Mixing chickens in my head again!

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Fri Feb 10, 2017 10:37 pm

Hey lady! Hahaha, yeah you know who you are! What if I had red sex-link hens and a white Chantecler rooster . Would the chicks all be white when they feathered out? What about the combs, cushion, single or everything in between? Enquiring minds need to know. Lol

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Sun Feb 12, 2017 5:08 pm

I'm a little kid jumping up and down for attention. Oh come on guys, don't make me have to google the answer. Just wondering because people are always trying to give me red layers and I might take a couple now that spring is close, also there are a few guys around trying to sell Chantecler roosters. I just know if I am getting eggs, I'm going to want to hatch something.

Post by **WLLady** » Sun Feb 12, 2017 6:02 pm

What are the parents of the red sex links? Are they single comb?

Post by **WLLady** » Sun Feb 12, 2017 6:57 pm

Chanteclers should ideally carry both recessive and dominant white
So your first generation should be all white

MommaChick · Post by **MommaChick** » Sun Feb 12, 2017 8:29 pm

I did Dark Cornish hens with a white Chantecler Cockbird. Resulting in birds that came out with muddled grey barring and gold leakage, for lack of a better word.. I will try and take a pic tomorrow.

Skinny rooster · Post by **Skinny rooster** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 10:18 am

WLLady wrote:QR_BBPOST What are the parents of the red sex links? Are they single comb?

Sorry WLLADY, I answered this but must have hit the wrong button. Yes they have single combs, around here they are all that same red sex-link type with the trimmed beak. I heard usually means RIR type mixed with white rock type.

Thank you.

Post by **WLLady** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 12:31 pm

Not accounting for combs....
offspring if your boy is not double dominant white but is double recessive white gene copy: you will get a very few barred black and white birds (provided your black sex links are from barred rock hens). You will get some golden/yellow columbian with barring. And some red shouldered/cream coloured bared birds. And pure white with barring . All the offspring should be barred.
This is only if the male is not carrying 2 genes for dominant white. If they are 2 copies of dominant white everything would be white.
If your chanteclers are walnut (cushion) comb thats R*P* and straight combs are rrpp assuming your sex links are straight comb all the offsrping depends on the genotype of the chantecler. R* could be Rr or RR and P* could be Pp or PP. So resulting combs could really be anything. Without really knowing what the boys genotype is its hard to predict. If its RRPP then everyone gets cushion combs. If theres a r or p in there you can get other types of combs.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:53 am

I have less than basic knowledge of genetics, and no experience with Chantecler,I don't even know what breeds went into their development... but I have a little experience with cushion combs and a little with both dominant and recessive white birds. So basically I'm going to give you some guesses. If I knew the breed background of Chantecler, I could give better guesses, but I've never researched or owned them. My guesses are based purely on crossing my own mixed breed layers to get various colours, combs, types and sizes, just for fun :)

Crossed with RSL hens, you will EITHER get all white birds with faint 'ghost barring' and/or yellow highlights in certain light, OR you will get colours from spotty red, to spotty brown with light underfluff, to a pinky or cream colour with red in wings, to complete wildcards with black and/or red speckling, or single or double barring. Even maybe some Crele coloured birds, both red and black barred. I've gotten a couple of those, pretty neat.
Chantecler are not an old breed, and rsls are constantly being tinkered with, so even among Chantecler there will be throwbacks let alone production brown layers. Mix either with anything, and you're going to get some surprises. Even more so with RSL, which are continuously developed from several breeds, with an eye only to feed conversion into egg production, and none to feather colour, body type, etc.
SO...Comb type. Chantecler have a cushion comb, right? Nope. It's pretty much a modified pea comb,and needs good breeding selection to keep it from reverting to a pea. I've seen loads of 'Chantecler' with pea combs, AND I've seen loads of pea combed birds throw the odd cushion. Or rose comb. That's happened too. All comb types were bred from single combs through selective breeding, and the less selective you are, the more surprises will pop up. My best guess as to comb types you will get from a Chantecler/RSL cross, is few lumpy cushions, a few singles, some tall pea combs, and, especially in pullets, smooshed pea combs that are just a lumpy wiggly blade.
In my opinion, it's a cross worth making to see what you get, but I'm weird that way lol.
BUT. If you have, or want to get, Ameraucanas or Easter Eggers for coloured eggs, you absolutely MUST keep the coloured egg layers separate from your Chantecler and Chanticleers crosses, because in Ameraucanas and Amer EEs, egg colour gene is linked to the pea comb. If everything is running loose together and have pea combs, you won't know which cock bird sires what, and it will get frustrating fast.