet. It will be cool to see if she get silver leakage, giving her a birchen-ish look as she matures.

 

[BaileyMChicks]

I'm thinking of getting a bunch of OEGB and Cochin bantams in the spring, along with some polish and Japanese bantams, and I was wondering if a silver penciled Cochin bantam pullet crossed with a red Cochin bantam rooster would work for a red sex link cross. Also, what other color roosters can I use for a red sex link cross? Because I have a buff barred Cochin bantam rooster already and if I could use him that would be wonderful, but I don't think I can......

 

[junebuggena]

Any red or gold based color rooster will work with any silver (black and white) colored hen to make red sexlinks. It can take a few hatches to get good at spotting the differences in the down if you aren't doing the typical crosses, though.

 

[curious chickee]

If you get barred Cochins pullets, you can make black sex links with your buff Cochin rooster.

 

[QueenMisha]

I'm thinking of getting a bunch of OEGB and Cochin bantams in the spring, along with some polish and Japanese bantams, and I was wondering if a silver penciled Cochin bantam pullet crossed with a red Cochin bantam rooster would work for a red sex link cross.  Also, what other color roosters can I use for a red sex link cross? Because I have a buff barred Cochin bantam rooster already and if I could use him that would be wonderful, but I don't think I can......

I've made a similar cross - Silver Penciled hen, although the male was Jubilee/Speckled/whatever people are calling it these days. I had no idea the cross was sex-linked at the time but I remember checking the chicks over when mama came parading back from the garden 3 weeks after she was "eaten by a predator" and although all chicks were varying shades of chipmunk, three were significantly redder than the others, who were anywhere from silver to goldish. They grow up and low and behold I realize I have sex links, three pullets and seven cockerels. So in my experience the cross works (I don't think the mottled/spangled genes involved changed chick down color much - they looked like average old chipmunks to me), male with Mahogany coloring over silver penciled female. Course all Red Sex Links are different, so there's no guarantee they'll be sexable at hatch.

That's why I like to stick to Black Sex Links, they're easy-peasy.

 

[Madisan]

I have 2 black sex link pullets and a barred rock cockerel. What will the chicks feather out like?

 

[junebuggena]

I have 2 black sex link pullets and a barred rock cockerel. What will the chicks feather out like?

Sexlinks are crossbreeds and don't breed true. You will not be able to tell the males from the females until they are about 6 to 8 weeks old. Some will be barred, some may be black, and some may be red.

 

[Madisan]

Sexlinks are crossbreeds and don't breed true. You will not be able to tell the males from the females until they are about 6 to 8 weeks old. Some will be barred, some may be black, and some may be red.

Okay. Thanks!

 

[ChickaLong]

I had a BSL go broody and hatched out 3 eggs from a barred rock rooster. The 3 chicks grew up looking similar to a barred rock. The male was a darker color, I guess only 1 barring gene. The females had more white on them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have 2 black sex link pullets and a barred rock cockerel. What will the chicks feather out like?

The barred rock cockerel should be pure for the barred gene and give a copy od barring to all his offspring. Since it is dominant all his offspring, male and female, will be barred. Definitely not sex-linked.

A whole lot of different roosters could be used to make a black sex link pullet with a barred mother so the genes that make up the color can be pretty mixed. They are certainly unknown. There are also different genetic ways to make black. The odds are extremely high your chicks will be either black barred or black barred with some red leakage (a few red feathers showing through), but weird things can happen when you use a crossbreed like that black sex link pullet. You can get some surprises, either in the chick down color or the adult feathering. So expect black chicks but don’t be shocked if something strange happens to some.