White spot on head

[Cebarmlds]

Is any chick with a white spot on it's head a male? or is that just for certain breeds? My chicks are mixed breeds.

 

[Michael OShay]

No, the white spot + male chick only holds true if your chicks are Black Sex Link hybrids which are produced by crossing a solid colored rooster with a barred hen.

 

[Blackberry18]

In Black Sex-Links, the males are barred (females are completely black chicks, and grow up to be black with red around their neck and chest), and therefore they have a white spot on their head. In other barred breeds (like Barred Rocks) all of the chicks have spots on their heads. It can sometimes be used to auto-sex, for the males' spots are usually much larger, but that can be inaccurate, for sometimes a chick with a small spots ends up being a male.

 

[junebuggena]

Is any chick with a white spot on it's head a male? or is that just for certain breeds? My chicks are mixed breeds.

That would be true only if the rooster is non barred and the mother is barred. If the rooster is barred than both boys and girls could be black with the white head spot.

 

[Cebarmlds]

These chicks daddy is a cross with barred rock and white leghorn mom is barred rock.
Some have mom an ee.

Then some are dad an oegb and mom an ee, ones mom may be Wyandotte.

4 out of 10 have a white spot on its head. They are only a week old.

 

[Michael OShay]

In Black Sex-Links, (females . . . grow up to be black with red around their neck and chest)

The above is true in standard hatchery Black Sex Links in which red gene roosters are used, however any solid colored rooster can be crossed with a barred hen to make a Black Sex Link in which case the females might not have red around their necks and chest but some other color depending on the color of the rooster.

 

[Michael OShay]

These chicks daddy is a cross with barred rock and white leghorn mom is barred rock.
Some have mom an ee.

Then some are dad an oegb and mom an ee, ones mom may be Wyandotte.

4 out of 10 have a white spot on its head. They are only a week old.

None of these are Black Sex Link crosses, so you cannot use the white spot (or lack thereof) on top of the head to determine gender.

 

[donrae]

None of these are Black Sex Link crosses, so you cannot use the white spot (or lack thereof) on top of the head to determine gender.

This. With those parents, the barring is not sex linked at all. In general, a white spot on the head simply means the bird has the gene for barring.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

This. With those parents, the barring is not sex linked at all. In general, a white spot on the head simply means the bird has the gene for barring.

X 2 - eta - what you have are mixed breed chicks and you will simply have to wait and use the usual gender characteristics to sex them as they grow and mature.

 

[Blackberry18]

The above is true in standard hatchery Black Sex Links in which red gene roosters are used, however any solid colored rooster can be crossed with a barred hen to make a Black Sex Link in which case the females might not have red around their necks and chest but some other color depending on the color of the rooster.

So a barred hen can be crossed with any solid-colored cock to produce Black Sex-Links? I read that it had to be a gold gene cock.

Also, I'm wondering what would happen if you switched the genders. For example, if you crossed a barred gene cock x a red gene hen, would you get barred hens and black males?