# Sex links



## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

Well, I am just starting trying to hatch my own eggs (bought off Ebay at this point, since I don't have a rooster yet), and want to get eggs so that I can eventually get to the point that I can breed my own sex links. I have found info on the web on how do to most sex link crosses (Red rooster x BR or Silver laced Wyandotte or a delaware). My question is, can you use any mostly white hens like a light Brahma or even a white leghorn? Are there other crosses that also produce sex links? For those that raise sex links, what do you think is the best cross?

Thanks.


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## CarolynRenee (Jan 30, 2008)

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, but a question!

Why do you want to raise sex-linked chickens? In order to tell roosters from hens right away or for egg / meat quality? I know that the sexlink chicks I bought were good egg layers, but they didn't seem "that" much better than my BR or my Austrolops.


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

One reason would be to tell the difference right away, if I have an abundance, it would make it easier to sell the chicks early before i have much money tied up in them. I will also use some for eggs, and the roosters for meat.


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## Sanza (Sep 8, 2008)

I want to try next year with a black australorp roo and cuckoo marans hens - that should be a good combo for butchering if it combines the size of the australorps with the meat of a marans.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

once you have hatched and raised the sexlink F1 generation any eggs you hatch from these hens will NOT be sexlink and you will be right back where you started, you would have to keep your original parrent stock separate to be sure of what your hatching, the sexlink trait is a one time combination,


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

Sanza said:


> I want to try next year with a black australorp roo and cuckoo marans hens - that should be a good combo for butchering if it combines the size of the australorps with the meat of a marans.


Will this create a sex link, or just a cross? If it is a sex link, what would be the distinguishing factors at hatch?


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## stifflej (Aug 11, 2008)

KSALguy said:


> once you have hatched and raised the sexlink F1 generation any eggs you hatch from these hens will NOT be sexlink and you will be right back where you started, you would have to keep your original parrent stock separate to be sure of what your hatching, the sexlink trait is a one time combination,


Thanks for this info, I did not think of that...


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Barred or Cuckoo, is sex linked. The hens have one copy of the gene and the males two copies. Putting a solid black roo with a barred hen gives you barred males and black females. The males will have a large white splotch on their heads at hatch.

Some white birds have dominant and some recessive white which is not sex linked. Some also have the silver gene which is sex linked. You have to be sure you know which genes your bird has. Delaware has silver. Leghorn is dom white. Most white Rocks are recessive, but some also have silver.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

McMurray's Red Stars (Red sex links) are from a Pearl White Leghorn hen and a RIR rooster.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Susan, where did you find that? It is highly unlikely.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Susan, where did you find that? It is highly unlikely.


Hi Cyngbaeld,
My neighbor gave me a Red star rooster she got from them and I wanted to know what the parents were so I wrote McMurray hatchery. The person who wrote me back from McMurray said it was a RIR and Pearl White Leghorn cross. I'll see if I saved the email and if so I'll paste it. Why do you think it's unlikely? Do you think they gave me wrong info?


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

I tried hatching out sex link chicks and when I sold the chicks I found myself with nothing but cockerels left over. I don't want to raise up cockerels for meat birds myself so what to do with nothing but cockerels was a problem for me. Unless you have someone willing to buy cockerels or you can use them yourself, it's better to just raise and sell straight run.

I only have two small table top incubators so my hatching volume is quite low, but I've found that selling the chicks "straight run with a rooster return policy" works best for me. When any of the chicks I sell grow up to be roosters if the folks who bought them don't want roosters, they can return them and I'll refund the price they paid for the chick. You'd be amazed at how many folks are just glad to return the roosters, they don't care about the amount of feed that went into growing them up into a nice plump eating size. The rooster return policy means I have a freezer full of frozen roosters which I didn't have to raise and the folks don't have to listen to roosters in the morning.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

VA Susan said:


> Hi Cyngbaeld,
> My neighbor gave me a Red star rooster she got from them and I wanted to know what the parents were so I wrote McMurray hatchery. The person who wrote me back from McMurray said it was a RIR and Pearl White Leghorn cross. I'll see if I saved the email and if so I'll paste it. Why do you think it's unlikely? Do you think they gave me wrong info?


I think the person at McM's doesn't know much about chickens! Pearl White Leghorns crossed with anything is not sex linked. All will be white, though may have some splotches of color as the white is dominant. If it isn't a dom white bird, it isn't a Leghorn.

You can email them back and ask them to talk to the breeder and find out what he/she is actually using so they'll not give out wrong info. LOL


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

hotzcatz said:


> I tried hatching out sex link chicks and when I sold the chicks I found myself with nothing but cockerels left over. I don't want to raise up cockerels for meat birds myself so what to do with nothing but cockerels was a problem for me. Unless you have someone willing to buy cockerels or you can use them yourself, it's better to just raise and sell straight run.
> 
> I only have two small table top incubators so my hatching volume is quite low, but I've found that selling the chicks "straight run with a rooster return policy" works best for me. When any of the chicks I sell grow up to be roosters if the folks who bought them don't want roosters, they can return them and I'll refund the price they paid for the chick. You'd be amazed at how many folks are just glad to return the roosters, they don't care about the amount of feed that went into growing them up into a nice plump eating size. The rooster return policy means I have a freezer full of frozen roosters which I didn't have to raise and the folks don't have to listen to roosters in the morning.


Now THAT is a smart operation!


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

Cyngbaeld said:


> I think the person at McM's doesn't know much about chickens! Pearl White Leghorns crossed with anything is not sex linked. All will be white, though may have some splotches of color as the white is dominant. If it isn't a dom white bird, it isn't a Leghorn.
> 
> You can email them back and ask them to talk to the breeder and find out what he/she is actually using so they'll not give out wrong info. LOL


I didn't save the email, but I'll write them again as you suggested.


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Pearl White Leghorns crossed with anything is not sex linked. All will be white, though may have some splotches of color as the white is dominant. If it isn't a dom white bird, it isn't a Leghorn.


Is it only Pearl Whites that will result in all white offspring? I thought all Leghorns were dom whites. I don't know what Lucky is other than a leghorn with a very big comb and a very obvious "flag" but she came from a local University experiment program so she's not a mutt I'm pretty sure. Out of 6 chicks she mothered, 1 is red brown, 1 cream buff and 4 are white. The fathers were a big red roo with some white in his tail and a white EEer roo with brown wings and a very showy black tail.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

I had to fill out a contact us on their site and it says it might take 4-5 business days for a reply. I'll let you know what they say.


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## RedneckPete (Aug 23, 2004)

Cyngbaeld said:


> I think the person at McM's doesn't know much about chickens! Pearl White Leghorns crossed with anything is not sex linked.


Storey's guide to raising chickens, on page 111 says "...the red Sex Link , a cross between a white Leghorn hen and a Rhode Island Red Cock ... lays 250 to 260 eggs per year."

It goes into more detail, but I won't bore you with that.

Pete


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

katydidagain said:


> Is it only Pearl Whites that will result in all white offspring? I thought all Leghorns were dom whites. I don't know what Lucky is other than a leghorn with a very big comb and a very obvious "flag" but she came from a local University experiment program so she's not a mutt I'm pretty sure. Out of 6 chicks she mothered, 1 is red brown, 1 cream buff and 4 are white. The fathers were a big red roo with some white in his tail and a white EEer roo with brown wings and a very showy black tail.


All white Leghorns are dom white, however, you have one that only had one gene for dom white. So, yes, she is a mutt.

Some show lines have rec white and silver in addition to dom white. The vast majority of hatchery stock will not have the extra genes.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

RedneckPete said:


> Storey's guide to raising chickens, on page 111 says "...the red Sex Link , a cross between a white Leghorn hen and a Rhode Island Red Cock ... lays 250 to 260 eggs per year."
> 
> It goes into more detail, but I won't bore you with that.
> 
> Pete


Not the first error I've encountered in Storey's guide.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

Well, still no email from McMurray and it's been 5 business days since I wrote. I think they are ignoring me. I may write again.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

I just wrote again. I'll let you know if I get a reply this time.


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## Guest123 (Oct 10, 2006)

McMurray uses RIR rooster with white rock hens. One of their growers is less than 2 miles from me.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Thank you. That makes more sense as many white rock lines have silver with the recessive white. They would be using only lines with silver.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

treasureacres said:


> McMurray uses RIR rooster with white rock hens. One of their growers is less than 2 miles from me.


Thanks, Treasureacres!


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

Well, I finally got a reply this am. I don't think this person contacted the breeder as I requested.
Here's what it said:

I really am not sure but I believe it is Rhode Island Red and Rhode
Island Whites...MMH


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

That is a cross that is frequently used too. The RIW has silver.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

Cyngbaeld,
I found a picture of a Red Star on Frey's Hatchery that looks just like our Red Star rooster, so I wrote to them also and asked them what breeds they use to produce their Red Sex links. Here's the reply I got from them:


_Sorry, we don't give out that information.

Thanks!_


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

ive done alot of research on the red sexlink fowl, and ive never run across any mentioning of using a white leghorn as part of the cross.

the golden comets that are laying machines are RIR roo X RIW hen. i believe the majority of all sexlink fowl start with a RIR roo. 

this yr i crossed a RIR roo over my comets and ISA browns. not sexlinked in colortion but im hoping they retain the laying ability of the sexlink hens. and not go backwards toward the RIR side.


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