What does sex linked mean

It means that you can tell the pullets from the roos on the basis of color or pattern. It occurs in some breeds and crossings, but not others. It's handy when you need to sex chicks.
 
I know a sex linked chick is the result of a Male (gold) crossed with a female (silver) that has and outcome of male chicks that are light colored and female chicks that are darker. Thus you can sex the offspring on day one by looking at color.... Most of these crosses are ment for speedy decisions between a meat bird and a layer..... plus most crosses come from great laying birds.....

if you buy a sex-linked chick.. it is a characteristic that will not be repeated... the color factor only works for the first generation... after that they are all mutts! Somebody correct me if im wrong!
 
PS: Some crosses, as the previous poster alluded to, are simply called Sex Links- for example, Black Sex Links. Yes, these do tend to be good layers.
 
There are several varieties of sex-links. Sex-links are not a breed. They are a hybrid created by breeding a roo of one breed with a hen of another, the result of which are chicks that can be sexed by their color or markings. The sex-links with which I am familiar have been bred for two purposes: 1. to combine and enhance the excellent egg-laying abilities of the the parent stock, and 2. to tell the boys from the girls immediately upon hatching by their color or markings, thereby eliminating the inaccuracies inherent in vent or feather sexing.

Because they are not a breed, sex-links will not reproduce themselves and you won't get the benefit of sex identification based on color. To get true sex-links, you have to start with the parent stock that produces the type of sex-link you want. If you simply breed two sex-links, you could end up with many combinations of mutts. Not necessarily bad chickens, and quite possibly some very good chickens, but the unpredictability makes it an undesirable way (to most people) to obtain more chickens.

UGCM
 
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