Thinking of hatching...

[Ashridge Acres]

I apologize if this has been discussed before. I tried searching but couldn't find what I was after.

I've got a small flock of 5... 2 BR hens + 1 BR roo, 1 SLW hen, and 1 RIR hen. I am tempted to hatch a few chicks this spring, but was curious what I should expect by crossing the BR roo with the SLW hen and the RIR hen.

I have friend in a similar situation, only he has SLW roos and BR hens, so he's curious as well.

Would there be any difference in the BR/SLW combination between mine and his?

Thanks!

 

[ksacres]

Yes, he will get sexlinks, and you won't. For him, all the MALES should come out with barring factor (will be evidenced by a white spot on the top of their heads), although the silver factor from his roo will probably hide it, meaning chicks of both sexes will come out white (silver), and that will obscure the sex-linkage.

For you, you will just get a mishmash of colors, and some pure barred rocks. If you had a RIR roo and a barred rock hen, you'd get what's commonly called a black sexlink.

Red sexlinks are created by using silver factored females and RIR (or similar) roosters. The males come out white (silver) and the females come out red and white.

In any case, it would be fun! And the pullets would be pretty similar as far as body size, lay rate, to the ones you already have. But be prepared, you will undoubtedly have roosters you don't need/want and since they will be mutts, they can be hard to place. Unless you want to eat them.