What breed/color roo to breed to Black Sex-linked hen.

[MGOODMAN4]

Hi, I'm wondering what breed/color of roo would be needed to obtain blue color chicks from a black sex link hen. Is this even possible???? I love my black sex links but because they are hybrids I would love to develop my own line that lays well, is a good forager, meatier (would like to use cockerels for meat) and is of blue coloring. I'm new to color genetics so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[sylviethecochin]

You want a splash rooster that's solid in colour. I'd probably go with a Splash Orpington.

Diploid organisms

Except in the case of sexlinked genes, every chicken possesses two copies of every gene. One copy of the gene was inherited from the mother; the other copy was inherited from the father. The chicken will pass one of these two genes onto his or her offspring.

Alleles:

Some genes have more than one allele, or type. The gene mutated so that it looks different. Such is the case with black and splash. Black (bl) is the original, wildtype gene. Almost every chicken carries two copies of black (bl/bl). In a chicken long ago, black (bl) mutated into splash (Bl). The splash gene dilutes black into blue (Bl/bl).

If you have hens that are black (bl/bl) then to get blue, you need the chicks to inherit splash (Bl) from their father. If the father is splash (Bl/Bl), they'll all inherit one bl from the mother, and one Bl from the father (Bl/bl) = blue. If the father is blue (Bl/bl), then half of his chicks will inherit Bl, and the other half will inherit bl. Half will be (Bl/bl); half will be (bl/bl)

The upshoot: In order to get 100% blue chicks, you need a splash father.

The e-locus:

The e-locus genes determine the pattern of black and gold on the chicken (every chicken colour that exists is some variation of black or of gold). Extended black (E) is the gene that makes a chicken solid black (or some mutation of black, such as lavender, splash, white, or blue). It is dominant to almost all other e-locus genes.

Your hens, for instance, have one copy of extended black, and one copy of wheaten (most likely). Because of this copy of wheaten, they might show some gold leakage around neck and chest, but they're mostly black.

To get solid blue chickens, you want to use a rooster with extended black.

 

[MGOODMAN4]

You want a splash rooster that's solid in colour. I'd probably go with a Splash Orpington.

Diploid organisms

Except in the case of sexlinked genes, every chicken possesses two copies of every gene. One copy of the gene was inherited from the mother; the other copy was inherited from the father. The chicken will pass one of these two genes onto his or her offspring.

Alleles:

Some genes have more than one allele, or type. The gene mutated so that it looks different. Such is the case with black and splash. Black (bl) is the original, wildtype gene. Almost every chicken carries two copies of black (bl/bl). In a chicken long ago, black (bl) mutated into splash (Bl). The splash gene dilutes black into blue (Bl/bl).

If you have hens that are black (bl/bl) then to get blue, you need the chicks to inherit splash (Bl) from their father. If the father is splash (Bl/Bl), they'll all inherit one bl from the mother, and one Bl from the father (Bl/bl) = blue. If the father is blue (Bl/bl), then half of his chicks will inherit Bl, and the other half will inherit bl. Half will be (Bl/bl); half will be (bl/bl)

The upshoot: In order to get 100% blue chicks, you need a splash father.

The e-locus:

The e-locus genes determine the pattern of black and gold on the chicken (every chicken colour that exists is some variation of black or of gold). Extended black (E) is the gene that makes a chicken solid black (or some mutation of black, such as lavender, splash, white, or blue). It is dominant to almost all other e-locus genes.

Your hens, for instance, have one copy of extended black, and one copy of wheaten (most likely). Because of this copy of wheaten, they might show some gold leakage around neck and chest, but they're mostly black.

To get solid blue chickens, you want to use a rooster with extended black.

Thank you so much for not only the suggestions but the explanation. I want to learn about color genetics and this was very helpful.

I was kind of thinking an orpington so I was happy that's what you suggested. Thanks!

 

[MGOODMAN4]

I

You want a splash rooster that's solid in colour. I'd probably go with a Splash Orpington.

Diploid organisms

Except in the case of sexlinked genes, every chicken possesses two copies of every gene. One copy of the gene was inherited from the mother; the other copy was inherited from the father. The chicken will pass one of these two genes onto his or her offspring.

Alleles:

Some genes have more than one allele, or type. The gene mutated so that it looks different. Such is the case with black and splash. Black (bl) is the original, wildtype gene. Almost every chicken carries two copies of black (bl/bl). In a chicken long ago, black (bl) mutated into splash (Bl). The splash gene dilutes black into blue (Bl/bl).

If you have hens that are black (bl/bl) then to get blue, you need the chicks to inherit splash (Bl) from their father. If the father is splash (Bl/Bl), they'll all inherit one bl from the mother, and one Bl from the father (Bl/bl) = blue. If the father is blue (Bl/bl), then half of his chicks will inherit Bl, and the other half will inherit bl. Half will be (Bl/bl); half will be (bl/bl)

The upshoot: In order to get 100% blue chicks, you need a splash father.

The e-locus:

The e-locus genes determine the pattern of black and gold on the chicken (every chicken colour that exists is some variation of black or of gold). Extended black (E) is the gene that makes a chicken solid black (or some mutation of black, such as lavender, splash, white, or blue). It is dominant to almost all other e-locus genes.

Your hens, for instance, have one copy of extended black, and one copy of wheaten (most likely). Because of this copy of wheaten, they might show some gold leakage around neck and chest, but they're mostly black.

To get solid blue chickens, you want to use a rooster with extended black.

I reread your post and I have one question. Are you saying I need a splash rooster that has two copies of the extended black in order to prevent gold coloring? How would I know a splash rooster possesses two EE? Thanks!

 

[sylviethecochin]

I reread your post and I have one question. Are you saying I need a splash rooster that has two copies of the extended black in order to prevent gold coloring? How would I know a splash rooster possesses two EE? Thanks!

Yes. And even then, the wheaten (from the mothers) is still going to be inherited half of the time, so there'll still be leakage you'll have to breed out.

Any solid splash rooster from a decent line should have two E genes. Roosters show leakage to a much greater extent than hens do, so if he's not showing leakage, he'll probably not pass any leakage traits to his offspring.

 

[MGOODMAN4]

Yes. And even then, the wheaten (from the mothers) is still going to be inherited half of the time, so there'll still be leakage you'll have to breed out.

Any solid splash rooster from a decent line should have two E genes. Roosters show leakage to a much greater extent than hens do, so if he's not showing leakage, he'll probably not pass any leakage traits to his offspring.

Got it. There is so much more to chickens colors than I realized. Very fascinating. Thanks!

 

[Mosey2003]

If you were breeding your own black sexlinks, the cockerels should have been fairly meaty... I have a friend that uses NH over Barred Rock for them and says the males are good table birds. I think you could have very nice carcasses if you used big SOP birds for both sides of that mating.

 

[MGOODMAN4]

If you were breeding your own black sexlinks, the cockerels should have been fairly meaty... I have a friend that uses NH over Barred Rock for them and says the males are good table birds. I think you could have very nice carcasses if you used big SOP birds for both sides of that mating.

I don't want to actually breed sex links. I don't want to always have to have two separate flocks. One for breeding and one for egg production. I don't have the room.