Which breeds can be feather sexed?

[lanaschix]

Is there a list somewhere? I have a two day old Polish chick that would be a female it feather sexing works. I am expecting more chicks in a few days. Can you feather sex
Brahmas
Easter eggers
Wellsummers
Faverolles
Cochins
Olive eggers

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

No, if I read your question right feather sexing does not work that way in spite of some of the posts you see on here. The science behind feather sexing (and red and black sex links and some other sex-linked methods) is that the rooster has two pairs of genes at any point on his DNA and gives a copy of one of those genes to his offspring. But the hen does not have two pairs of genes at a few points on her DNA. Those are the sex genes and what makes a hen a hen instead of a rooster. A hen gives a copy of every gene she has (one of the gene pair if they are not sex genes) so a male son has a full set, but she withholds the sex genes from her daughters. That means the hen determines the sex of the chick before she even lays the egg.

If the hen has a dominant gene and both the genes at that gene pair on the rooster are recessive and the difference shows up on the chick at hatch, then you can sex the chick at hatch. With feather sexing if the mother has the dominant slow feathering gene she will give it to her sons but not her daughters. The rooster will give a recessive fast feathering gene to both his sons and daughters. So the female chicks that only get a gene from their father will be fast-feathering. The males that get a gene from each parent will be slow-feathering because of the dominant slow feathering gene they got from their mother.

The first post in this thread gives a good detailed explanation of how sex linking works. It goes into detail on how you make red sex links, black sex links, and feather-sexing. It also has charts for each that shows some of the breeds you can cross to get sex linked chicks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

One you make a sex link, you cannot use that chick to make another sex link. For sex-linking to work the parents have to be set up right. Once you make a sex link the genetics are not set up right. That’s why a “breed” cannot be sex linked just because it is a “breed”. It only works for one generation.

There are a few breeds that are auto-sexing but I don’t see any on your list.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

No, if I read your question right feather sexing does not work that way in spite of some of the posts you see on here. The science behind feather sexing (and red and black sex links and some other sex-linked methods) is that the rooster has two pairs of genes at any point on his DNA and gives a copy of one of those genes to his offspring. But the hen does not have two pairs of genes at a few points on her DNA. Those are the sex genes and what makes a hen a hen instead of a rooster. A hen gives a copy of every gene she has (one of the gene pair if they are not sex genes) so a male son has a full set, but she withholds the sex genes from her daughters. That means the hen determines the sex of the chick before she even lays the egg.

If the hen has a dominant gene and both the genes at that gene pair on the rooster are recessive and the difference shows up on the chick at hatch, then you can sex the chick at hatch. With feather sexing if the mother has the dominant slow feathering gene she will give it to her sons but not her daughters. The rooster will give a recessive fast feathering gene to both his sons and daughters. So the female chicks that only get a gene from their father will be fast-feathering. The males that get a gene from each parent will be slow-feathering because of the dominant slow feathering gene they got from their mother.

The first post in this thread gives a good detailed explanation of how sex linking works. It goes into detail on how you make red sex links, black sex links, and feather-sexing. It also has charts for each that shows some of the breeds you can cross to get sex linked chicks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

One you make a sex link, you cannot use that chick to make another sex link. For sex-linking to work the parents have to be set up right. Once you make a sex link the genetics are not set up right. That’s why a “breed” cannot be sex linked just because it is a “breed”. It only works for one generation.

There are a few breeds that are auto-sexing but I don’t see any on your list.

I agree.

 

[PoultryQueen101]

Well. I don't exactly understand the above statment. But this is my understanding. Feather sexing only works when the father was a fast feathering bird and the mother was slow.

But the thing is that I am able to feather sex all of my hatchlings. The easiest are the olive eggers.

Polish,however, are sexed based on the crest shape at a day old to one week and then you have to waig until their crest FULLY feathers out. All polish crests will start out round. But eventualy the males will start to show their differences. Unneeded polish are the easiest at this time.


As for fea her sexing. It's not simply even and uneven. When doing this method, a pullet with have uneven primary feather studs. The top set will be shorter and the under feathers. On a male, the primaries will be even or the top row will be longer than the bottom

 

[PoultryQueen101]

Feather Sexing.

Sexing Day Old Polish

 

[Michael OShay]

No, if I read your question right feather sexing does not work that way in spite of some of the posts you see on here. The science behind feather sexing (and red and black sex links and some other sex-linked methods) is that the rooster has two pairs of genes at any point on his DNA and gives a copy of one of those genes to his offspring. But the hen does not have two pairs of genes at a few points on her DNA. Those are the sex genes and what makes a hen a hen instead of a rooster. A hen gives a copy of every gene she has (one of the gene pair if they are not sex genes) so a male son has a full set, but she withholds the sex genes from her daughters. That means the hen determines the sex of the chick before she even lays the egg.

If the hen has a dominant gene and both the genes at that gene pair on the rooster are recessive and the difference shows up on the chick at hatch, then you can sex the chick at hatch. With feather sexing if the mother has the dominant slow feathering gene she will give it to her sons but not her daughters. The rooster will give a recessive fast feathering gene to both his sons and daughters. So the female chicks that only get a gene from their father will be fast-feathering. The males that get a gene from each parent will be slow-feathering because of the dominant slow feathering gene they got from their mother.

The first post in this thread gives a good detailed explanation of how sex linking works. It goes into detail on how you make red sex links, black sex links, and feather-sexing. It also has charts for each that shows some of the breeds you can cross to get sex linked chicks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

One you make a sex link, you cannot use that chick to make another sex link. For sex-linking to work the parents have to be set up right. Once you make a sex link the genetics are not set up right. That’s why a “breed” cannot be sex linked just because it is a “breed”. It only works for one generation.

There are a few breeds that are auto-sexing but I don’t see any on your list.

X2 on the above.

 

[BantamLover21]

No, if I read your question right feather sexing does not work that way in spite of some of the posts you see on here. The science behind feather sexing (and red and black sex links and some other sex-linked methods) is that the rooster has two pairs of genes at any point on his DNA and gives a copy of one of those genes to his offspring. But the hen does not have two pairs of genes at a few points on her DNA. Those are the sex genes and what makes a hen a hen instead of a rooster. A hen gives a copy of every gene she has (one of the gene pair if they are not sex genes) so a male son has a full set, but she withholds the sex genes from her daughters. That means the hen determines the sex of the chick before she even lays the egg.

If the hen has a dominant gene and both the genes at that gene pair on the rooster are recessive and the difference shows up on the chick at hatch, then you can sex the chick at hatch. With feather sexing if the mother has the dominant slow feathering gene she will give it to her sons but not her daughters. The rooster will give a recessive fast feathering gene to both his sons and daughters. So the female chicks that only get a gene from their father will be fast-feathering. The males that get a gene from each parent will be slow-feathering because of the dominant slow feathering gene they got from their mother.

The first post in this thread gives a good detailed explanation of how sex linking works. It goes into detail on how you make red sex links, black sex links, and feather-sexing. It also has charts for each that shows some of the breeds you can cross to get sex linked chicks.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=261208

One you make a sex link, you cannot use that chick to make another sex link. For sex-linking to work the parents have to be set up right. Once you make a sex link the genetics are not set up right. That’s why a “breed” cannot be sex linked just because it is a “breed”. It only works for one generation.

There are a few breeds that are auto-sexing but I don’t see any on your list.

x2 on this.