What Breed Are My Hens?

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RattleCan

RattleCan

Chirping
5 Years
Oct 25, 2014
127
28
73
Maryland, USA
I've had these two hens for about two years now. They're my first and only chickens, and I'm still learning breeds. I bought them off an Amish man who claimed they were Road Island Reds, and that's what I've always called them, but they don't look dark enough in coloration to be RIR and they don't have any black on their tails. A friend of mine recently took a look at them and said they could be New Hampshire Reds or Red Stars. I don't think they're red stars as that's what my neighbor has a flock of and mine are a good bit bigger. So I'm at a loss.

The first picture is from this past fall. but they haven't changed much. One has gotten a good bit of white speckling on her back feathers, but that's it.



These two pictures are from this past March. Ignore the rooster, he belongs to my neighbor. Shortly after this photoshoot, the girls told him off and he hasn't come back since!



 
They are pretty chickens!

They look like Red Stars to me, a friendly, pretty hybrid used for laying. They are very common, and do look somewhat like Rhode Island Reds.
Red Stars, being hybrids, can vary in size, coloration, and plenty of other traits.

Here are mine. All the red ones except one are Red Stars



Best of luck with your girls!
 
I agree, those are Red Stars...a hybrid mix of red based usually RIR roo and a silver based hen such as Delaware or Wyandotte to get color coded chicks...the girls come out with reddish gold down while the boys hatch out with yellow white down...but that is only the first generation.

Your neighbor may have Red Stars, but he is not breeding Red Stars with that rooster as the color coding only lasts the first generation, and can only be done with a pure red based roo and a pure silver based hen... the necessary trait of a Star...Sexlink.

After the first generation, they are just barnyard mixes with both genders hatching with the same chick down color, the sexlinking dropping away.

RIR's can be lighter weight than Sexlinks, and have darker body tones and black trim. New Hampshires are generally heavier and have more orange/burnt tones with black trimmings.

Stars are a medium to sometimes a bit heavier (if a New Hampshire was used as the roo) and will have the white trimming....at least the hens will. The roo's will be white with red wing bars or if Delaware was used may have some black ticking.

Great layers and sweet birds. Always try to keep part of my flock in them as they are such great layers.

LofMc
 
Last edited:
...and to add...you neighbor's roo looks like a 2nd generation Red Star...Red Stars bred to each other which does not produce sexlinking as all the birds come out looking like the female red with white trimming.

He should not call them Red Stars in that instance as that term is used solely for sexlinked hybrids. They would simply be barnyard red birds.

LofMc
 
Thank you all for your comments! I'm defintely convinced now that they're red stars! I understand how the red sexlinked breed works, but I guess I didn't realize just how different red star hens could look. I guess that makes sense, given different species can be bred to create red stars. Thanks so much for helping me ID them!

As for my neighbor's rooster, I'm not sure if my neighbor claimed he was a red star too or not. I know he said all his hens are red stars, but he never mentioned the rooster breeds. He had two, the one pictured above and another big white one. The white one was put down this past winter because he was in poor health, so the red one is the only one left. I don't think he breeds them, he just keeps the rooster around to guard the hens. He probably is just a second generation red star since that's the breed most locals have. Either way, I think he's a pretty handsome fellow himself. Too bad the girls don't want him around!
 
junebuggena said:
They do not use different species to make Red Stars. They are sexlinks. They use one breed of chicken bred to another breed of chicken. They are all still chickens.
Click to expand...

I think the OP meant breeds.
smile.png
 
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You would be surprised how many people don't realize that all chickens are the same species. I've talked to a lot of people who honestly thought each breed was a separate species and could not be cross bred.
 
Lady of McCamley said:
I agree, those are Red Stars...a hybrid mix of red based usually RIR roo and a silver based hen such as Delaware or Wyandotte to get color coded chicks...the girls come out with reddish gold down while the boys hatch out with yellow white down...but that is only the first generation.

Your neighbor may have Red Stars, but he is not breeding Red Stars with that rooster as the color coding only lasts the first generation, and can only be done with a pure red based roo and a pure silver based hen... the necessary trait of a Star...Sexlink.

After the first generation, they are just barnyard mixes with both genders hatching with the same chick down color, the sexlinking dropping away.

RIR's can be lighter weight than Sexlinks, and have darker body tones and black trim. New Hampshires are generally heavier and have more orange/burnt tones with black trimmings.

Stars are a medium to sometimes a bit heavier (if a New Hampshire was used as the roo) and will have the white trimming....at least the hens will. The roo's will be white with red wing bars or if Delaware was used may have some black ticking.

Great layers and sweet birds. Always try to keep part of my flock in them as they are such great layers.

LofMc
Click to expand...
x2
 
Correct, breeds is what I meant, not species. I'd be a crappy biologist to believe otherwise. I'm at work and my office is a forest, so I blame the heat!
 

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