Light brahmas genders

[Thtsalotofchickens]

For black sexlink hens, if they produce any barred chicks (white barring on black), the barring is inherited from the father of the chick, and the chick could be either male or female. Not color-sexable.


Feathered feet usually mean it has a parent with feathered feet.
Barred feathering means a parent with barring.

So a cross of Barred Rock rooster x Brahma hen could produce such a chick. If you have any other breeds of hen with feathered feet, they are other possibilities for the mother of that chick.

Or a cross of Brahma rooster x Barred Rock hen could produce male chicks like that (this cross would produce females with no barring, so they would be color-sexable).

So it's very interesting my husband and I have been trying to figure out whose parents are whose because before I had to split my roosters up they had both mated with all my hens as they do.
So at one point we had a barred rock rooster mating with brahma hens and black sexlink hens. At the same time our brahma rooster was mating with them
We hatched 7 eggs of theirs. Out of that we got 4 brahmas and 2 fully black chicks minus some white tipped feathers, and one with barred rock coloring. One of the all black babies has feathered feet and the barred feathering chick has feathered feet. But my black one pictured above does NOT have any foot feathers.
Definitely a head scratcher.

 

[NatJ]

So it's very interesting my husband and I have been trying to figure out whose parents are whose because before I had to split my roosters up they had both mated with all my hens as they do.
So at one point we had a barred rock rooster mating with brahma hens and black sexlink hens. At the same time our brahma rooster was mating with them
We hatched 7 eggs of theirs. Out of that we got 4 brahmas and 2 fully black chicks minus some white tipped feathers, and one with barred rock coloring. One of the all black babies has feathered feet and the barred feathering chick has feathered feet.

With those possible parents:

Brahma rooster x Brahma hen obviously makes Brahma chicks. Chicks will have pea combs, feathered feet, Brahma coloring.

Brahma rooster x Black Sexlink hens can make solid black chicks, and maybe also Brahma-colored chicks. Chicks from this mix will probably have feathered feet (but not as feathery as pure Brahma feet. They should have pea combs, but not as small and tidy as prue Brahma combs. The combs may not look any different than Brahma combs at hatch, but probably will look different by the time they grow up.

Barred Rock rooster x Black Sexlink hens should produce black chicks with white barring, single combs, clean feet.

Barred Rock rooster x Brahma hens should produce black chicks with white barring, pea combs, feathered feet (as with the other Brahma-mix chicks, feet should be less feathery and combs should grow bigger than what pure Brahmas have.)

But my black one pictured above does NOT have any foot feathers.
Definitely a head scratcher.

Agreed, you've got a puzzling one there.

Since the chick has no foot feathers and no pea comb, I'm fairly sure the Brahma rooster is not the father.

But if you had only two roosters, that means the other rooster must be the father.

A Barred Rock rooster has two barring genes, so he gives one to each chick he produces. So it should be impossible to get a solid black chick with a Barred Rock father.

I start to wonder if your "Barred Rock" rooster is not actually a Barred Rock.
If your rooster is half Barred Rock, he might look very much like a Barred Rock, but could have a not-barring gene to give to some chicks, which would let him produce black chicks with no white barring.
Black Sexlinks usually are half Barred Rock, and Black Sexlink roosters can look very much like Barred Rocks. So a Black Sexlink rooster is one possibility.
(Plenty of other Barred Rock mixes would also look that way and produce some chicks with no barring. Black Sexlink just happens to be pretty common.)

 

[Thtsalotofchickens]

With those possible parents:

Brahma rooster x Brahma hen obviously makes Brahma chicks. Chicks will have pea combs, feathered feet, Brahma coloring.

Brahma rooster x Black Sexlink hens can make solid black chicks, and maybe also Brahma-colored chicks. Chicks from this mix will probably have feathered feet (but not as feathery as pure Brahma feet. They should have pea combs, but not as small and tidy as prue Brahma combs. The combs may not look any different than Brahma combs at hatch, but probably will look different by the time they grow up.

Barred Rock rooster x Black Sexlink hens should produce black chicks with white barring, single combs, clean feet.

Barred Rock rooster x Brahma hens should produce black chicks with white barring, pea combs, feathered feet (as with the other Brahma-mix chicks, feet should be less feathery and combs should grow bigger than what pure Brahmas have.)


Agreed, you've got a puzzling one there.

Since the chick has no foot feathers and no pea comb, I'm fairly sure the Brahma rooster is not the father.

But if you had only two roosters, that means the other rooster must be the father.

A Barred Rock rooster has two barring genes, so he gives one to each chick he produces. So it should be impossible to get a solid black chick with a Barred Rock father.

I start to wonder if your "Barred Rock" rooster is not actually a Barred Rock.
If your rooster is half Barred Rock, he might look very much like a Barred Rock, but could have a not-barring gene to give to some chicks, which would let him produce black chicks with no white barring.
Black Sexlinks usually are half Barred Rock, and Black Sexlink roosters can look very much like Barred Rocks. So a Black Sexlink rooster is one possibility.
(Plenty of other Barred Rock mixes would also look that way and produce some chicks with no barring. Black Sexlink just happens to be pretty common.)

That's all really helpful information thank you so much! I dont have much knowledge under my belt with chickens, I've only been doing this a year, and this is my first batch of chicks I hatched myself. It's actually really interesting to go through all the genetic traits that can affect so many different things.

 

[NatJ]

That's all really helpful information thank you so much! I dont have much knowledge under my belt with chickens, I've only been doing this a year, and this is my first batch of chicks I hatched myself. It's actually really interesting to go through all the genetic traits that can affect so many different things.

Yes, it can be great fun to see how the various traits work!

On the other hand, it can also drive you crazy, if things "should" work a certain way and then the chickens actually produce something different