Okay, I think I'm understanding about the olive-egg "gene". It works 100% on the first generation, but after that is when you get into that whole pea comb vs single comb, feathered leg vs not, etc. Right?
But, now I'm confused about the "barred (cuckoo)" thing. If I breed a black, blue, or splash Ameraucana with a Black Copper Marans roo--or vice-versa--how does barred come into play? Does it not follow the regular "Blue" genetics rules, well except for throwing the "copper" in there?
If you use a Marans Roo ......you'll get barred chicks in both sexes. This is because the roo will pass a barred gene to both sexes of offspring.
Do all Marans roos carry a barred gene or just the Black Copper Marans?
Like all sexlink crosses, it won't carry forward in the following generations. But I do find it helpful in the initial first hatch of chicks to be able to sex them so easily. Then I can make choices going forward regarding feather color, muffing, bearding etc.
What is
sexlink? I thought that was a breed of chicken--no? Looks like I still have lots of research to do--any recommendations for info?
edited to include who the quote is from
I was refering to a Cuckoo (barred) Marans roo. I didn't realize you were talking about a Black Copper Marans roo. Sorry.
If you breed a black, blue, or splash Ameraucana with a Black Copper Marans roo--or vice-versa-- then barred will not come into play at all. The regular blue genetics 'rules' will hold.
Sexlinks are not a breed, but is a reference to a cross that allows the chicks to be sexed at hatch by their color. In any sexlink cross, females will come out in one color/pattern, and males in another.
Onthespot gave a good explanation of the barred cross in post #70. A longer explanation for anyone more curious....
Female chickens have a Z (long) chromosome and a W (short) chromosome. This makes her set of sex chromosomes represented as ZW. Because it is longer, the Z chromosome has gene locations that the W chromosomme does not.
Male chickens have two Z sex chromosomes...or ZZ.
In this case, the barred gene is carried on the Z chromosome, but not the W chromosome.
So...
If you cross the Barred Hen to a pure Black Ameraucana Roo, the female offspring end up with a W chromosome without a barred gene from the hen. Therefore all females will be non-barred.
Males on the other hand will get a barred gene from the hen's Z chromosome. Therefore all males will be barred.
Quote:
Yes, you'll get EE sexlinks laying olive eggs from those crosses. I would expect a darker olive from the cross using the Cuckoo Marans (vs the Barred Rock).
If both parents display at least partial muffs/beards - then most of the offspring should have them.
The pinkish egg genes crossed with a dark brown egg genes will probably give some shade of brown.
