Sex- linked Information

[dheltzel]

Is this a barred rock or black sex link?

Hard to say with certainty, but it looks like a hen. BSL hens are all black, no barring. If it's a hen it is likely a barred rock, just because they are quite common.

 

[MooreAcresMama]

How old?

9 weeks

 

[junebuggena]

9 weeks

Black sexlink cockerel. No Barred Rock pullet will have that red of a comb at that age.
Pullets do not start to pink up until after about 14 weeks old, at the earliest.

 

[MooreAcresMama]

I have 2 others with this cooring but a small comb and no waddles . And then I have 2 black chickens with red/brown coloring on the wings

 

[Mosey2003]

Is there any breed of roo I can put with my Buff Orpington girls to get some sort of idea on chick sexes? I know (now) that I can't get a true sex link, but maybe something that would allow feather sexing?

 

[dheltzel]

Is there any breed of roo I can put with my Buff Orpington girls to get some sort of idea on chick sexes? I know (now) that I can't get a true sex link, but maybe something that would allow feather sexing?

This would be much easier if you replaced your BO's with Barred Rocks, Delawares or Rhode Island Whites. Then the choice of roo is easier - a Rhode Island Red roo could work with both to get black and red sexlinks.

 

[Mosey2003]

This would be much easier if you replaced your BO's with Barred Rocks, Delawares or Rhode Island Whites. Then the choice of roo is easier - a Rhode Island Red roo could work with both to get black and red sexlinks.

I know, but I coveted those fluffy balls of sunshine for so long, I am entirely unwilling to give them up

It's looking like I have entirely too many cockerels and I'm going to want to cull my scissor beaks, so I was hoping there might be some other option for a roo.

 

[junebuggena]

Is there any breed of roo I can put with my Buff Orpington girls to get some sort of idea on chick sexes? I know (now) that I can't get a true sex link, but maybe something that would allow feather sexing?

Nope. Sorry, but Buff Orpingtons don't have any of the required genes for feather sexlinks. For that, you would need hens that are 'pure' for the slow feathering gene and a rooster that is 'pure' for fast feathering. It's a very specific set of genes that requires two separate breeding groups to be maintained. And not every breed has the 'fast feathering gene' or the 'slow feathering gene'.

 

[Mosey2003]

Arrrrrrrgh, alright...

Why did the chickens I like have to be so hard to sex??? They're 13 weeks and I still can't tell for sure how many cockerels I have.

 

[junebuggena]

Maybe post individual shots of each bird in question on your own thread over in the What Breed/Gender section.