Black Sex Link chicken

I love this breed, and I highly recommend it to someone who is a beginner with chickens. They love and adore people, are very prolific throughout most of their life, and are usually good with other birds. They are easy to take care of since they are very large birds and can live off of their fat for a very long time. LOL! Just kidding! I think the only thing you need to watch out for in this breed is the fact that they are sometimes RIDICULOUSLY loud. They aren't loud all the time, but when they need food or have just laid an egg, they need to be shushed somewhat. Also, if you are considering getting a B.S.L., make sure that she is one of the first birds that you get since they are super sweet, and will not show their dominance to a large gathering of birds. This breed is great for beginners through pros, and I would place them next to the Buff Orpington on the 'must have' list. In my opinion, they deserve to be higher on the list than #24! I hope that this review is helpful to you!

I LOVE my black sex-links. If I was going to have one hybrid for the rest of my life, this would be it. We got four BSL and four CQ chicks, and all of them were super easy to raise. They matured quickly and started laying right around 16wks. We had one that would lay eggs 75 grams +, EVERY SINGLE TIME SHE LAID. If Batgirl laid a 50 gram egg, we considered it a wind egg . The other three laid extra large eggs as well, especially considering that they weren't as big as some of the other chickens we've had. Besides the fact that they are amazing layers, I LOVE their personalities. We had one named Ninja, and every time she saw a person she would totally blow her cover and come running for treats. I'd say the worst thing aboutthem is that they can be pretty nasty at night, but not as bad as I had heard they can be. I will definitely be getting this breed again.

The BSL chickens that we have are fairly unsocial birds. Granted we did get them at about 18 weeks. They often hide in the back corner of our large run, away from us. When in the coop, they have been caught pecking feathers off other chickens, enough to make the others bleed. They do lay very nice eggs and are pretty birds. Large bodied with shiny black feathers and a brown to copper brown chest and neck area.

Will have to wait a little longer to see what she's like as an adult.

I have four Black Sex-Link hens. They are about four years old and still lay as many eggs as they did when they were pullets. As layers you could scarcely ask for a better bird. They lay big brown eggs regularly. It's not uncommon for me to harvest three eggs a day from the batch of them, and sometimes four. They are friendly, resistant to disease, vigorous, and worth every penny you pay for them. Their only problems are that they don't go broody, and they are not pure breeds. But if your looking for good eggs and tame hens, these are an excellent choice.

I had two BSL hens that we raised from chicks. They did fine until they were about a year and a half old. They started attacking the Silkies. They all (mature chickens) used to run together, but the BSL would chase and peck at the Silkies head. She would chase her into the coop where the Silkie would hide her head under a nest box. When I saw that, I separated the Silkies. One day, a Silkie pullet about 3 months old slipped through a small gap in the dividing fence and the BSL attacked! Though I tried to save her, her head was too damaged and she died. I ended up giving them away. If you don't have Silkies or other small chickens, you will probably do fine with them. While these two were bossy to all of the chickens, they were incredibly mean to Silkies.

I have 6 BSL's and they are just pure baby-dolls! They are great egg layers and are cold and warm hardy. They love being held and petted. The eggs from BSL's are brown and pretty large too. I would recommend this breed for beginners or just chicken lovers itself! They live really long too so thats great for chickens

Sarah

Midnight

Lavender blinking

Lavender

Hannah

Cutie

Queen

Lavender (Left) Midnight (Right)

Surprisingly, my lovely hens are still alive, even through all the predator stages that have taken over 35 of my other chickens . The hens lay very often, and lay large brown eggs. If you decide to tame them as chicks, it's totally worth it. My hens are sooo nice and are completely fine with being held.

My sweet girl, Willow, is a favorite of the flock! I bought her and a Dominique on a whim not expecting to have a "pet" that would sit in my lap and run to greet me everyday! I don't think she is my prettiest gal but she has definitely earned her keep in the coop! She does make sweet chirpy noises that almost sound puppy-like, but she is not very loud, just vocal. She is pretty low down in the pecking order and is terrified of my Blue Copper Maran! Would definitely recommend!

Willow

I can't imagine anyone buying this chicken for a pet as it was bred to be an awesome brown egg producer and that is exactly what it is. Beautifully large to XXL eggs and double yokes are not uncommon every couple weeks. Ours like to cackle loudly when they get in the nest if anyone else is in the coop as they like their "privacy" and I think try to run them off. They cackle even louder for better than a minute after they lay too. They are early maturing and you can expect eggs at or before 20 weeks. Being a "hybrid" chicken, they burn out after their 3rd year and should become part of your crock pot. The eggs you got in between more than makes up for it.

Black sex links are going to be at the top of the pecking order in a flock as well. They don't start problems within a flock but they never run and are quick to establish themselves. They will also put an unruly rooster in it's place as well.

They love to free range and are always alert. They will stay close to or inside cover when available and scratch around in safety. While they will never be a pet chicken they will be friendly and love will eat from your hand. The have a beautiful black-blue opalescent feathers that shimmer beautifully in the sunlight. The also have streaks of rust color throughout their neck area which just adds to their appeal.

We have 4 BSL along with 3 Buckeyes and 2 RIR. They are 27 weeks and are the only ones in the flock laying, and have been for a month. They come running when we walk outside, and will peck at us a little to get our attention if we are talking to, or petting, another chicken (not mean, just like a poke to say hey pet me too). They dont run to us to be picked up, but will let us if we sit close enough for long. They love treat time with my almost 4 yr old daughter, and will eat the mealworms out of our hands.
As the only con, they can be very vocal. For example, we keep the back door open most of the time with a closed storm door. The coop is in the back of our almost acre plot, and I have been able to hear one clucking from the run, while I am down the hall in the house. Luckily my neighbors think they are as funny as we do, but it could be an issue for some.

We adopted our BSL hen three years ago when a friend couldn't keep her. She lived through an outbreak of respiratory disease that killed almost all of the other chickens and also survived a vicious husky attack. She is a small, grizzled thing, but I love her. She loves to eat insects that dare to venture near her and is fairly good with people. She lets me pet her sometimes, but mostly she just wants to be in the front of the line if there's any food to be had. She's the alpha hen in our thirteen member flock, but she's not mean like our Australorp. She's more like a grouchy, elderly neighbor lady. She minds her own business, but will peck anyone who comes to close to her. This is a great breed to have if you want a very consistent layer of light brown, medium sized eggs

Our experience with the bird has been pretty good. They lay well, they're pretty with their golden heads, and they made it through a harsh winter good - no frost bite, even in an unheated coop. I have seen many that are friendly and docile, but unfortunately, this wasn't the case with ours.

We purchased 6 black sex links, and 6 red sex links together, and raised them together. The reds were friendly, the blacks were skittish. They are not people aggressive, but ours are bullies with the other birds and have made it a habit to go after the new, young, or 'being mated' hens at any chance.

The black sex links we own have thinner shells than the other hens (the red sex links are also thin). They are fed the same diet with access to calcium in the form of oyster shells in a feed bin in each coop. We raise a huge variety of different breeds (buffs, easter eggers, barred rocks, plymouth rocks, marans), and they by far have the easiest to break eggs.

All around a decent breed, specially for being egg laying machines.

I have just gotten my first BLS in March as chicks and they are cute little guys! They are now laying hens and are very friendly and personally I think pretty. I would recommend this breed to any friend.Here are a few pictures of my girls, Nora and Merry.

I'd like to preface this by saying that I will come back and edit this once my girls start laying!
As of 09/13/2015 they are 6 weeks going on 7.

My flock has 18 birds and out of all of them my Black Sex Links are the sweetest!!
Yes, sweeter than my Easter Egger's, Ameraucana's, Cuckoo Maran, Wyandottes, Brahma, Silkies, Australorp, Cream Legbar, etc. !

I have three Black Sex Links that I bought from the local feed store since when I first started, I did not know I'd end up with so many nor did I know what a hatchery was!
The only bird that rivals them is my Barred Plymouth Rock (these four are all the same age and were bought as my first birds).

They are always the first to greet me and will actually follow me around the yard. Whenever I sit down with them, they hop right up on my lap for loving - all four of them!
It's so funny to watch them push each other off just to hop back on waiting for mama to pet them. I love these girls so much!
They aren't loud but are chatty! They like to tell me about their day and when something upsets them.

My room has a sliding glass door that connects to my shaded patio which connects to my backyard where they free range and
if I'm not outside you can often find them next to my door waiting for me to come out. They'll even peck on it sometimes to say," Hey Mom! Whatcha' doing?!"
Then when I come outside they all hop on the tables or anything to get on top of my shoulders!

Before I got chickens, I used to be oblivious to different breeds or personalities.. but these girls have taught me so much.
They are THE definition of the perfect pet chicken! They love being picked up and are super calm - they even hop on my dog's back and he gives them rides!

As a bonus, I heard they are great layers! I cannot wait until that happens! <3

*Some pictures of Willow, Chanel, Skye (and Athena my Barred Plymouth Rock) being held (younger/now at 6 weeks) and fighting for a spot on my little sister's back












Trust me, you're going to want a whole flock of these!!

I'm getting rid of mine because I have neighbors and my hens sound like a flock of geese at 630 every morning. My golden commets are much much quieter and started layer weeks before the BSL

BSL i have are mean and aggressive with the other chickens. they aren't people friendly. I will be getting rid of these birds next spring to make room for other chickens I would prefer to have.

I love my Black Sex Link Hen! She is a very nice bird who lays an egg every day. I have heard people say that are dull birds and not much to look at but do not find this to be the case! I love her brown neck feathers and iridescent green black feathers that cover her body. I think they are wonderful birds for a first time chicken owner!

Got me a pullet BSL I named Ethel and she's been a dream. Curious gal, she always comes up to me as soon as I come in the run and tries to follow me out when I leave. Very tame, loves being petted and stroked. Haven't gotten eggs just yet but it may be because she's new. Overall a sweet breed, I think I'll be buying more Sex Link hens when I look to replace hens or expand.

Edit: Looking back now I think I actually have gotten eggs from this gal. I just recently integrated her and I have a couple smaller creamy-brownish eggs I've picked up. Dunno if it's hers or the red sex link I got!

My girl has been noisy since she hatched and wakes me up every morning because she wants to be let out to roam. She does listen though when I tell her to go back into the coop. She's also a very good layer, lays almost every day, even over the winter.