what is it?? (pics)

[scbatz33]

Ok, so I had what I thought was RIR hens and a barred rock roo.

The first hatching produced a black chick with a white spot on his head - like a reverse black sex link

This chick is feathering out like a reverse of his daddy.the roo was white with black barring - the chick is black with white barring (make sense?)

The second hatching - same hens, same roo produced this...

This chick was yellow all over except for four or five black dots all over his head.

This chick has now feathered out white with black dots/marks on its wings.

What is up with that? Could it be that the hens are like red stars or cinnamon queens? I am quite confused...this chick appears to be a female.

 

[Old Rando]

Those hens aren't RIRs. I think your guess on red sex-link females is probably more correct. You may also have a black sex-link roo which would look like a barred rock. The matings would produce a variety of genetic combinations which you seem to be seeing in your chicks. The black chick with a spot on it's head indicates this chick recieved the barring gene. I believe if you actually had a Barred Rock rooster then all of the chicks would have recieved a copy of the barring gene which the reddish chick doesn't seem to have.

 

[scbatz33]

That's what I was thinking, since each hatch is a total surprise! The guy we got the birds from was less than helpful about anything - breed, age, laying ability. We have been playing a guessing game with these girls since last fall.

I have kept them because they are really good layers. I have had eggs everyday without fail all winter long. I did get rid of the roo because I just didn't need him and wanted to concentrate my breeding on Orpingtons and Polish.

We kept the girls for eating eggs. The last chick was the product of my son not collecting the eggs like he was supposed to - 3 hens, 5 eggs. It wasn't hard to do the math. So I threw them in the incubator and was totally shocked with what came out!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Only if the roo had two copies of the barring gene would all the offspring have received a copy. Since they didn't, you now know that he only has one copy. It is quite possible for a barred rock rooster to have only one copy, especially a hatchery bird.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
That makes sense...I have no idea where these birds came from. I know there is a hatchery down the road from where I live and I suspect they came from there. But again I have no real idea - all conjecture here.

But that explains why the first was barred and the second was not. I'm gonna get a photo of them so you can see them as they are now...it's crazy how different they are. I guess it shows how the genes hide from generation to generation.

 

[scbatz33]

Ok, here is the older "brother"

and the younger "sister"

oh and here is a shot of the black spot. She has one on bother wings...

It's hard to imagine they are both out of the same pairing!