Buff Sussex chicks

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senna

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Hi
I have a Light Sussex Cockeral & several LS hens.
With most of the hens he produces Light Sussex chicks, but occassionally there are Buff Sussex chicks being hatched (from Light Sussex parents).
Anybody got any ideas as to why/how this happens?
Thanks
 
Sounds like they are not 100% Light Sussex and they are throwbacks to a recent earlier cross. Could be the cockerel or some of the hens.
Blue laced Wyandottes produce throwback gold and buff laced offspring -about 25% of the hatch are each and the remaining 50% are blue laced. They are throwbacks to the original derivatives -the colours used for cross breeding to produce blue lacing.
 
Thanks for your reply.
So here's another question for you then...are my Buff chicks 'real' Buff Sussex or just a pretend version? Their colourings look pretty good, eg nice black markings etc
 
I didn't know Buff could be carried as a recessive in the Sussex but I'll try to check it out with the genetics boys (and girls) !

If they have occured because they've been crossed LS x Buff S then I'd consider them to be pure Buff. I think some breeders made the cross as some of the Buffs were rather poor in type and in production and from figures I've seen, the best of the Utility Lights outlay the Buffs by a considerable amount. Numbers of Buffs are much lower than the Lights as well of course, so they may have been trying to increase the numbers as well.

The Buffs I've had tended to be less tight feathered than the lights and a bit 'fluffy' and for that reason are not to my taste so it would be interesting to see what yours turn out like.

Are your Buffs all the same sex senna ?
 
Thanks Chuck

Mmmmmm, interesting.

They don't look any fluffier than their siblings, & no sorry, I don't know their sex for sure yet, but to my amateur eye I'd say hens. I only have 1 from each hatching, so not many to gather genetic data from!!

I appreciated you checking out the recessive gene bit for me. Sounds like you know were to look for the info.

Look forward to hearing from you again...
 
Don't know anything about genetics, but I have a lovely Buff Sussex which I bought as a 5-week-old chick because the breeder said he could be sure she was a hen, being buff - the boys from his Light Sussex cockerel X Buff hen all turn out white and the girls all buff, from hatching.
 
Apparently, they are sex linked recessives carried by the male. Although you could consider them to be pure Sussex, they will not be true breeding and if you wanted to continue with Buffs, you'd need to buy pure Buffs.

All too much for me but I've been told by someone who knows. You'll notice I asked you what sex your Buffs were but I really don't know why I asked !

The sex linked cross that Marigold describes is useful for producing Buffs from Lights & has been used by utility breeders to increase egg production in the Buffs. This pairing is a straight sex linked colour cross while those that senna has bred are recessive sex linked.
 
Egg production looks promising then but have you noticed you've been short changed Marigold - senna's are sexed linked recessives while yours are just plain sex linked ! Wouldn't mind a bit of sex linkaage myself.
 
What size would you expect a Sussex egg to finish up at, Chuck, once the bird is fully in lay and mature? As i said, mine has laying practically every day for 4 weeks but they're still pullet eggs. She started at 38grams for the first one, so she is making progress, but has been on 46-48 grams for the past 2 weeks.
Yes I did realise Senna's were unexpectedly recessive, but presumably there must be some kind of genetic link to the sex-linked cross? All I know about genetics is the law that 'everything turns out brown...'
 
I've only had experience with Light and Buff Sussex and found their eggs to be variable in size when mature and rather slow to get to a good size when young. They tend to be steady layers over a long period.
 
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