what is a sex-linked chicken?

[Gypsi]

I went through the breed index, very nice btw. I've seen references to a black sex-linked birds on the messages. ????

 

[Morgan7782]

sex links are a breed that you can tell the gender of hatchling chicks by their color. It takes a Barred Rock and another breed, hopefully somebody else will have more information but thats the jest of it.

 

[BlackBart]

It is a crossbred that can be sight sexed as chicks.

 

[can't get enough chicken]

Sex-Links can be sexed when they hatch, typically by color but also by feather development.

 

[cletus the rooster]

there is a chart in the genetics forum (1st sticky).shows what breeds to cross to get a sex link

 

[can't get enough chicken]

did this help enough?

 

[RAREROO]

Here are some examples of my verisions of sexlinks that I bred.

Lets start with my Red Sexlinks. For this you have to breed a rooster that is pure for the gold genes ( Red, Buff, Partridge, ect...) with a hen with Silver genes( any hen with Silver in the name ( Silver laced Wyandotte, Silver penciled Rocks, ect.. Any Light Columbain colored hens ( Light Sussex, Columbian Wyandottes, or hens like Rhode Island Whites which are known to have the silver genes. This makes gold hens and roosters that are split for both gold and silver genes. The pullets are generally red and the cockerels are generally white, though it can vary depending on the cross.

For mine I chose to use a Speckled Sussex rooster on my RIWhite hens.

Father

Mothers

Chicks pullet on the left, roo on the right

older pullet

older cockerel

OK now for Black Sexlinks. For this you have to have barred/cuckoo hens of any breed. With a rooster of any breed or color as long as he is NOT BARRED, NOT DOMINANT WHITE, and NOT RECESSIVE WHITE MASKING BARRING. All other colors/patterns will work. This makes none barred females and barred males.

For mine I used a Buff Orp roo on Barred rock hens and got

pullets

cockerels

 

[Gypsi]

I read the big genetics file someone recommended, and I thank you for all of your posts and pictures. Now, according to the genetics file, IF I wanted to breed my hens (not a high priority - I'm at max without more coop and run) - I would have to KNOW that they are not sex-linked chickens. Because a sex-linked bird cannot be used to produce sex-linked offspring.

I bought my chicks at the feed store and was assured that 95% would be hens. I originally got 10, my dachshund got 2 when they were fledgelings - I guess, they had feathers but were small, and a feral cat got 1. Of my remaining 7, many are now laying and no one is singing cock-a-doodle-doo. So my assumption is, 100% of my birds are hens.

Now. what are the odds that these are sex-linked birds? I have 4 production reds, and 3 barred rocks.

Gypsi

 

[Tala]

Quote:
You can tell an adult sexlink by what it looks like. Sexlinks are hybrids and it shows in their coloring.

A Production Red is a breed, a breed all on it's own. A Barred Rock is a breed all on it's own. They are not hybrids, so they are not sex-links.

IF you wanted to make sex-linked chicks, I suggest that you read over the sticky thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208 until you understand it.

 

[Gypsi]

Do I want to know what they did with the male chicks?