Will a welsummer roo x game hen chicks have any sexing definitive traits?

[cephalophile]

Hi everyone!

We had some chicks hatch about a month and an half ago. I must admit the science of genetics has always eluded me, so I’m wondering if someone versed in it can help (I read briefly about yellow leg color being recessive but it got incredibly complicated very quickly!). I know Welsummer males and females are able to be told apart as chicks, but not Game Hen chicks. Additionally all three of my game hens went broody and sat on the same dang pile of eggs at the same time, so I don’t know who’s whose, lol!

All the chicks are black, two seem to have yellow legs. Pics of the happy family below. I’m wondering if there’s any sexing traits in this cross? We’re planning on building an expanded run and if possible I’d love to know if I’ll need to accommodate a bachelor flock

Chick 1: Colonel/Kernel (on the right)

Chick 2: Guv’nuh

Chick 3: Trooper (in front - sorry for the blur! It was the best I could get!)

Chick 4: Merci

They’re all roughly 6-7 weeks old. My gut says they’re all Roos but I don’t have any welsummer pullets/hens so I don’t know what they look like at various stages. And if it’s a total grab bag genetically, that makes sense too. Just thought I’d ask! TIA!

 

[-Chanticleer-]

They all look like cockerels. I would say Im 98% sure they are cockerels. I’m not to savvy at genetics just know what patterns are more female or male.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They sure all look like cockerels to me with that much comb growth and color at 6-7 weeks of age. That's bad luck.

No, that cross will not result in any sexlinked chicks. All of the parents are gold (so no silver gene to make sexlinks with) and have light shanks (so no dark shanks to make sexlinks with), none have white barring (so no barring gene to make sexlinks with), etc.

I suspect, however, that your rooster is not a Welsummer but instead some kind of mix that is genetically black with red color leakage. Basically, the rooster has the base gene, E extended black, to be a solid black bird, but some other genes are missing, leaving 'holes' where red color can leak through in patches. This can result in a similar appearance to a Welsummer rooster, but one key difference is that Welsummers have a patch of red in the secondary flight feathers that yours, from what I can see in the pictures, is lacking. That would also explain why all the chicks are black despite the parents' colors. More than likely, as they grow and mature, they will get color leakage like their father has and look similar to him, coloration-wise at least, as adults.

 

[cephalophile]

They sure all look like cockerels to me with that much comb growth and color at 6-7 weeks of age. That's bad luck.

No, that cross will not result in any sexlinked chicks. All of the parents are gold (so no silver gene to make sexlinks with) and have light shanks (so no dark shanks to make sexlinks with), none have white barring (so no barring gene to make sexlinks with), etc.

I suspect, however, that your rooster is not a Welsummer but instead some kind of mix that is genetically black with red color leakage. Basically, the rooster has the base gene, E extended black, to be a solid black bird, but some other genes are missing, leaving 'holes' where red color can leak through in patches. This can result in a similar appearance to a Welsummer rooster, but one key difference is that Welsummers have a patch of red in the secondary flight feathers that yours, from what I can see in the pictures, is lacking. That would also explain why all the chicks are black despite the parents' colors. More than likely, as they grow and mature, they will get color leakage like their father has and look similar to him, coloration-wise at least, as adults.

Thank you! That makes so much sense. I kept looking at an online chicken genetics calculator and the one photo similar to him had that exact difference. I can’t be sure of the game hens genetics either, since we bought them out of a …well, rough situation for them (feathers picked one, ones gone blind in one eye, etc).

I appreciate the input. Rough luck, we were hoping for some more layers, but we’ll have to make room for a bachelor flock! Thank you!