What breeds to hatch?

[Iluveggers]

I’m going to purchase some eggs to hatch sometime in the next 6-8 months. I am thinking I’d like to get a variety of auto sex breeds, so I know which chicks to get attached to vs which to give away or cull later.
What are the easiest breeds to autosex that have cool egg colors? I would love a bunch of different colored eggs for the kids to see. There’s a few hatcheries that you can get 1 or 2 of each egg breed instead of 6 the same breed.
Thanks so much!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Cream legbars are surpassing and lay a blue egg. But some strains are far harder to sex than others apparently. Belifelders (sp?) Are easier to sex but I think they just lay a regular brown or white egg, nothing special

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I think legbars and welsummers are autosexing. You'll get a blue egg and a dark egg, but not as dark as Marans. You can breed legbars and welsummers to make an olive egg "welbar" which are also autosexing.

 

[Iluveggers]

Cream legbars are surpassing and lay a blue egg. But some strains are far harder to sex than others apparently. Belifelders (sp?) Are easier to sex but I think they just lay a regular brown or white egg, nothing special

Thank you! I would like to include brown & white eggs, but also a few “fun” colors!

I think legbars and welsummers are autosexing. You'll get a blue egg and a dark egg, but not as dark as Marans. You can breed legbars and welsummers to make an olive egg "welbar" which are also autosexing.

That’s cool! Which parent has to be Legbar in order to creat an autosex Welbar? Maybe if I keep a roo, it will be for that purpose!

 

[Brooks_]

Belifelders (sp?) Are easier to sex but I think they just lay a regular brown or white egg, nothing special

But they look so cool.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Thank you! I would like to include brown & white eggs, but also a few “fun” colors!

That’s cool! Which parent has to be Legbar in order to creat an autosex Welbar? Maybe if I keep a roo, it will be for that purpose!

I am not sure but you can probably look it up. I only know of the breeds. I have a welsummer hen but never hatched eggs from her

 

[NatJ]

I think legbars and welsummers are autosexing. You'll get a blue egg and a dark egg, but not as dark as Marans. You can breed legbars and welsummers to make an olive egg "welbar" which are also autosexing.

Autosexing is base on the barring gene, which is on the sex chromosome (Z). A female has chromosomes ZW, so she only has one copy of the barring gene. A male has ZZ, so he can have two copies of the barring gene, so he gets a bigger effect (has more white than the females).

Yes, Legbars (blue eggs) are supposed to be autosexing, as are Bielefelders (brown eggs), and also Barred Rocks (brown eggs) and Dominiques (brown eggs). In practice, some are easier to tell than others.

Welsummers are not autosexing.

Welbar would be a specific breed that is autosexing (like a Welsummer, but with barring.)

Sexlinks are a bit different. You can sex them by color at hatch, but it won't work for the next generation. Sexlinks can be barred/not (Black Sexlinks and Blue sexlinks: barred mother, not-barred father produces barred sons and not-barred daughters.) Sexlinks can also be gold/silver (Gold Comets, Red Stars, and many other names. Gold father x silver mother gives silver sons and gold daughters.) They can be chocolate vs. not (chocolate father x black mother gives black sons and chocolate daughters.) They can even use leg color (dark-leg father, light-leg mother gives light-leg sons and dark-leg daughters.)

I’m going to purchase some eggs to hatch sometime in the next 6-8 months. I am thinking I’d like to get a variety of auto sex breeds, so I know which chicks to get attached to vs which to give away or cull later.
What are the easiest breeds to autosex that have cool egg colors? I would love a bunch of different colored eggs for the kids to see. There’s a few hatcheries that you can get 1 or 2 of each egg breed instead of 6 the same breed.

For that, you could use autosexing or sexlinks, if you don't intend to keep males and breed more chicks.

There are lots of options that lay brown eggs, but Legbars are the main ones that lay blue eggs and I can't immediately think of any that lay white eggs that are autosexing or sexlinks.

Since you've already identified a few hatcheries, I would suggest you look at what breeds they have available, then do a little research on each breed. You'd mostly be looking for autosexing or sexlink, and egg color, and those things are usually mentioned in hatchery descriptions.

 

[Iluveggers]

Autosexing is base on the barring gene, which is on the sex chromosome (Z). A female has chromosomes ZW, so she only has one copy of the barring gene. A male has ZZ, so he can have two copies of the barring gene, so he gets a bigger effect (has more white than the females).

Yes, Legbars (blue eggs) are supposed to be autosexing, as are Bielefelders (brown eggs), and also Barred Rocks (brown eggs) and Dominiques (brown eggs). In practice, some are easier to tell than others.

Welsummers are not autosexing.

Welbar would be a specific breed that is autosexing (like a Welsummer, but with barring.)

Sexlinks are a bit different. You can sex them by color at hatch, but it won't work for the next generation. Sexlinks can be barred/not (Black Sexlinks and Blue sexlinks: barred mother, not-barred father produces barred sons and not-barred daughters.) Sexlinks can also be gold/silver (Gold Comets, Red Stars, and many other names. Gold father x silver mother gives silver sons and gold daughters.) They can be chocolate vs. not (chocolate father x black mother gives black sons and chocolate daughters.) They can even use leg color (dark-leg father, light-leg mother gives light-leg sons and dark-leg daughters.)



For that, you could use autosexing or sexlinks, if you don't intend to keep males and breed more chicks.

There are lots of options that lay brown eggs, but Legbars are the main ones that lay blue eggs and I can't immediately think of any that lay white eggs that are autosexing or sexlinks.

Since you've already identified a few hatcheries, I would suggest you look at what breeds they have available, then do a little research on each breed. You'd mostly be looking for autosexing or sexlink, and egg color, and those things are usually mentioned in hatchery descriptions.

Thank you. This has given me a lot of information I did not know, and is extremely helpful! I appreciate it greatly!

 

[StepfordCuckoos]

Chicks that have come from our Frost White Legbar, Cream Legbar, Welsummer, Partridge Penedesenca, Barred Rock, and Golden Comets have all been auto sexing. The roosters for them have been Barred Rock, Black Andalusian, and White Silkie.

 

[Iluveggers]

Chicks that have come from our Frost White Legbar, Cream Legbar, Welsummer, Partridge Penedesenca, Barred Rock, and Golden Comets have all been auto sexing. The roosters for them have been Barred Rock, Black Andalusian, and White Silkie.

Interesting! Thank you!