Wonderful egg layers, both my girls are friendly and easy to catch get one egg a day from them 90% of the time even in the winter. Eggs are extra large and brown. Easy Bird to manage and very tolerant of cold weather.
i like my star, but shes a boring chicken... her name is Princess Baked,
big brown eggs
Great birds if egg production is what you are after...just a little boring for my tastes. I do still keep a few around for egg production.
I have one Sex link gal. She is my very first chicken. She really is my little queen o' chickens. She lays lots of nice brown eggs all the time. She loves it when I snuggle her and can't wait to be picked up and pet. Great personality. Great first time chicken!
These are wonderful, friendly birds excellent layers and good foragers. They lay lots of eggs and are easy to keep in a back yard setting. They're not flighty or noisy like some of the other egg laying breeds such as Leghorns.
I love my Gold Star! She is so nice and she lays an egg every single day for me. The only complaint I have is that her egg shell color changes. It will go from a medium brown to almost white. Her egg size is always the same- BIG!
Friendliest out of all our birds, they are curious and investigate everything. Good layers of large, dark brown eggs.
I got three Red Stars, three years ago. They are the most loving and outgoing hens - very affectionate, seeking hugs all the time. They are very curious, and always wondering what's around the next corner. They started laying their first winter, and pretty much produced an egg every day for the next year and a half.
This spring, I lost two of them to reproductive tract cancer. Our wonderful vet spayed the third, and she also had a very early stage of cancer. The vet says that about 30% of production birds get this cancer by their fourth year, because of the stress of pumping out so many eggs. It was heartbreaking because we'd come to love them so much. If you plan to have chickens as pets and keep them around for a long time, you may want to consider a breed that lays less often.
I got these birds with the Brown Egg Layers special from Murray McMurray and they are wonderful. When I first got my birds I didn't get to spend that quality time with them to insure that they become friendly pet birds so I wasn't expecting what I got. PETS! They are wonderful pets, super friendly and lay plentiful eggs. Some eggs are even really dark brown. They started laying between 20-24 weeks. I love these birds. They are a must to add to your flock!
I have three black star roosters (used to have five, but gave two to a friend) and ten red star pullets. This is my first experience with chickens and I raised these from day-old chicks. The pullets produce large brown eggs from shades of light-pinkish brown to a nice pecan brown. They produce fairly well throughout the Winter months and very well in the Spring, Summer and Fall. Both breeds are very friendly. They don't mind being handled for short periods of time which makes it easier to check their health condition when you need to. They do well in confinement, but prefer to have space to wander about. They're good foragers and will supplement their own feed by finding various bugs and worms to eat. The roosters are great flock protectors and are constantly on the lookout for intruders. My friend (the one mentioned above) tells me that their meat is very tasty, as well. They also breed well. I hatched out seven of my flocks eggs and these birds are a little bit bigger than their parents were at the same age. All in all, the star breeds are great for people who are new to chickens and want plenty of eggs and good meat for their freezers.
Our Black Star was the runt of the group, literally half the size of a few others that were just a bit older but that never deterred her from... anything. Great personality, although she can cause a bit of pain when treats are around. She started laying right on time at about 25 weeks and has been a joy.
I have 2 red stars, got them last summer at 16 weeks old and they were my first chickens. Very friendly, non aggressive, great with my daughters, my big dog(weimeraner), chatty little ladies too. And the only time I wasnt getting an egg EVERY day from each was when they went through some sort of mini molt for like a month right before winter rolled in, but after that, they havent missed a day laying again, and they give me some nice Large - X Large medium brown in color eggs :) :) This is a highly reccomended breed for someone who wants a nice backyard flock with HIGH egg production, and very sweet, sociable, and cold hearty birds.
I have my chickens only for pets, so from all the great reveiws about how freindly they are, my black stars kind of dissapointed me. They don't come up to me, don't like being handled, but are much more freindly than my white leghorn. My Red Sex Link I adore. She is one of my first chickens, she's maybe 6-8 years and still layes. She VERY freindly, and a GIANT! I love love love her!
i love my girls they call to me when they see me in the yard, they are super friendly
We bought 5 last year from a local farm and ranch store. 2 black stars and 3 red star. We found a person on CL that was selling chickens and bought 6 more and they gave us a rooster. The 6 hens were older and one died before winter hit. They were giving us 9-10 eggs until winter came and now we get 6-7 a day.
When I went to the feed store I was set on Buff Opringtons. They had sold out and I was very disappointed. I was outside in the parking lot and heard chickens peeping. I went to the back where they keep two big walk-in coops. One of the employee told me that none of the white Leghorns where for sale just the black Sex-Links. I sat there watching the Black's being ruff up by the Leghorns. I told them I would take two and pointed out which two. I got them home; they was scared, not use to being handle, and didn't trust me (lol) I didn't blame them. It's Sunday and I've been keeping them on the back-porch. I had a coop just build but I have been sitting with them changing their litter paper, keeping the food bowl full, and holding them. Bertha and Peaches now have happy peeps. I have learned when they are calling for me,and they will sit on my arm for a while. Bertha not pecking my finger when I reach for her anymore. I will still get some Buff Opringtons but my girls the Black Star's are my heart. Peaches(first picture) have more gold hackles real sweetheart. Bertha (second picture) got more bravo and the first to walk out to make sure the coast clear before giving Peaches the come out peep.
even the best brown egg layers out there can not keep up with these girls.
i have incubated the eggs for 3 generations without losing egg production or sex link.
They are very great birds. Amazing egg layers. Very friendly. I would love to have a LOT of these.
We have 2 black stars. They are lightweights compared to some of my hens but they make up for it with spunk. They are at the top of our flock's pecking order. They are some of our best layers and quickly rebounded after the winter moult back into semi regular egg production. They are very pretty and add some variety and color to our flock. My only complaint is that they are loud. Bawk bawk bawk! Cackling after laying, cackling in the morning if you don't let them out in a timely manner, and cackling if (God forbid) some other hen is in their favorite nest box when they need it. The eggs are nice though and they are fun to pet and tend to be very friendly. We have had good success with this variety and would have at least one in a mixed flock to bump your egg production up a bit.
I bought these girls as 6 month olds they layed eggs the day I moved them hardy little ladys good workers earning their keep.
Our Gold Comet was a great production layer, giving a dark brown egg every day, even through winter. Rarely took a day off laying.
She turned out to be the dominant hen, and while confined to the pen during winter, began pecking the smaller RIR till she bled. Regretably we had to ship her off to the egg co-op. I plan on getting another GC next spring as she was such a good layer.
I purchased 8 Red Star hens and 1 rooster last April; this is my first time raising chickens. I babysat 6 hens the winter before I purchased mine, and knew almost instantly that I wanted to raise my own. One of my chicks (a hen) died the second day they were home. That wasn't too easy to take.
They are going to a year old this coming April. The hens are excellent layers and my rooster, Foghorn, is awesome and always looks out for our girls. One of my hens is named Miss Prissy. She always acts like she's the Queen of the pack and also has more white on her than my other girls.
My boy and girls will never be eaten. They are my pets and I always treat them like a member of the family; they are extremely spoiled. Their coop is insulated, has heat and lighting. They also have a radio. And they always get our leftovers... they're like little garbage disposals! They are let outside every day in the spring, summer and fall. Our winter this year (Wisconsin) has been extremely mild with hardly any accumulating snow, so they were let out a day here and there weather permitting.
Foghorn knows who I am... but he sure doesn't like those he doesn't recognize. He will tolerate visitors if I am with them, but will chase anyone else who dares trespass. I am hoping to enter him and probably Miss Prissy in this summer's county fair, but haven't really decided yet. I love my chickens to death.
I Love my RSL and my BSL. They are excellent layers and have great personalities to boot! Hardy chickens with a beautiful set of feathers on both colors.
Highly recommended!
Black Stars have been the highest producing hens in our homestead flock, with the exception of leghorns and leghorn crosses. No other brown-egg layer has been as productive for us, with Barred Rocks probably taking second place. Eggs quickly get past the "pullet egg" size, and move through large to x-lrge and jumbo. Hens are large, with massive crops, stout legs and strong feet. They take very well to free-ranging, energetically rustling for their own feed, but they are not averse to gorging at the feeder. A mixed bag of personalities, some high in the pecking order, and some on the bottom, but all docile and interactive with humans. Hens laid year round (15 hour light regimen), and most of the time would lay where they were supposed to. The birds were alert to predators, and have good coloring to avoid detection. As hens reached their 1st birthday, it wasn't uncommon to see the occasional soft-shelled egg, not unusual for a bird with such high production. (These birds have free choice access to calcium). Molting speed varied.
Hens went broody and raised chicks for us more than any other breed or breed cross we have had. This was rather ironic, since we were told the BS's were commercial-level brown egg layers, and did not go broody. Even more ironic was that we were raising Buff Orpingtons at the same time, a breed known for broodiness, and not one BO went broody! BS's, being large birds, can cover a lot of eggs (one hen hatched 12 eggs).
BS carcasses were fat, with a decent amount of meat (more so than the purebreds in the flock). Hens seemed to break down early though, with several becoming internal layers and others dropping production level as they became very fat. Perhaps these birds do not do well on free choice feed? Or maybe high production burns them out earlier.
For me, the biggest negative with Black Stars was the noise. Hens are extremely vocal at laying time, with loud, penetrating squawks and clucks before and after laying. It was annoying enough that once we culled them all out, we have not gotten any more. A hen house and nest boxes well away from the house would make it less of a problem.
A couple of years ago one of my cousins recieved two "Easter chicks". They were both dyed hideous pastel colors and were crammed in a little cardboard box. She called us the same day and asked if we could "rescue" her chicks while we were visiting for her graduation.
Both babies came home with us and flourished; one male and one female. We kept the little girl and sent the male to our friend Bryce who has a farm out in the country, with more space for a crowing boy.
We named our little red star girl Collette because her comb grew so large that it looks like a jaunty little beret on the top of her head. She's a great layer and super sweet.
A wonderful non-breed. beautiful, excellent layers, big eggs, friendly.
My black stars follow me inside, hop up on my shoulder and follow me around the yard. They lay nice sized eggs and are just a friendly bird! They are also quiet.
Our Black Star is a super layer, she is very clever, and VERY curious. She is quick to come up to us and join the group, but she is also very flighty and a bit nervous. We bought her as a pullet from a local farmer who had a large flock - so she had not has as much one on one human time....despite this she is very sweet.
I own three of these wonderful hens and they have always kept me on my toes, one is extremely broody and needs a firm hand and one has had her name changed to Houdini-do-it? Very smart hens with lots of character, three words of advice KEEP THEM BUSY
I had my Black star hen for 6 yrs... I love her she was a sweety!! She go sick and didn't make it!!
good birds alot of awesome eggs an overall good buy for just 2.00$ at tsc in ky.
I've seen some reviews of these being skiddish and not wanting to be handled. Mine follow me all over the yard and my 4 y/o daughter can pick anyone of them up and carry anywhere. I get 4-6 eggs/day from 6 hens. Just added 2 Australorps. RSL's are somewhat territorial against new ones, but no problem with them sharing coop. At night they're all cuddled together!
These have been the best chickens I have had. Reliable layers of big eggs! So friendly, they will squat and let me pick them up no problem. Even with a shovel in my hands they will stay close so they can scratch in the freshly dug soil. They are even pretty good with the kids. They are also quieter then the other breeds we have had. We had one that would (no joke) jump up on our lap and stand on our legs when we would sit on the porch swing (see pic at top). Only negative has been that unlike our Road Island Reds that run these give up when attacked. That and we have had a couple get sick and not make it. Even still, I would get them again. Perfect for people in the city or those with kids. Or people that just want friendly birds!
I was hesitant to give this breed only 3 stars because I've heard so many stories from fellow chicken-owners that conflicted with my feelings about the breed. I may have an untypical Red Star hen, so keep that in mind as you are reading my review. From what I've heard, these are supposed to be the very best layers, but I haven't been as pleased with ours. She doesn't lay as often as my other chickens. She gets an egg in about every other day. And when she does lay them, they are enormous! Much too big to fit inside a standard, large size egg carton to sell. (I believe this might be due to the fact that she holds her eggs in for 2 days at a time.)
She is extremely skittish and particular. The slightest change in her schedule will cause her to stop laying for days at a time. She also has more trouble than all my other hens at grooming herself. We have to keep her behind trimmed almost to her skin or it gets bad back there. ;o)
Even so, I'm giving this breed another chance, just because I've heard such good things from everyone else. We just brought 13 more Red Stars home and I'm going to test and see if our first Red Star was just atypical. Will amend this review once our chicks are full grown!
Our blog: Dixie Creek Farm
These guys are great chickens I really enjoy having them (I have a black star and a red star), they are so curious (my red star more so though) as far as I know they lay everyday (i'm pretty sure I havn't payed much attention to it, I do have one that lays every other day) anyway all in all I enjoy them. :)
Always come running when we go out, and even wait to be picked up. Very awesome layers of maybe even XL eggs at times, one lays dark brown eggs and my other one lays a light brown. Gets along well with my barred rocks. Mine where darker red chicks, and as adults still have that dark red orange color, One has white flecks in neck feathers and a lighter tail feather.
Careful where you buy them, some can have lots of health problems when they age!
Bette...names after Bette Davis who was also bossy...is noisy!
Pretty, great eggs, good attitude, I would have more of them!
My Star lays almost 2 to 3 eggs a day and she has hatched out over 20 chicks in one clutch. These birds are great all around hens.
a couple of these hens will actually stick around to get some petting, but not for long.....
I have two Black Stars, one Red Star and a laced winged Wyandotte. The Stars are all great people hens; they follow me around and love to be held. They're not quite as cuddly as my sweet little Wyandotte. These hens have loads of personality, but I find that the Red Star is the really comedian of the group as is always the instigator of all chicken mayhem at my house. They are also very talkative to each other and to me.
They have been very consistent egg producers for the year I've had them. It is rare for any of the Stars to miss a day of egg laying. The eggs are L - XL. The albumen of the Red Star is much more dense than that of the Black Stars.
Because they are intelligent, you need to make sure they have lots of activities available. Mine free range, so I'm not sure how they would do in close quarters. They also tend to overwhelm the meek little Wyandotte, though they don't peck or otherwise mistreat her.
I think this is a perfect breed for the first time chicken owner, and would highly recommend you include at least one Red Star.
I have 5 one-year-old hens (2 Black and 3 Red). The blacks are my favorite - they have a great personality and are simply beautiful.
They started laying at 5 months old and have laid 2-ounce brown eggs consistently all winter long, even when we had a week straight of rain and they were basically confined to their coop. The girls free range all day and don't eat much feed for the amount of eggs they produce.
All our Stars are friendly and most enjoy being held. My 8-year-old often runs around the yard with a hen tucked under his arm like a football! The do tend to get underfoot when we are feeding them or they think we might have treats, and we had one hen break a toe when she got stepped on. It healed well and doesn't give her any problem now. We have one hen who loves music and hangs out by my boy's bedroom window to listen to him play guitar. She will sneak in whenever she can.
The only cons I can think of is that mine are greedy girls and once they jumped up and snatched a sandwich right out of my hand when I wasn't paying attention. They also tend to hog the nesting boxes and will kick our Rocks out if they want the same box. I didn't list these things in the CONS section because this may just be a result of the pecking order and not necessarily an aspect of the breed. They also can be hard to tell apart, so you may want to band them with different colored zip ties in the beginning if that's important to you.
Overall, I love this breed! They are the core of our flock, have great personalities, and love to hang out with me when I'm in the yard weeding or doing chores. I would recommend them especially for those who can only have a few hens because they are reliable layers, eat very little, and are good with children. Plus, because they're a sex link, you don't have to go through the worry of possibly having gotten a cockerel by mistake!
my stars are only 5 wks old so cant really give that much feedback on them. but they did peck the wattle of our older silkie and made it bleed.
reliable layer but very big hens poops really big
I have experimented with six different breeds of hens and the Stars (Golden Comet) are without a doubt my favorite hands down. We had a mild winter, but they layed every day right through and the eggs are extra large to even bigger some days! Our one remaining Comet, Thelma,(dog got our other two) is as sweet as she can be and curious (we call her nosy). Her best friend Louise was an even better layer than she is. They love to free range during the day and will "talk" to us until we let them out. Great foragers and have done a good job of helping to turn the garden over for planting! If I had a whole flock of them I would be quite happy!
My star is only 4 weeks old, so it's too soon to tell. She is one of the smallest and sweetest of the four I have.
sweet girls !I just got 5 redstars they are19 weeks old ,waiting for eggs , they are very quiet ,curios and like to be petted this one I named fancy! 
My 2yo black stars are the first hens I've ever owned. I got them just over a month ago, March 2012. They went straight to the coop and hid there for 2 days, and finally ventured out when I started putting food on the ground instead of the coop. They come running to me the second they hear me or see me. They don't readily let you pick them up, but they don't try to run screaming away either. Once you get them in your arms, they settle in and don't try to fly or fight their way down. They eat out of my hands and after a few minutes will let me pet them. It took them about 3 weeks to settle in and produce my first egg! I get an egg, sometimes two, a day. I love my little mama's!
I absolutely ADORE my Star. She is my favorite chicken ( if I HAD to pick favorites) and head honcho of my three younger ones. I hand raised her from a tiny chicken, and she is extremely affectionate. She's figured out that she can climb up my leg vertically while flapping her wings really hard to perch on my shoulder. I call it a 'bird party' because she'll initiate a shoulder perch, and the others will follow suit. She LOVES to nuzzle my hand so that I pet her neck. I would recommend this breed to beginners and anyone for that matter.
The wonderful thing about red sex-links for people new to chickens would be the ability to confidently know for sure what gender you are buying. If you only want hens then this might be a good choice for you. We have 6 of these wonderful birds, all females. They are calm and GREAT large brown egg layers! Many hatcheries create their own brand names for sex link chickens.
I have a Red Star and she is GREAT. She is an amazing layer. She has not missed a day for atleast 3 months. She is really friendly too. She is cold hardy, and her laying doesn't slow down in the winter. I love her!!!
First generation cross makes gender known at hatch. GREAT layers for any operation of large/XL brown eggs. They will slow down after 2 years, not for those who wish to keep the flock laying for many years since they are strongly bred for early production.
Calm birds, some flying ability. Good foragers. Not likely to go broody but can happen. The color sexing is only good on the first cross, so you must buy more or produce the cross yourself.
Great pets for backyards, great layers when you need dependable eggs, at least for the first 1 1/2 years. They seem to handle confinement well with their calm natures. Good size birds, easy to put weight on them after they're done laying.
I have a flock of 25 sex-link hens, both black and red from Townline Hatchery. I prefer the black variety to the red. The BSL are larger and calmer with a light brown colored egg. The RSL are a slightly better layer with a smaller body size and a darker egg shell. The blacks can get large enough to butcher. These birds are easy to keep and lay exceptionally well. I pasture mine with a trailer coop and an electric net fence. They are cold hardy and they do just fine in my unheated/uninsulated coop (I live in MI). I have also had BSL go broody and raise some chicks. They make very good mothers. I will never have a flock without these birds, they are wonderful.
I purchased originally 6 and a lady at the store talked us into buying the last one. Well on the 99 percent chance of them being pullets i now have 3 cockerels.
Kinda bummed that my first go around with chickens i have a minimum of 2 that need to go but overall very friendly and curious. great first time chicks, my 5 year old daughter is very hands on and they sit there and perch and even let her lay them on their backs. May have been partially off subject for a bit but great for the price, cant wait to start getting eggs
This is my favorite chicken. I only got one because she wasn't a 'pure bred', however, I wouldn't think twice about getting a whole flock of these for laying. They are very docile, have wonderful personalities, they are dual purpose. They lay large light brown eggs. Winter hearty; had mine confined all winter with a light in the coop to keep it warm. She is my most consistent layer of all my hens. She lays EVERYDAY, even in the winter and she has the most wonderful sweet personality of all my hens.
Great birds if you want lots of big eggs. They were friendly, almost to friendly. They tried to come inside with us and we even found them trapped in the garage a few times.
When I collected eggs to hatch in the spring, over 50% of all hatched eggs came from these birds. That was not what we were looking for and I only had one coop, so we sold them to make more room for better breeders (but not better layers)
The Stars/Sex-Links are overall fantastic Birds!
- These are not the prettiest pattereof chickens that you will ever see, but do they their job, and will provide you with a bounty of delicious fresh eggs
- These birds barely ever go broody
- They are good foragers and mine are not too loud and noisey
- They lay a beautiful large (ours were extra large) brown egg almost everyday
- They are friendly birds (*my reds seem to be much more noticably friendly and outgoing then my blacks, my reds will follow me around the yard and like to be in our presence, while my blacks like to go off on their own)
- They did well throughout the cold winters
- My girls were hatched in April of 2010. This past little while I have noticed a large drop in egg production.
If you are looking for a great hardworking layers of big eggs, and not worried about replacing when they start slowing down after a year and a half or so, or if you are looking for a special looks or pysical features in a bird, I would for sure consider giving this breed a shot. From my experience, I would reccemend them and deffinitely get them again for the eggs
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