Sex-Link Questions

[Cringer]

Looking at creating a sex link dual purpose chicken. Would an American Bresse crossed with a Rhode Island or New Hampshire work like crossing a Delaware and Rhode Island? Also, would the offspring have some of the meat benefits from Bresse?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Looking at creating a sex link dual purpose chicken. Would an American Bresse crossed with a Rhode Island or New Hampshire work like crossing a Delaware and Rhode Island? Also, would the offspring have some of the meat benefits from Bresse?

Hello and welcome to BYC!

I'm a little surprised that there have been no responses to what seems like an otherwise good question.

I know not all "white" hens can be used to make red sex links using a red or gold rooster. One thing I see as a possible issue is that American Bresse may be either dominant or recessive white.. Bresse breeders suggest breeding only dominant white.. and this would hide other colors.. according to my current understanding.

I am unsure about meat qualities.. but do imagine it to be somewhere in the middle, for first generation crosses.

Alternatively, American Bresse do come in different colors.. black and blue, even splash I believe.. Those could be sex linked by using a barred hen, such as Rock or Cuckoo Maran (or many others, Bielefelder etc).. all males would have a white spot on the head at hatch, being black or blue barred at maturity and females would be solid black or blue at hatch and maturity depending on which color male was used. (with no white spot on the head at hatch and no barring upon maturing.. noting both colors and genders may have white underbellies at hatch).

I wonder if @Amer or @NatJ are able to weigh in here? TIA.

 

[Amer]

Since American Bresse are dominant white they most likely have the silver gene so in theory a Bresse hen crossed with red male would make for some red sex links but I have no idea if that would work in reality.

 

[NatJ]

If the Bresse have dominant white, that probably means they otherwise have the genetics to be a black chicken, then the Dominant White turns all the black to white.

That coloring is no good for making sexlinks. If you cross them with anything else, the chicks still get the genes to be black all over and to turn that white to black. Since those genes are dominant, you get white chicks in both sexes from any cross no matter which parent is the Bresse and no matter what color the other parent is.

Alternatively, American Bresse do come in different colors.. black and blue, even splash I believe.. Those could be sex linked by using a barred hen, such as Rock or Cuckoo Maran (or many others, Bielefelder etc).. all males would have a white spot on the head at hatch, being black or blue barred at maturity and females would be solid black or blue at hatch and maturity depending on which color male was used. (with no white spot on the head at hatch and no barring upon maturing.. noting both colors and genders may have white underbellies at hatch).

I agree that could work, using barred hens with Bresse rooosters that are black or blue or splash. The sexing would be easiest if the rooster is black, just because the light dot on the head is most obvious on black chick down, less obvious on blue chick down.

I am unsure about meat qualities.. but do imagine it to be somewhere in the middle, for first generation crosses.

I would expect that too, but like you I don't know for sure.

 

[Amer]

If the Bresse have dominant white, that probably means they otherwise have the genetics to be a black chicken, then the Dominant White turns all the black to white.

That coloring is no good for making sexlinks. If you cross them with anything else, the chicks still get the genes to be black all over and to turn that white to black. Since those genes are dominant, you get white chicks in both sexes from any cross no matter which parent is the Bresse and no matter what color the other parent is.


I agree that could work, using barred hens with Bresse rooosters that are black or blue or splash. The sexing would be easiest if the rooster is black, just because the light dot on the head is most obvious on black chick down, less obvious on blue chick down.



I would expect that too, but like you I don't know for sure.

Red sex links have dominant white genes
Supposedly they are Rhode Island RedxWhite Leghorn. White Leghorns are dominant White, however, not all Dominant White birds are black based. The silver gene can eliminate the gold you might expect them to have.

 

[NatJ]

Red sex links have dominant white genes
Supposedly they are Rhode Island RedxWhite Leghorn.

Most red sexlinks have some brown-egg breed for their mother, not a White Leghorn. They usually do have Dominant White, but they have a Columbian color pattern rather than having the genes to be all black. The sexlink hens would be Red Columbian and the sexlink roosters would be Silver Columbian, both with the black turned into white by the Dominant White gene.

White Leghorns are dominant White, however, not all Dominant White birds are black based. The silver gene can eliminate the gold you might expect them to have.

The problem isn't the dominant white, it's the genes to be black all over. That is the point I was trying to make. Black all over makes it impossible to tell gold from silver. Turning that black to white with Dominant White makes it still impossible to tell gold from silver, and also impossible to tell barred from not-barred. Those are the reasons White Leghorns usually cannot be used to produce sexlink chicks. And those are the reasons that White Bresse will not work IF they have the genes to be black all over along with the Dominant White gene.

If the White Bresse actually have the genes to be something like Silver Columbian, with Dominant White turning the black into white, they would work very nicely to produce sexlink chicks. The question is which genes they actually have.

If anyone tries crossing White Bresse hens with a red rooster, I'd like to know what color the chicks come out. That would at least answer the question for the particular Bresse hens involved.