Breeds

[gentlemanfarmer]

I am not sure where to post this question. I see a thread for meat chickens, but not for laying chickens. Any way, here is my question. Are sex link chickens any better layers then just the Rhoad Island Red? Or any standard chicken. I am leaning toward a mixed flock of maybe, bo, br, and rir.

 

[CovenantCreek]

My sex links laid extremely well the last part of '07 and most of '08. As they got older though, their egg whites got runnier. Now that they're almost 2 yrs old, they aren't all laying every day -- maybe only 5-6 eggs a week each.

My Delaware girls didn't produce nearly as well till they were almost a year old, and still don't produce 1 egg per hen per day. I don't know about the other breeds you mention, but I believe that they all lay pretty well and you'd average at least 2 eggs for every 3 hens.

 

[PortageGirl]

I wouldn't say they're any better at all. They're a great thing for the hatcheries because they can sort the sexes easier, faster and so, at much less cost, and considerably more profit, and you won't get ANY oopses (mistaken cockerels) in your shipment. They have many good things about them and I have nothing against them at ALL! But if you want certain breeds for their own characteristics, then you should go with that because the sex-links are rather generic, and they don't breed true.

Here's my favorite breed chart, I keep handing it out to everyone!

Lot's of good info. http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

 

[Beekissed]

I don't find my Black Sexlinks any more proliferant than my other gals and their eggs seem just medium in size.

I don't know why people think the sexlinks are any better layers then their parentage breeds. When you breed one good laying breed to another it doesn't follow that you get twice the laying power....you just get a bird that comes from laying genetics on both sides. I've read that they "burn out" sooner, but I can't imagine why...they lay an egg each day just like my heritage breeds...and actually matured later then my New Hamps and Doms.

 

[Harley's girl]

I just took to the auction my older hens......but not my black sex links. They still lay faithfully every day or every other day. I like them so much I got the hens and rooster to make the sex link chicks.

I have red, brown, and black sex link eggs. (They are all in the coop together so it is fun to hatch them out. You never know what you are gonna get!)