My friend had 3 Red sexlinks. They are prolific layers that exhaust themselves by/before age 2. My friend had one die early, one got eggbound and then died, and a 3rd stopped laying early and eventually died while all the heritage breeds were doing fine. The Sexlinks can either be sweet or aggressive as any breed can exhibit these traits but the Reds seem the most aggressive. The lowly White Leghorn is the most prolific layer IMO of LG/XL eggs but about 45% get reproductive/ovarian issues before age 4 -- however if they live past that critical 4th year will continue producting well into their 5th to 8th year laying 20% less eggs each year of their life as is normal with any laying breed. IMO any breed that lays more than 180 eggs/year is going to have reproductive issues. That's why I don't mind it if my good layers take a prolonged time off before resuming laying again so I don't use artificial light or stimulants for laying other than good diet, vitamins, and routine health maintenance for worms/lice/mites. If you're curious, try one Sexlink. If I'm curious about a breed I get one as an experiment to see if I like the traits. I've found I prefer gentle non-combative breeds in the 5-lb-and-under range to have a peaceful backyard flock. Some of the breeds produce only 100 eggs/year and my best lays about 180 eggs/year with no artificial prolonged winter lighting or laying stimulants. I'm fine with that since we've made pets out of all of them
My Salmon Faverolles cockerel just started mating, and has mounted several of my pullets (ages 4.5-5.5 months). I've witnessed him mounting one of my four 10 month old hens too, but overall, he's still pretty scared of my bossier-than-him hens at the moment. Lol.
