Sex- linked Information

[bcboy]

Would a Light Sussex Roo over barred Rock hen make a sex linked chicks?
That would be Light Sussex Roo over Mistral Gris Meat Birds? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/683888/mistral-gris-meat-birds/20#post_9757861
Thank for your help.

 

[Arielle]

I'm curious too -- if I understand the lt sussex, it is a columbian , so if a columbian wyandotte works, perhaps the lt sussex will work. I'm trying to remember the e loci on the sussex, might be e wh though. Not black but wheaten.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Arielle, I suspect it is either Wheaten or Duckwing. I just can't imagine it being either extended black or birchen.

That Light Sussex rooster does not show up in Tim’s first post in this thread in the black sex link chart. That doesn’t mean it won’t work in a specific combination. It might mean the Light Sussex does not always work with all of those hens. Or it might be that Tim just didn’t include it in his chart. You can’t get every breed in the world in a chart.

In that thread you linked to the mistral gris, they are supposed to be a hybrid. Another hit I got on them said they were a 4-way cross. I’m not sure I have any real confidence in either of those comments though. That "hybrid" comment could easily be that they just have several different breeds in their background but have since stabilized, just like every other breed. So a question. Are your females barred or solid black? I’m guessing from your post they are barred, but I could not find anything I trusted online to confirm that. All the photos I can find are the roosters. It’s probably a silly question but I can be silly.

Assuming the females are barred, the offspring from that cross will be barred males and not-barred females. That’s one of the requirements for black sex links. That barring may or may not just show up in the tail and neck dark feathers with the main body of the bird white like a Delaware, or it may be a completely barred male. I don’t know. But the females will not have any barring. Delawares are supposed to be Wheaton. I don’t know about the Light Sussex.

I’m not convinced that those Mistral-Gris are based on extended black either. That’s a logical assumption to make, but I’ve been burned with birchen with melanizers before with what I assumed was an extended black bird. I think I’ll have that birchen out of my flock with this year’s hatch. If they are based on extended black, then that makes it a lot more likely you will have solid black females and fully barred males from that cross.

But part of them being black sex link is that you need to be able to see the spot. I’d think since it does not make Tim’s list, you probably will have trouble actually seeing the spot because of the down color. But that’s just a guess.

If you go to the first post in this thread, you’ll find a chart that lists the breeds you can use to make a black sex link. Any of those roosters on the left side will probably work your mistral gris females as long as those hens are barred. You can always try your Light Sussex rooster and see what you get. At the worst it should make a nice meat bird, I’m just not sure if you’ll be able to sex them at hatch.

I assume you understand too that if it does work, it will work only for the first generation. You cannot use the offspring form a sex linked cross to make further sex links.

I’m doing a lot of typing to say I don’t trust either side of that cross. I suspect the Light Sussex rooster might not give you a down color/pattern where you can see the spot clearly mainly because it doesn’t show up in Tim’s chart. I don’t know if the Mistral-Gris is a hybrid or if it has stabilized genetics. Not much help, I know.

 

[3riverschick]

I'm curious too -- if I understand the lt sussex, it is a columbian , so if a columbian wyandotte works, perhaps the lt sussex will work. I'm trying to remember the e loci on the sussex, might be e wh though. Not black but wheaten.

Light Sussex : eWh/eWh Co/Co S/S . All the other Columbian breeds are eb Brown except black tailed Jap : eWh Co/Co S/S ( lacking Hackle Black so no black hackle...and Columbian Marans eWh/eWh Co/Co S/S ( developed from a cross to light Sussex ( eb doesn't exist in Marans gene pool except for some folk in Europe presently trying to develop an eb Partridge .). Oh... and the Delaware, which is eWh/eWh Co/Co S/S but also has the barring gene.
Happy New Year ! ,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

Would a Light Sussex Roo over barred Rock hen make a sex linked chicks?
That would be Light Sussex Roo over Mistral Gris Meat Birds? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/683888/mistral-gris-meat-birds/20#post_9757861
Thank for your help.

You should ask Emily Robertson up at TruNorth Heritage Hatchery in Vancouver, B. C. .
She breeds both Light Sussex and Mistral Gris . A very nice lady. http://truenorthfarm.ca/
Best,
Karen

 

[bcboy]

You should ask Emily Robertson up at TruNorth Heritage Hatchery in Vancouver, B. C. .
She breeds both Light Sussex and Mistral Gris . A very nice lady. http://truenorthfarm.ca/
Best,
Karen

Here is a Cut and Paste from my email....

Hello Emily hope your winter is going well. I was wondering if you have tried breeding your Sussex Roosters to a Barred Rock hen? I was looking at a post from Back Yard Chickens, are you a member? Any way would that make sex-linked chicks? Thanks for your time.

Yes, it works, although the chicks are not quite as distinct on day 1 as red/silver crosses. Female chicks are black, and mature birchen. Males are mostly black with the head spot, and mature barred. If your BR line is a little weak in the headspot, you may have some sexing errors.

 

[LindaB220]

Would a Light Sussex Roo over barred Rock hen make a sex linked chicks?
That would be Light Sussex Roo over Mistral Gris Meat Birds? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/683888/mistral-gris-meat-birds/20#post_9757861
Thank for your help.

Not positive on this but I think both are silver and you need at least one gold for a sex link. But they would make a great tasting bird.

 

[bcboy]

Here is a Cut and Paste from my email....

Hello Emily hope your winter is going well. I was wondering if you have tried breeding your Sussex Roosters to a Barred Rock hen? I was looking at a post from Back Yard Chickens, are you a member? Any way would that make sex-linked chicks? Thanks for your time.

Yes, it works, although the chicks are not quite as distinct on day 1 as red/silver crosses. Female chicks are black, and mature birchen. Males are mostly black with the head spot, and mature barred. If your BR line is a little weak in the headspot, you may have some sexing errors.

Not positive on this but I think both are silver and you need at least one gold for a sex link. But they would make a great tasting bird.

Quote:Originally Posted by Emlily Robertson
Yes, it works, although the chicks are not quite as distinct on day 1 as red/silver crosses. Female chicks are black, and mature birchen. Males are mostly black with the head spot, and mature barred. If your BR line is a little weak in the headspot, you may have some sexing errors

 

[LindaB220]

Quote:Originally Posted by Emlily Robertson
Yes, it works, although the chicks are not quite as distinct on day 1 as red/silver crosses. Female chicks are black, and mature birchen. Males are mostly black with the head spot, and mature barred. If your BR line is a little weak in the headspot, you may have some sexing errors

Good to know. I love Light Sussex.

 

[tadkerson]

Not positive on this but I think both are silver and you need at least one gold for a sex link. But they would make a great tasting bird.

In a black sex linked cross it makes no difference if the male or female are gold or silver. Do not confuse the two kinds of sex links.

Mistral gris will work as the female in a black sex liked cross. Male can be any variety male but not barred or self white.


Read the first post and you would not have the questions.

A few specifics to remember about a black sex-linked cross are:

1) the female must carry sex-linked barring (barred),

2) the male can not carry sex-linked barring (male can not be barred),

3) one of the birds must be homozygous for extended black or carry two extended black genes and

4) neither of the birds can carry dominant white or in other words be a white bird. Some recessive white birds may work on the male side of the cross but you never know if it will work or not work. So I suggest not using white birds.

5). Almost any variety (color) of male ( not including white or barred ) can be used in a black sex linked cross. White birds sometimes carry dominant white and or barring which would not work in a black sex linked cross. White males that do not carry dominant white or barring will work as the male in a black sex linked cross. White males like the white wyandotte or the white plymouth rock will work if they do not carry dominant white or barring.


Ridgerunner did a good job of explaining things.

For Ridgerunner

Birchen/ wheaten heterozygote ( spangled) can be a problem especially if the male carries columbian and dark brown. If the barred female also carries birchen and columbian some chicks will have down that may not show a head spot. The chicks that are wheaten/birchen heterozygotes and also carry two columbian and a dark brown can produce down that will not show a head spot.


Tim