Barred boys, or girls? 1 week old.

[J-Habs]

I hatched some chicks exactly 1 week ago today from a barred olive egger hen and my F4 Olive egger rooster (not barred) I am definitely not an expert in sexing barred chicks so I'm looking for some help. I've read both males and females might have a spot on their hearts, but they might look different. There are 3 chicks in question. Each chick has 3 pics each ( top of head, spread wings, and side view) please help me find out what I have. Two of them seem to have different wings that the other.

 

[Winderdear]

I’m also not an expert in genetics, but my understanding is that if the hen is barred and the rooster is not, then the chicks will be sex linked. Any barred chicks (ones with spots on their heads) will be male.

 

[NatJ]

I hatched some chicks exactly 1 week ago today from a barred olive egger hen and my F4 Olive egger rooster (not barred) I am definitely not an expert in sexing barred chicks so I'm looking for some help. I've read both males and females might have a spot on their hearts, but they might look different.

When the mother has barring and the father has no barring gene (not barred), then only the sons have barring (light head spot, white lines across the feathers.) Daughters have no barring. If that is the cross you have, then all the chicks in your photos are males, because all of those chicks do have barring.

When both parents are pure for barring (example: Barred Rock, Cuckoo Marans), then all chicks have barring, so they all have headspots. That is when people sex them by differences in the headspots. Barring is on the Z sex chromosome, so males have two (ZZ) and females have only one (ZW). Two copies of the barring gene (vs. one) make a bigger headspot, lighter leg color, and overall a lighter appearance (lighter/darker is especially obvious in adults, while the head spot is only visible in young chicks.)

If you are sure the rooster has no barring, then all the chicks are male.
If you want a second opinion on whether the rooster has barring, you can post a picture of him and see what people say. Barring is a dominant gene, so a chicken should not have the gene without showing the effects (but barring is easier to see on some colors than others: white bars on the feathers of a white or buff or splash or lavender chicken is not very obvious!)

And if you raise the chicks, and find that any are females, that will be proof that the rooster does have at least one barring gene after all.

 

[Cloverr39]

When the mother has barring and the father has no barring gene (not barred), then only the sons have barring (light head spot, white lines across the feathers.) Daughters have no barring. If that is the cross you have, then all the chicks in your photos are males, because all of those chicks do have barring.

When both parents are pure for barring (example: Barred Rock, Cuckoo Marans), then all chicks have barring, so they all have headspots. That is when people sex them by differences in the headspots. Barring is on the Z sex chromosome, so males have two (ZZ) and females have only one (ZW). Two copies of the barring gene (vs. one) make a bigger headspot, lighter leg color, and overall a lighter appearance (lighter/darker is especially obvious in adults, while the head spot is only visible in young chicks.)

If you are sure the rooster has no barring, then all the chicks are male.
If you want a second opinion on whether the rooster has barring, you can post a picture of him and see what people say. Barring is a dominant gene, so a chicken should not have the gene without showing the effects (but barring is easier to see on some colors than others: white bars on the feathers of a white or buff or splash or lavender chicken is not very obvious!)

And if you raise the chicks, and find that any are females, that will be proof that the rooster does have at least one barring gene after all.

I agree with everything NatJ said!

 

[JedJackson]

I agree with what has said, but it's only going to work if you're absolutely certain the father has no barring gene. Sometimes the barring can be quite subtle, especially if it is on a blue rooster, and it won't show on a white rooster.

 

[J-Habs]

I agree with what has said, but it's only going to work if you're absolutely certain the father has no barring gene. Sometimes the barring can be quite subtle, especially if it is on a blue rooster, and it won't show on a white rooster.

He comes from a Cream Legbar bred to a BCM, and then bred back another 3 generations to BCM. So would he carry barring from a Cream Legbar 4 generations ago?

 

[J-Habs]

Um, I just read that again:
BCM is some kind of Marans, right? Black Copper or Blue Copper?

Marans do not have muff/beard on the face.
Cream Legbars do not have muff/beard on the face.
That rooster DOES have muff/beard on the face. That means he must have something else in the mix.

Also, it looks like he has the pea comb gene, which is not present in Marans or Legbars.

I would guess him to be an Ameraucana-mix, not a Legbar-mix. That would explain the muff/beard and the pea comb (modified pea comb, split for pea comb, heterozygous pea comb, one pea comb gene and one not-pea comb gene: several other ways to say the same thing.)

I still do not think he has barring, which is what matters for sexing your chicks. But based on those other traits, I don't think he is the particular mix of breeds that you say he is.

Great to know. I'm just going off of what the lady I got the rooster from told me. You make great points.

 

[JedJackson]

View attachment 3772576
He comes from a Cream Legbar bred to a BCM, and then bred back another 3 generations to BCM. So would he carry barring from a Cream Legbar 4 generations ago?

That makes it clear that he doesn't carry the barring genes. So sex linked chicks when he is crossed with a barred hen will work. All male chicks will have head spots, and females will not.

 

[McChooky]

Male

 

[AinaWGSD]

View attachment 3772576
He comes from a Cream Legbar bred to a BCM, and then bred back another 3 generations to BCM. So would he carry barring from a Cream Legbar 4 generations ago?

No, barring is a dominant gene so it can't be carried. If they are carrying any barring you will see a barred bird. The only way barring can be "carried" but not visible is if you have barring on a white bird. It can be difficult to see on pale colors, but it will still be visible if you look closely enough.