Red Stars vs. Black Stars

[SmittenChicken]

Would love to hear everyone's experiences with Red Stars and Black Stars - I'm sure they're all different, since they can be made many different ways. But I've found it interesting to see how mine (from McMurray, hatched 4/2/2010 and hand raised) have turned out and am wondering if any of you have similar observations?

My Red Stars (Tikka and Tandoori) were the 2nd and 3rd of my 13 chickens to start laying. They lay virtually every day (I think they have taken 1 or 2 days off since they started laying 3 weeks ago!). Also, the eggs were nearly the size of storebought from the start, and a beautiful dark brown. Every egg from them has been perfect. They are very quiet when they lay, and don't make a lot of noise in general. These 2 girls have become really sweet since they started squatting, and really enjoy being handled. They will squat repeatedly when I'm out there and have been known to peck at people if we're not paying enough attention to them.

My Black Stars (Sesame and Kung Pao) are a little different. They are LOUD and constantly make a racket when I'm out there, and they sing the egg song a lot for the other chickens. They have also been extremely friendly and demanding since they started squatting, but aren't as sweet as the Reds. They've been squatting for weeks now, but I only get 1-2 eggs a week from Kung Pao, and I'm pretty sure Sesame isn't laying yet although I've caught her practicing in the nest boxes. I'm getting occasional double yolkers and floor eggs that look like the ones Kung Pao has been laying, too. Her eggs are much smaller, about 2/3 the size as the Red Stars'.

How do your sexlinks from McMurray/other places stack up? Have you seen the same thing? I do love my BSLs, but at this point I'd trade them in for a couple more Reds in a heartbeat!

 

[sred98]

Hmmm....I think I'm the opposite! LOL! I love my Black Stars-big friendly girls with huge brown eggs. Very demanding. One flies onto my shoulders when I sit outside. My Reds tend to prolapse, don't lay quite as big, and aren't as friendly. I live in the country, so noise isn't an issue. I like knowing when they lay, because I can usually beat my mutt to the eggs! I think my BSL's layed earlier, too. Plus, I just think they're prettier!

Shelly

 

[serendipityfarm]

I don't have experience w/the BSL's but my two Reds were the best Chickens! They too laid nearly every day. At least a dozen eggs a week between the 2 of them, and they were known to come right up on the back deck (and once right into the kitchen, much to hubby's dismay) looking for treats. They weren't what I would call affectionate, but tolerated being held and petted pretty well. And I recently learned from a neighbor they enjoyed a good time on the trampoline w/their young daughter on more than 1 occasion! When I got home from work they always ran to meet me at the car.
Sadly, a fox got them a few months ago. I do miss them, and would definitely get more!

 

[Leah and peeps]

Great topic! I'd love to hear some comparisons/ pros/cons about these breeds!

 

[mgw]

We have 5 BSLs that have been laying about a month and heve laid around 100 eggs so far. We really like them, we dont have any reds but we do have 1 golden comet to young to lay but seems to be very nice and docile, waiting to see what kind of layer she becomes weve heard good though, as with most sex links.

 

[tomjoad]

I love my Red Star hens. I think they arrived from MM about 3/15/10. Half of them started laying way early. It seems like they become fairly consistent layers as soon as they begin to lay. Like has been said, most of my RS have big pretty brown eggs. Some hens have even darker maroonish spots evenly dotting the egg. A couple of my RS lay double yolks about once a week. These doubles are huge and take up most of the palm of your hand. The hens have never been aggressive or loud. They are sweet and docile, follow me around, and will eat from my hand. Considering another order for the spring.

I let them free range during the day and I coop them at night. At first, I lost a couple of these hens on the range. They are nice, but not too smart. So they are not the best foragers, but, after Darwin thinned the RS hens, the ones that are left are solid foragers. These hens run with some SC Brown Leghorn hens, and the Leghorns are excellent foragers, and none have been killed.

I do have one Red Star hen that wouldn't coop up at night. I had to find her everyday and pick her up to take her to the coop. She became my pet, and she finally started to go to the coop without any problem

I have a nice RIR roo that I bred back to these Red Stars and I am incubating the eggs. Any ideas on whether the egg-laying ability will decline? Also have RC Brown Leghorn bred to RS hens, and hope to get a good egg layer with foraging skills.

I would recommend the RS hens, but I don't know, from experience, how they stack up with the Black Star hens.

 

[SmittenChicken]

Thanks for the replies, everyone - sounds like there are a lot of birds like mine. I'd be curious to know what hatchery your sexlinks came from and when, too.

Serendipity: laughed out loud at the trampoline story, thanks for that mental image! Sorry to hear about your girls

TomJoad: mine are also not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they do at least seem to be pretty good foragers. I'm interested to hear how your RIR cross turns out!

I just did a count, and from my two Red Stars I've received 32 eggs so far - one started laying on August 17th, and the other on the 22nd. And the poor girls have each taken only one day off! My Black Stars, on the other hand... Maybe it's time to show them the frying pan again.

 

[eKo_birdies]

I have RSLs from Privett, hatched last August. They are great layers, but I am not fond of them in the least. I am actually selling them off to make room for more BSLs.

That said, my BSLs from McMurray (hatched this February) are my absolute favorites. I have 18 and get 17 to 18 eggs a day from them. They are super friendly.. they actually hang out w/ my cats. The Light Brahma rooster lets it happen too.

Both are great foragers, but the RSLs try to pick fights w/ the meat bird cockerels. They don't win. I have also noticed that the coop where the RSLs reside (mixed breed flock) there is a lot more of an obvious pecking order. The coop where my BSLs live (also a mixed breed flock) is the picture of serenity.

 

[woodmort]

I've had both RS and BS from MM, not at the same time, however. I liked both varieties and found both were dependable layers, especially in cold weather. As for their personalities, I had them in groups of 2 dozen or more and found they ran the gamut from friendly to scared to death of me. (I don't intentionally make pets out of my birds but some become tamer than others.) Right now I have 26, May 30th, BS pullets and there are a few that run to me whenever I come into the yard, some ignore me.

 

[michickenwrangler]

I have 5 red sex links from TSC/Mt. Healthy and they are friendly, talkative, cold hardy and good layers.

We also have 3 BSL pullets from Townline Hatchery. They are skittish and the one is kinda dumb. One of them is an almost black, iridescent glossy color. She's also the most assertive and curious of the three. They're not as friendly as the RSLs. DH refers to these as "the vultures." They just started laying, so I don't know how they are overall as layers yet.

Of course, DH calls all the non-Cochins, "Those obnoxious hens."