What breed is this?

[Michael OShay]

Gold Sex Links, Amber Links, and Isa Browns are all essentially the same birds--just marketed under different names. They are all Red Sex Links, produced by crossing a red rooster (RIR, NH, or Production Red) with a white/silver hen (RIW, WR, Delaware, or Lt. Sussex). They can be sexed at hatching and are all great layers of large, brown eggs. Other names by which Red Sex Links are marketed under are Cinnamon Queen, Bovans Brown, Golden Buff, Amber White, Amber Star, Red Star, Golden Comet, Hubbard Golden Comet, Shaver Brown, Babcock Brown, and Bovans Goldline. Since buhumphrey's Red Sex Link pullets were marketed under the name Gold Sex Link, I suspect that this Red Sex Link cockerel was as well.

 

[Griffinsong]

Amber Links are a silver roo over a gold/red hen, they're not technically the same as red/gold sex links[gold or red roo over silver hen], because both male and female are predominantly white. Females taking the color of the father in sex link crosses, males being a mixture. The adult males will be a bit more goldish, but even the female amberlinks will usually have red leakage.

 

[Michael OShay]

Amber Links are a silver roo over a gold hen, they're not technically the same as red sex links[gold roo over silver hen], because both male and female are predominantly white.

Yes, you are technically correct. Thanks for refreshing my memory. Amber Links (unlike the others on my list) are actually reverse sex links (as you said, white/silver gene roo x red gene hen instead of vise versa). I think our cockeral in question though is a Red Sex Link and not an Amber Link (probably marketed under the Gold Sex Link label).

 

[Griffinsong]

Yeah, he looks like a red sex link cockerel for sure.

 

[Michael OShay]

Amber Links are a silver roo over a gold/red hen, they're not technically the same as red/gold sex links[gold or red roo over silver hen], because both male and female are predominantly white. Females taking the color of the father in sex link crosses, males being a mixture. The adult males will be a bit more goldish, but even the female amberlinks will usually have red leakage.

Yes, you are technically correct. Thanks for refreshing my memory. Amber Links (unlike the others on my list) are actually reverse sex links (as you said, white/silver gene roo x red gene hen instead of vise versa). I think our cockeral in question though is a Red Sex Link and not an Amber Link (probably marketed under the Gold Sex Link label).

P.S. I'm not sure which hatchery buhumphrey's RSLs came from, but I know that Ideal Poultry markets its RIR x R.I.White under the name, Gold Sex Link.

 

[Boerbok]

Good to know all this info.
I have a question I would like to cross silkie with difrent breeds like RIR and any other breed is it beter to use a silkie rooster over the hens or to use a silkie hen I want the hens to be smooth with a cap. Help please
Thanks Boerbok.

 

[Griffinsong]

Either way will give you small-crested birds with smooth feathers [silkied feathering is recessive, crests are incomplete dominant so from crosses you usually get smaller crests, neither are sex linked traits]
If you breed the birds back to a silkie or to each other you get a percentage with silkied feathering, though, because some of the gen 1 birds will be carriers.

 

[buhumphrey]

So both pullets and cockerels can get the spur buds? I didn't know that, but it's a big relief because I went back and checked all 7 of my 3 month old chicks and almost all of them had them and I was thinking oh no they all can't be roos. I have some black sex linked, some Buff Orpington, a Golden Comet and a Barred Rock also.
Thank you all for the info.

 

[Michael OShay]

So both pullets and cockerels can get the spur buds? I didn't know that, but it's a big relief because I went back and checked all 7 of my 3 month old chicks and almost all of them had them and I was thinking oh no they all can't be roos. I have some black sex linked, some Buff Orpington, a Golden Comet and a Barred Rock also.
Thank you all for the info.

That's a great mix of breeds. The Black Sex Links are my favorite chickens--egg laying machines and friendly and calm to boot. The Golden Comets are also egg laying machines and of course both of your Sex Links are easy to sex with 100% accuracy (I still can't fathom how a male got mixed in with the females). The Buff Orpingtons are very beautiful and gentle birds (I keep a few of them in my flock for just this reason).

 

[buhumphrey]

I'm partial to the Buff Orps myself and the Black Sex links, BUT my Favorite so far is I got a pair of adult Silver Laced Wyandottes they are beautiful. I'm thinking about crossing the SLW roo with the Buff Orps to see what the chicks come out like. I'm hoping for a laced buff, BUT I'm not sure how all that cross breeding works yet.