What breed is this??

[Paula2567]

Cockerel is 16 weeks old and I do not know what breed he is? Bought at Tractor Supply in Louisiana.
Thank you for your help!

 

[DdachickenBoy]

No doubt that is a black sex link!

 

[Pyxis]

Being from TSC, he is almost definitely from Hoover Hatchery. My guess based on that and based on what breeds they have, is that he is what they call a 'Midnight Majesty Marans'. The leg color matches, and it seems they often get that brown feathering around the head and neck. Here's a picture of one from another thread here on BYC. This one's a pullet, but you can see the matching leg color and brown feathering in the neck.

Not a black sex link, since a black sex link rooster would be barred. Only the females in black sex links look like this.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

No doubt that is a black sex link!

That would be an impossibility. Since this is a male chick, and male black sex links are barred.
I agree with above, this is possibly a 'midnight magesty' marans. What that is is a marans mix. Basically they have a bunch of colors of marans and they just let them breed together. Still marans, probably gonna lay dark eggs, but not a standard color of marans, and probably wouldn't breed true to color.

 

[Paula2567]

Thank you

 

[DdachickenBoy]

That would be an impossibility. Since this is a male chick, and male black sex links are barred.
I agree with above, this is possibly a 'midnight magesty' marans. What that is is a marans mix. Basically they have a bunch of colors of marans and they just let them breed together. Still marans, probably gonna lay dark eggs, but not a standard color of marans, and probably wouldn't breed true to color.

Not necessarily black sex link roosters are usually barred but they can look like the hens too!

 

[annageckos]

Not necessarily black sex link roosters are usually barred but they can look like the hens too!

Not if they are a black sex link they can't. The way the genes work only the males will be barred and only the females will be black with red leakage.

 

[DdachickenBoy]

Not if they are a black sex link they can't. The way the genes work only the males will be barred and only the females will be black with red leakage.

Genetics aren’t guaranteed! It is possible do more research and you’ll see!

 

[Pyxis]

Not necessarily black sex link roosters are usually barred but they can look like the hens too!

They have to be barred, else they are not black sex links.

Black sex links are mixed breed chickens that are specifically bred with the intent of being able to tell males from females at hatch by the color of their down. There are several ways to do this, but in black sex links, it is the sex linked barring gene that is being used. They are bred such that all male chicks inherit barring, and all females don't. This means all male chicks have a white head spot in their down, while females lack this, and that's how the genders are told apart at hatch.

So a black sex link male MUST be barred. If a male chicken is not barred, it cannot be a black sex link.

 

[Pyxis]

Genetics aren’t guaranteed! It is possible do more research and you’ll see!

Adding to the above post, if you are doing a cross to create black sex links - which would be a barred female bird bred to a non-barred, non white male bird, it is literally impossible for the male chicks to not inherit barring. That's how the barring gene works. All females always, with no exceptions, pass barring to their sons.

They do not, however, pass it to their daughters, which is what causes the different down colors and causes the female chicks produced to lack barring. That's the whole point of a black sex link - that they hatch differently like this, so you can tell gender at a glance by their down color.