Sexlinks

[comitdust]

Okay so I've been breeding black australorps, silkies and showgirls for awhile and just recently acquired some barred rock pullets. The woman I got them from said if I breed them to my black australorp rooster I'll get sexlinks. My question is what will the females and males look like? Will the males have the white dot on the head and barring and the females just black?

 

[dheltzel]

Yes, that is correct. The head spot should be obvious at hatch, but I usually wait about 5 days until they have primary feathers and then the white barring on the feathers of the males is obvious.

 

[QueenMisha]

That is correct. If you need any more information regarding sex linkage, the sex-link discussion and information thread is here.

 

[comitdust]

Thank you

 

[Michael OShay]

Yep, crossing a Black Australorp rooster with a Barred Rock hen will give you Black Sex Links which are egg laying machines. Male chicks will have a white spot on top of their black heads and female chicks will lack the white spot. Adult males will be barred and adult females will be black.