Sex- linked Information

[tadkerson]

He's barred but for some reason the barring is not showing on feathering. He could have an aberrant barring gene. The gene is not functioning or something is inhibiting the gene. This kind of thing can happen. I had a hen that should have had barring and she did not show one bar. Stuff happens.

Tim

 

[mikkles]

ok..I've read this so many times and am still not sure..would a blue splash roo over red/gold hens make sex links?

 

[draye]

ok..I've read this so many times and am still not sure..would a blue splash roo over red/gold hens make sex links?

No. Red hens never make sexlinks.
Blue Splash over Barred hens may make black and blue sexlinks though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, this stuff can be hard to wrap your head around. The basic concept is pretty simple and if you stay with it, you’ll eventually have a light bulb moment and you’ll wonder why it seemed so complicated.

Genes generally come in pairs. A rooster has a pair for every gene he has and he gives a copy of one of the genes from that pair to all his offspring, male and female. A hen on the other hand has a handicap. She does not have a pair for every one of her genes. The sex linked genes are not paired up. She only has one gene at that point. She is a sexist and really likes her sons. She generously gives a copy of every gene or gene pair she has to her boys. But she withholds the sex linked genes from her daughters. That means the hen determines the sex of the chick before the rooster even fertilizes it.

So that’s the first concept. The rooster gives all he’s got to his boys and girls alike but the hen favors her boys with all her genes and withholds some from her daughters.

The next concept is dominant and recessive. If a chicken has one copy of a dominant gene and one copy of a recessive gene, the dominant gene will be expressed. It’s what you will see. You won’t even know the recessive is there. Still fairly simple.

Now it gets a bit more complicated but this is where the light bulb moment may hit. Say the rooster has two recessive genes in the pair, in this case gold. The hen has a dominant gene that is sex linked, in this case silver. She only gives a copy of the dominant gene to her sons. Her daughters get nothing from her. They only get what their father gives them. Since the daughter only gets a gold from her father, she will be red. Since the boys get both a gold and a silver, the dominant silver dominates and the boys are white. So the girls are hatched with reddish down and the boys are hatched with yellow down. The rooster has to have two copies of that recessive gene. If he is split, has one recessive and one dominant, it won’t work.

That is the basic principle of red sex links. You can do the same thing with barring, which is dominant. That’s the principle behind black sex links. There are other traits that can be used too but these two are the standard ones for us to use.

Of course it’s a lot more complicated than this. You have to be able to see the difference on the down or it does you no good. There are a lot of other genes that affect down color beyond gold and silver. Many of them will mask the gold-silver effects so you cannot see it on the down. Same thing with the barring in the down for black sex links. Sometimes you just can’t see the spot that indicate a barred male. Tim gives a couple of charts to help with this in his first post in this thread, but the effect of the other genes is what drives me batty with this stuff. You think you have it figured out, then someone comes up with an exception. Seems like there are always exceptions.

Another frustration is determining what genes are there to start with. A lot of times you just can’t tell by looking. You think a black chicken has extended black, but no, it’s birchen with melanizers. Or something else.

Good luck with it. To me it’s very frustrating but still a lot of fun.

 

[naightengale]

question would a dark brahma over a light brahma be sexlinked??

 

[Ridgerunner]

Nope, won’t work. If you look in the Red Sex Link chart in post #1 in this thread, they are both on the right side. That means they both have silver so the dark will not work as the rooster for a red sex link over anything.

Neither show up in the black sex link chart so they won’t work for that either.

 

[lauranickerson]

I read the charts but didn't see Blue Laced Red Wyandotte anywhere? Will that make a sex link with anything? That will be the rooster (also have a red and black sex link roo, but I know they won't do much for me...), and the hens will Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, Silver and Golden Laced Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons, Production Reds, White Leghorn, EEs, Amber Link, RIR, Australorp, Black Sex Link, and a Barred Rock.

Thanks!

 

[Tara80]

I'm curious about a male buckeye with (say) a light sussex. Would something like that be feasible?

 

[draye]

I read the charts but didn't see Blue Laced Red Wyandotte anywhere? Will that make a sex link with anything? That will be the rooster (also have a red and black sex link roo, but I know they won't do much for me...), and the hens will Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, Silver and Golden Laced Wyandottes, Buff Orpingtons, Production Reds, White Leghorn, EEs, Amber Link, RIR, Australorp, Black Sex Link, and a Barred Rock.

Thanks!

I think that it will work with the Black Sexlink. Use the barred hens. I've been told that a Red Sexlink rooster will work ovwe the barred hens to make sexlink, but haven't tried it. You aught to try that BLR Wyandotte over the SL Wynadotte hen(s). That might work also.

I'm curious about a male buckeye with (say) a light sussex. Would something like that be feasible?

That will work.

 

[lauranickerson]

I think that it will work with the Black Sexlink. Use the barred hens. I've been told that a Red Sexlink rooster will work ovwe the barred hens to make sexlink, but haven't tried it. You aught to try that BLR Wyandotte over the SL Wynadotte hen(s). That might work also.

That will work.

Alright, thanks!