What does -bar mean in chicken breeds?

[Chris09]

I do think all breeds OVER time do the same thing.....

Some breeds do loose color do to poor breeding over time but when a Auto-Sex losses proper color it also looses the ability to be color sexed at hatch and in turn is no longer a "auto-sex".

Chris

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

I agree with the post with the exception of the one phrase (in bold above) not sexlinkable. Barring is a sex-link trait it is what makes them a different color at hatch, big head spot, no head spot ,blurry, marked clear, maked however you want to describe it, red, buff, silver, or gold barring is a sexable characteristic.

Jeff

Sex-linked genes, even if they're very important to the breed, don't make a chicken a sex-link. You'd never say that silver-laced wyandottes are sex-links, even though they get their color from a sex-linked gene, or that Marans are sex-links even though they have sex-linked feathering.

"Sex-link chickens" are hybrid crosses that take advantage of the collision of sex-linked color gene and a non-sex-linked color gene (virtually always barred to nonbarred or silver to red) to make the chicks immediately identifiable. It's a very specific utility definition, and not ever a description of a purebred. They're different from auto-sexing breeds because in autosexing breeds there's no collision of genes. Both the male and female are barred. The nature of the barring gene make them look somewhat different at birth, but it doesn't mean they're sex-links.

It would be a lot better (and a lot clearer) if the term "sex-link" was not used as a breed name - it makes people think that using any gene on the gender chromosome makes the bird a sex-link. It's sort of like the fact that people assume every red bird is a Rhode Island Red just because the word "red" appears in both. But the word describing how a trait is inherited (sex-linked trait) and the utility hybrid name (sex-link) are not the same in meaning.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Edited for being too early on a MONDAY morning to get into such malarkey, whatever OK

 

[Tammy76]

Autosexing breeds are a breed they do breed true.... I have been breeding Hampbars for a few years and my males and females look and breed the same.... I do not know where you got your info..... a hybrid like a sex link does not breed true.... a black sex link doesn't breed true.... and can't... most black sex links are Rhode Island Reds over Barred Rocks... the males are barred the females are mostly black and have some red in the breast.... My Hampbars are a breed .. Like produces Like....

http://autosexing-poultry.co.uk/wordpress/

http://www.hpbaa.com/Hampbars.html

Have a great one....

I have lots of questions about hampbars can you private message me. Let me know and