Barred Whiting True Blue Chickens: Barring Gene & Sex-Link Guide

ATTENTION BREEDERS!! 2026

**Add Power to Your Breeding Program**

Whiting True Blue WTB) chickens are known for laying blue eggs. Some WTB's also carry the barring gene, which creates the striped on "cuckoo" look on their feathers.

Our Whiting True Blue line carries the dominant blue egg gene and the barring feather pattern that makes them ideal for producing sex-linked hybrids.

Important point:

Even though barring is a sex-linked gene, Whiting True Blues do NOT hatch sex-linked chicks on their own.

Why?

Because the parents must have opposite, specific combinations of the barring gene for the chicks to show predictable male/female differences at hatch. WTB's don't naturally come in those required combinations.

So why do some WTB chicks hatch barred?

Because some WTB chickens, male and female carry the barring gene, they can pass it to their chicks. This means a few chicks may hatch with barring - but this does not tell you their sex.

How to use barred WTB hens to make sex-linked chicks?

If you hatch a Whiting True Blue that is barred AND female she becomes very useful for breeding sex-linked chicks.

Here's how:

1. Keep the barred WTB female.

She carries the barring gene on her Z chromosome (hens are ZW, so she has only one copy).

2. Breed her to a non-barred rooster of a specific feather colour

   (for example: black, blue or wild type feather colour)

3. The results:

   * Male chicks will have a head spot and hatch barred

   * Female chicks will have no head spot and hatch non-barred

This makes it easy to tell the sex of the chicks at hatch just by looking at their down colour.

In short:

• some WTB's carry the barring gene, so a few chicks may hatch with barred feathers.

• WTB's themselves don't produce sex-linked chicks by default.

• But a barred WTB hen paired with a non-barred rooster to produce true sex-liked chicks moving forward.

Advantages

Blue Egg Gene - strong inheritance, premium egg demand.

Pea Comb Advantage - With a 96% genetic link to the blue egg gene, the pea comb means after the first Olive Egger pairing (F1), you will know which hens inherited the blue egg gene based on comb type. No more 50/50 guessing what egg colour she will lay when backcrossing that hen back to a Marans. It will cut out a whole season of waiting for that egg colour.

Barring Gene - Enables easy chick sexing at hatch.

Marketing Advantage - Sell guaranteed pullets, increase profitability.

A breeders tool not found anywhere!

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Using a Barred Whiting True Blue Cockerel in Breeding Programs

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A barred Whiting True Blue cockerel can be used as a powerful stock-building tool in breeding programs that work with the barring gene.

When a barred WTB cockerel is paired with any barred hen—for example:

• Barred Whiting True Blue

• Barred Olive Egger

• Barred Plymouth Rock

• Cuckoo Marans

…the resulting offspring will be 100% barred, regardless of sex.

Why This Works

The barring gene is sex-linked and carried on the Z chromosome. When both parents are barred, each chick inherits the barring gene, resulting in uniform barred offspring.

This pairing does not produce sex-linked chicks at hatch. Instead, it is used intentionally to produce barred offspring for future breeding.

How This Supports Sex-Linked Breeding

Producing 100% barred offspring allows breeders to:

• Retain barred pullets for future breeding

• Increase consistency of barred expression

• Build or refresh a barred female line

• Prepare hens for future sex-linked crosses

Once these barred pullets mature, they can be paired with a gold-based rooster, which is the pairing that produces sex-linked chicks where sex can be identified at hatch by down color.

Two Practical Breeding Paths

Stock-Building Pairing

Barred WTB cockerel × Any barred hen

✔ 100% barred offspring✔ Used to produce barred pullets for future generations

Sex-Linked Pairing

Barred hen × Gold-based rooster

✔ Sex-linked chicks✔ Visual sex identification at hatch

Important Notes for Breeders

• Barred × barred pairings are intended for genetic consistency and stock building, not immediate sex-linking

• Sex-linked results occur only when a barred female is crossed to a gold-based male

• Results depend on proper genetic pairing and breeding management

Why This Matters

This makes barred WTB cockerels a useful and intentional addition for breeders working with:

• Sex-linked programs

• Barred lines

• Blue-egg or olive-egg projects

Looking to work with Barred Whiting True Blues?

We offer Barred WTB hatching eggs for breeders interested in developing their own lines. Please note that not all chicks hatched from these eggs will be barred, as barring expression depends on genetics.

Barred Day Old Chicks are also available, the presence of a white dot will be visible on top of their head. Both barred male and female will have a white dot visible.

For breeders seeking guaranteed barred birds, we also offer a breeder-only reservation system for Barred WTB males and females, with grow-out dates scheduled throughout the season.

➡️ Full details and breeder reservations here: Breeder Information & Reservations