Amber link

[jcamardo]

Hello everyone, I am a newby and I am finding this site priceless! I have chatted abit and have found people to be very helpful and friendley. There has not been a single question that I have searched on the forum that I havn't found answer for.... except for this... Does anyone have Amber Link chickens? Can you tell me about their disposition and laying habits? I would also love to see a pic if you have one.
Thank you
Janine

 

[Poorfarmer]

I cant say i have them yet. however i read about them and decided to order 50 chicks that will be here next week. Mt. healthy is where i got them from and they have the info. they are supposed to be a good range bird. time will tell.

 

[jcamardo]

I am told that they are big, fat, friendly, and good layers. I can't find anything on them. I am only getting one. The others I plan to get are australorp, araucana, and buff Orpington. They will be pets/ eggs.
Thanks for your post.
Janine

 

[Shellyb]

Hello there. I can't be much help but I just bought 3 amberlinks last week along with 3 red sexlings. I am told they will be mostly white with ambercolor on them too. So far they have been very friendly chicks and came around faster then the reds. Good luck

 

[The Chicken Man]

My Amberlink is only a month old, so I haven't quite found out about its laying habits, etc. It appears to be a sweet chick, and looks to be a promising layer. Amberlinks are said to be great layers (300+ yearly), so if you're looking for a good breed for a laying flock, Amberlinks would fit that criteria.


This is the only hatchery I could find that carries them:
http://www.mthealthy.com/product/AMBER-p

Blurry Photo:

 

[jcamardo]

Chicken Man, thanks for the info. I have been told also that they are great layers of "jumbo" brown eggs and many times will have double yolks. My chick is only 6days old and not showing as much amber markings as yours yet. Its nice to see what I can look forward too. I also have a black austalorp and the Amber link is much more lively.
Janine

 

[jcamardo]

Just a chuckle. My 5yr. old has claimed our Amber Link as her own. She has given him the name "Pecker".

 

[mistymeadowchicks]

Hi. I too am relatively new to chickens, but here's my 2 cents if it helps. A family friend, who has a very nice free-range, brown egg business at a couple farmer's markets & several bakeries, gave me 10 chicks last spring. Being new, I had no idea what kind they were & didn't ask him for some time. The hens, it turned out were Amberlinks (along w/ 2 Barred Rock roosters). In my limited experience, these girls have been a treat--they are prolific, hardy & very adaptable to free-range. They have a ton of personality, are curious & friendly, easy to handle & be around. Even at a very young age, they are 'pros' at scratching/ foraging and they love mulch, pine straw, leaves & hay. As long as it's not the heat of the day when they're enjoying their 'dirt bathes', they'll even come when called. The girls don't seem aggressive toward me, though they quickly put my Border Collies, cats & even the horses in their places. (They were not particularly welcoming when I added more hens & are definitely the queens of the roost, so this might be a potential problem for some.) My hens are almost solid white--if there are brown/amber feathers, its very few if any. And of course, the 'chicken/ egg experts' at my local farmer's market assured me that "white hens would lay white eggs--end of discussion." (I did read differently on this website.) What a wonderful surprise when I found those first beautiful dark brown eggs! And, it wasn't long before I was getting 6 to 7 eggs a week per hen! I don't have a comparison for percentage, but I usually get a couple double yoked eggs each week; as far as egg size, once they got started, the eggs were consistently 'big' mediums/ large & are a very dark gorgeous brown--the envy of my organic farmer/ egg supplier neighbor at market. My chickens have free range of the 9.5 acres during the day and visit horse pastures, hay fields, the yards, woods, & off season, the garden & compost bins. In the past months, I added a dozen mature little red/ brown/ white something hens, from my original source & 2 barred rock hens--this is an addictive hobby. The barred rock hens are pleasant enough, and it may be that the red hens are older & weren't socialized,-- but I think the amberlinks are the most personable & my favorite. If your experiences are anything like mine, I think you'll be very pleased w/ your amberlinks!

 

[KyBlue]

I have a few Amberlinks that are ready to lay, but no eggs yet. Mine are all very calm and friendly birds. Most are white with the faint amber colored feathers, but a couple have much more red on them. Here are some pics I took of a couple of the pullets when they were about 4 months old.

 

[Chris09]

I had 3 rooster up until about a week ago there not a bad breed.
The Amber-Links are a "Reverse" Cross. They are the offspring from a Delaware Rooster over a Rhode Island Red Hen.
With this cross the Males would have Yellowish Gold color in the hackles and over there back and some in there wings. The Females would be White with the traditional Delaware pattern in there neck and tail also may have some Red coloring bleeding through in the back...


I say a "Reverse" Cross because a more traditional sex-link cross would be a Rhode Island Red Rooster over a "Silver" Hen..
(Silver being a Columbian type pattern Hen)


Chris