Blue Sex link project

[sunshinechic]

Hello, I am wanting to try a sexlink project and wondering what type of birds are recommended? I would like to try for Blue sexlink... So if I was to breed a Blue Orpington Rooster, what type of hens could I use? Barred Rock or are their any other breeds that will work? Or would a Black Orpington work as well for black sexlink? Thanks!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Sex links are great in that the color of chick at hatch denotes sex making it simple and 100% accurate. You can not use Andalusion blue for sex links. Blue color offspring are randomly blue, black and splash to sex. Lavender could be used. Barred hens give the barring to male and not female offspring. Where this would be a problem is if you kept lavender barred; it would not reveal the white dot on barred chicks very well. You'd lose some accuracy.

If only a lavender cock bird was used and black barred or cuckoo hen then sexing would be apparent. The offspring would be black and split to lavender (takes both genes of lav to express). A cuckoo or barred bird can be found, I'd think you'd want lavender of same breed then you can continue with breeding and make some sex links when ever you want and those birds split to lavender are what you need to keep the lav. when expressed darker. It would all intertwine though you'd not breed the lav barred. Keep black barred/cuckoo going.

Marans or Plymouth Rock come to mind to use or make a barred Orpington to use Lav. Orpington. Either way you've got to make a breed Lav. or Orp. barred as of these breeds none I know of have both. Maybe Cochin does.

 

[dheltzel]

A blue Orp over a barred rock will make sexlinks. Half will be black and easily sexed, the rest will be blue and not very easy to sex. I tried this last year with a Blue Ameraucana over Berred Hollands and it was a total failure, couldn't sex the blue chicks at all, though they did turn out to be great blue egg layers with pretty blue feathers. The sex linkage part was just not useful at all. This year I'm using California Greys instead of Barred Hollands (mostly for better egg production, CG's are much better layers). It seems to be working a little better, I am finding some chicks with white head spots. Time will tell if the "females" I'm keeping really are . . .

 

[Egghead_Jr]

That's why I suggested Lavender. When put over a barred or cuckoo (both are black base) will give all black offspring for easy head spot identification of sex. The black females will be split to lavender so can be used in the lavender breeding to improve color.

 

[sunshinechic]

Great thanks so much for the info! So if I use a Lavender Orpington rooster over Barred Rock Hens I will get black sexlink chicks? Will they all be black and the males have white spots on the heads? Also would Malines work as hens or just the barred rocks? Thanks

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

That's why I suggested Lavender. When put over a barred or cuckoo (both are black base) will give all black offspring for easy head spot identification of sex. The black females will be split to lavender so can be used in the lavender breeding to improve color.

Search for dominant blue D 107.
He has to use splash rooster over hens having the silver and the baring.

 

[Sneebsey]

I agree with @Thomas Lamprogiorgos . A blue sex link would be the result of a splash cockerel over a barred hen. As barring is sex linked, females can only receive it from their father/pass it to their sons, hence solid pullet and barred cockerel offspring. Blue is incompletely dominant, so a splash cockerel have two copies of the gene, and will therefore pass one to each of his offspring. If the hen he mates is black barred, she passes a not-blue gene to each offspring, so all the offspring are blue.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

I agree with @Thomas Lamprogiorgos . A blue sex link would be the result of a splash cockerel over a barred hen. As barring is sex linked, females can only receive it from their father/pass it to their sons, hence solid pullet and barred cockerel offspring. Blue is incompletely dominant, so a splash cockerel have two copies of the gene, and will therefore pass one to each of his offspring. If the hen he mates is black barred, she passes a not-blue gene to each offspring, so all the offspring are blue.

Could a blue copper rooster over hens with silver and baring produce blue sex links?

 

[Sneebsey]

Could a blue copper rooster over hens with silver and baring produce blue sex links?

Yes; they would actually be both red sex links and black sex links simultaneously, though the head spot is what will be noticable in the chick down.

Half the offspring in this cross would get blue from dad, whilst half would get not-blue and therefore will be black. The sex linkage will work the same; single barred males, solid females.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

Yes; they would actually be both red sex links and black sex links simultaneously, though the head spot is what will be noticable in the chick down.

Half the offspring in this cross would get blue from dad, whilst half would get not-blue and therefore will be black. The sex linkage will work the same; single barred males, solid females.

So the only rooster color that produces blue sex links is the splash?