The Lowdown on Red Sex Links

Sorry you had such bad luck with your red stars, Phoenixx. I read somewhere else that someone (in New Jersey, I think) thought they weren't as winter hardy, nor as adept at getting away from predators, but I guess that depends a lot on the precise breeds and strains that were used to produce them. They are designed for commercial egg production, after all, and in some cases I'm sure they (or their parent lines) are bred with egg production in mind at the expense of qualities such as ability to free range and winter hardiness (after all they would be likely raised in confinement commercially). And some strains are bred to be smaller, closer in size to a white leghorn (and therefore require less feed), than most purebred brown egg layers. I guess you can get the feather color effects by crossing any strain of Rhode Island or New Hampshire Red rooster with any strain of the various and sundry breeds of white, Columbian, silver-laced, etc. hens used to produce red or buff sex links, but there's a big difference between commercial, production strains vs. heirloom or show strains in all these breeds. I had great luck with the Ideal Hatchery black stars, hopefully I will with the red stars as well. Oddly enough, the best setting hen I ever had was a black star...go figure! I guess it all depends on what strains were used to create them.

My red sex link Beatrice is the most beautiful little chicken. I love the colours on her and her nature is very sweet and tame, much like you said. Thanks for all the helpful information, I've a newbie chicken owner. I have five chickens and this information helped me learn a lot more about Beatrice.

Well, I was lucky with my 6 Hampshire Reds that I mentioned back in the spring...the sexers didn't make a mistake and they are all pullets. Very pretty chestnut red with some black in the tail feathers, make a neat contrast to my 6 red stars with white in their tail feathers. And fortunately the red stars weren't at all aggressive to the new gals when I let them run together for the first time. But they have a big pasture with plenty of things to do (that chickens like to do, that is)! They and the 6 black stars I got as well should start laying in a couple more weeks.

BSLs also known as Black Stars tend to be calmer, friendlier, and less aggressive to other chickens. They lay a little less frequently than RSLs, but the eggs are larger. Both BSLs and RSLs are very good layers. The difference is more in egg size and temperament.

Where I now have 6 of each (6 red stars and 6 black stars), I'm curious to see how they will compare. I don't know if the 6 black stars I now have are from the same hatchery as the ones I had 7 or so years ago, although both groups came from our local feedstore, but as I mentioned earlier one of those hens was the best setting hen I ever had... and they are a commercial hybrid and not supposed to go broody.

Are these not ISA Browns?

@ErniesFlock Well the two hybrids can be essentially categorised together, but no there are a few differences, although they do look quite similar don't they? I've kept Isa Browns and RSLs.

No kidding! So are these too "patented" like the ISA's? Or more like the Black Sexy links? I actually breed Blue Sexlinks with my Blue Copper Maran Roo and my Barred/Cuckoo hen of unknown breed origin. Simple boys come out barred and the girls come out blue or black its pretty 50/50 I have a picture of the hen posted maybe you can tell me what you think she may be or came from. I suspect Cuckoo Marans cause she has those white feet, with that said she also has 5 toes on each foot. We call her NWA - No Wattles At all. Anyways ya I love my 4 ISA Browns. I have been experimenting with reproducing them only to produce true to type (whatevr that may be its limited to only 2 of my rescued hens) and to lay one brown egg a day. My recent F2,s are 50%+ true to type meaning they look identical i am impressed with myself since I am new at the breeding game. Time will tell re eggs. My next project is to add a barring to my countries very own Chantecler... or Lavender

I started to breed red sex links this spring using my New Hampshire rooster and a variety of hens incl. Dorking, Barred Rock and Delaware. The chicks are fabulous and I know from the get go who will be a part of a a laying flock and who is going to the freezer. The Dorking cross boys the best carcass. The only girl who is laying from this year's crop is a Del cross and she lays a beautiful dark brown egg about 6 days a week.

Mine is Maddie, a joy and mostly friendly, the one that comes up to me most and will deal with being held. She is a doll. She and my Tetra Tint were laying at like 4-5 months old.

Originally we included 3 RSL in our mixed flock for their egg-laying prowess but now, I would keep them just for their personalities. One of them is my special girl who follows me around like a dog and loves to be carried. All our girls are great birds but the RSL's are amazing!

I am into egg layers and in my flock of 55 or so hens 1/3 of them is RSL and another 1/8 is BSL. I really cannot tell the difference between the two hybrids in egg performance. IT is very unusually cold in central TX right now and for the most part the RSL are keeping production going on a regular basis. The BSL started molting in Nov. and are just now starting to look pretty good and should be producing again in about a month or so. Anyway just pitching in and saying that in my opinion, an egg laying small to medium operation would benefit from having the best hybrid combination in the market of the RSL or the BSL! You can either breed your own or buy them from a reputable hatchery!

I could only have a few chickens so RSL were and obvious choice to maximize my eggs. I have been very happy with them. Egg production is great personality is even better!

The RSL's in my flock (RIR x SLW) are VERY aggressive. We had to give one away and the two remaining ones wear Peepers to keep them at the same attitude as the rest of the flock. Took the Peepers off one day as an experiment and they went caveman on the others. Oops! It took a good half year for them to lay Large rather than Small/Medium eggs, BUT they lay nearly every day which is great for those who sell eggs.

Previously I had other RSL's from hatcheries that were very sweet. I will never do this custom cross again, though.

I hear/read a lot of conflicting reports about RSLs; some say they are aggressive, others not, some say they are less adept at getting away from predators, ie, more suited to confinement, and others say they are less winter-hardy (fortunately not an issue for me in Georgia). I guess it all depends on the exact crosses/parent lines used, and evidently there are a great many. I am not sure what the exact parentage of mine are, even though a number of breeds can be used, the end results (ie., reddish buff hens with white underfeathers) generally look similar. Although I read that if a Delaware is used, the hens look identical to a purebred RIR or NHR. In fact my first flock was red sex links, and they looked just like purebred RIRs. So their mothers may have been Delawares. .

I have 16 of them for production specifically. I am not sure how old they are, they are laying pretty well. They are bully's for sure.

In all of the poultry I've ever owned, the only bullying I've experienced is between male birds. If you have more than one rooster, it's almost inevitable that one will become dominant and bully the other(s), to the point that the weaker one will be forced to hide in a nesting box or some such place constantly and will be brutally attacked if it comes out to try to eat or drink. And once they are sexually mature, you can't keep more than one male ringneck pheasant together with hens; the dominant one will literally kill the subordinate one. I've had the same thing happen with Muscovy duck drakes. And the one breed of poultry that I don't like and will never raise again are Chinese geese. They are mean, not just to humans but to other birds as well. I hatched some under a Muscovy hen once and even though they were raised with them, as soon as they got older the goslings started killing the ducklings. Never had that problem with graylag breed geese. Although again if you have more than one gander, the weaker one may get bullied, especially during mating and breeding season.

I completely agree with what @abserbean said. I wish I had read this article! A couple of years ago, I was starting a flock and the available pullets locally were two RSLs and a RIR. They get along fine and have been super sweet to all humans, affectionate and funny and great layers. BUT... as soon as I brought new birds, the Red Stars showed their horribly aggressive side. The RIR is gentle and mellow with new additions, but the RSLs have now been nicknamed "The Red Devils." They are SO MEAN!! They have gone after the Silkies, the Brahmas, the BCM and even the peahen, who is afraid of them even though she is double their size. Today, one of them would have killed a new chick if I hadn't repeatedly intervened and made sure they couldn't get near her. That RSL had murder in her eyes, and tried to follow me into the house to get that chick. I love them and appreciate the eggs, but I won't get them again.