Red Sex Link

This chicken does not run from my guardian dog. The only time I have seen a chicken chase a dog around was these red stars. Eggs are huge and pretty much every day rain or shine, cold or warm weather. I have read a lot about how they stop laying after two years and how they have health issues especially if their diet does not provide enough calcium for all those huge eggs. Seems their incredible egg laying will draw the calcium from their bones instead and result in osteoporosis related lameness and other problems. Tough to manage beyond the first year for this reason. So since most people get excited and post great reviews during the first year or so they may review better than they actually are to own long term.

For this reason I would never stock my hen-house entirely with these because I don't want to have to replace all my hens every two years. might look into Langshan as an excellent "ALSO HAVE" breed that says they lay medium eggs and only lay maybe four or five per week but they can lay for 5-6-7-8 years which is three or four sets of red stars and lifetime maybe twice as many eggs and no health issues.

These are fabulous birds if you are just beginning and primarily care about having birds that lay a lot of big brown eggs an can make great pets!
I love mine, and will most likely always have a few on hand for maximum production.

Also known as: Red Stars, Golden Comets

my four red star hens are 21 weeks old and started laying at 19 weeks. They are pumping out 4 eggs a day. We had a hawk attack and they took shelter and had no injuries. Before they go into their coop they wipe their beak and bathe as often as they can. They dig up bugs and grubs. I can pet them and cary them and they don't mind at all. They get excited when I get some treats for them. They get along with each other pretty well. They are very funny by looking at me when I am inside and flying in the trees. They are a good chicken

I have a Black Pekin Bantam Roo, a Brahma, 2 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Red Sex Links. The Brahma is way too easily frightened but she came to me as a 12 week pullet and had a hard time adjusting. The other chickens kept pecking her til she bled. I had to separate her for a few days, put Neoporin on her wound and then all has been well. She knows she is at the bottom of the pecking order. I think the B.O.'s and Red's balance out well. The B.O.'s are not as friendly because they are more easily frightened and intimidated. The Red's will hop out of the chicken tractor immediately if I let them roam while I am outside doing outdoor chores while the others take a while to decide to come out. Once out, the Brahma NEVER wants to go back in. (Either that or she is so stupid she can't figure out how to get back in. I have chased her around the tractor many times. It must look hysterical. The Red's will head back in easily or let me pick them up and put them back without any hesitation. Again, they are easily my favorite hens. Our little Roo; however, is gorgeous and a real sweetie. He dances for the girls and he will not eat until they are finished. What a gentleman. He has never pecked me, but he has pecked my son and daughter because I think they startled him and they don't give him the respect he still deserves. Again, I love my Red Sex Links. I may not get Buff Orpingtons or Brahma's again. but I will never be without the Reds!!

Quite frankly, as much as I love my girls, they are bullies towards each other and such (never aggressive towards humans). Had to put pinless peepers on two of them but they got used to them and stopped being effective. Right before they started laying they stated fighting each other and one of them got Angel Wing. They lay a lot of eggs and the eggs are a good size and very delicious (got a lot of double yolkers too) but I had some troubles with one of my RSLs laying thin shelled eggs and they ate it. One of my RSLs likes to jump on my hand on command and they're pretty sweet like I said, but I probably would not get them again. I prefer a calmer chicken (I call them psychos because they see food and jump all over each other and it's just ridiculous).

Our friends are blown away by how huge the eggs are that our Red Sex Links lay! You can't buy that big of an egg in the store & good luck trying to find a carton to hold the eggs! Our girls are 3 1/2 years old & still going strong! Very docile too! Not sure why people say they don't tolerate the cold well. We live in Kansas & it can get downright cold here sometimes getting below zero every night for a week plus. Yes our girls slow way down on the laying when it gets bitterly cold but so do all the other breeds. As long as it gets close to the freezing mark in the daytime & they got a good supply of water & food we get at least a few eggs every day. BTW- predators are not an issue where we live so their extremely docile nature is a positive rather then a negative for us.

I've had my girls for 5 months, and although I can't say for sure they're cold hardy, I've been told many MANY times that they are! My egg farmer friend gave me some of his pullets and told me they can put up with really cold temps. (When I was looking around for chickens, if left to my own devices, I probably would've aimed for a fancier breed, but since they were the right price (free!), how could I say no?) He keeps his in an unheated barn, and since it gets pretty cold up here in Canada, I'll buy it.

My girls are friendly, love to follow the family around, will play with my 2 year old daughter, chill on the deck with my giant dog, and none of them have ever bit me (on purpose anyway. One did nip at my baby toe, but I've wondered before if my toes look like worms or something since my hen was not the first fowl to try to eat my feet!). They free range and have never (fingers crossed) tried to fly out of the yard, although I've watched them fly-jump well over 6 feet in the air to get to a tasty morsel! They like to be close to the house and are pretty quiet, save for their egg-laying song in the morning, which I don't mind (and hopefully my neighbors don't either, which is why I ply them with free eggs!).

Their eggs are brown and while I could tell the eggs apart at the beginning, they all sort of look the same now. Same with the girls, come to think of it. I have to really squint and stare to figure out who's who. My daughter seems to know, but since she's only two, she's not exactly a reliable expert!

I'd give them a 5 star, but since I have nothing to compare it with, 4 is the best I can give!

3 years ago I got my first flock of hens and in that group was my sweet Sugar who was a Red Sex Link. As a chick I never noticed her much but as she grew she became the friendliest hen of the flock and would let you pick her up and come running when called. Though one morning I woke up to find that a hungry raccoon had passed by and decided to bite off her toes! I quickly washed the wound applied neosporin and wrapped her toes up, she was very patient and wouldn't get nervous and flighty while I changed the wounds. After she healed she instantly became the bottom of the pecking order due to her handicap. Because her toes were bitten of, she would sort of hobble and run irregularly making it easy for predators to catch her. She layed a beautiful dark brown egg almost everyday even in the winter. This year while I was away a friend who was taking care of my chickens sadly reported that a fox had passed through the yard and took Yeller ( my Black Australorp) and Sugar as well. She was 3 years old.


Here is Sugar with the rest of the flock.




Sugar as a baby chick sleeping in a slipper.

The red Sex-link is a cross between Barred rocks and Rhode island reds. They are common and therefore cheap, making them a good starter bird. They are not cold tolerant so don't get them if you live up north. But other then that they lay pretty well (for about a year) and are very friendly. I don't especially like this because you can't show them (not recognized by the APA) and I have had egg eating problems and stuff, it is up to you. The cons and pros are about 50/50.



Good Luck!

I'd recommend this breed to anyone! They are so sweet! They are like dogs, they follow me everywhere I go. I can pick them up and hold them easily too. They lay GIANT brown eggs daily. I love them!

Great breed. All the ones that we have had are/were sweet and friendly. The two we had died, one pretty recently, but with about a month, we got another as a pullet. She is is very curious and is the most calm out of the three that we recently bought. Already the leader out of their little flock. one, the one that died most recently was almost three years old and still laying huge brown eggs well. A way to keep them laying longer is to not put lights in their coops in the winter, which have done and a week ago, we got 5 eggs for a couple days from a flock of random breed hens ranging in age from 10 mo-nearly three years old

I have 6 red sex link hens that I got in the spring from TSS. I am in love with them! They are super friendly and always come running as soon as I come into the run. They love to climb on my lap if given the chance. I have raised them since they were a week old. I have 2 that started laying at 15 weeks and a third that started at 17 weeks. Sill waiting on the other 3 girls but they are showing signs that they will start very soon. They are all 18 weeks. They are very docile and put up with my kids and niece chasing them and still are super sweet. Love them and would not hesitate to add more to my flock. Their run shares a fence with our dogs run. The reds love to go over and watch the dogs and don't seem to be that afraid, however the one time that one of the girls flew over the fence she ran away as the dogs chased her until I could catch the dogs. I'm sure that our dogs would have killed her if they had gotten a hold of her. Needless to say we have added to the fence to make it taller so the chickens would really have to fly to get into the dog area. These girls were my first chickens and I'm so glad that I got these first. They are super easy to take care of.

They are friendly, sweet, and quiet over all a great breed to have in your flock.

They are excellent birds for beginners as they are easy to train, and good egg layers. They eat anything they possibly can, including metal bits and plastic, so it's wise to keep a look out for those type of things in their run and coop. A lot of protein is required in their diet so they can keep laying those big eggs, but it shouldn't be too hard to find the right feed . What ever cons there are, I would still suggest this bird for any person, beginner or not. They are available under many names, including the most obvious ones, Isa Browns, and Red Stars. They are very easy to tame, and not flighty at all, but as they are not easily scared, they do not run very quickly away from predators, which means they are more vulnerable. They are beautiful birds and have soft silky feathers, which are mostly reddish-brown, light brown, or patches of white. They don't take very kindly to newcomers , but most breeds do not. They are wonderful pets, docile and friendly, very good egg layers and I would highly recommend them to any chicken owner.

Petunia, at 3 yrs old
d This is one of their eggs. They lay around this size or bigger.

These are my first chickens, gifts from a daughter for Christmas. Once they started laying, it's rare to have a day without one egg from each hen. They come when I call them, stay close to the house, don't mind being stuck in the coop during inclement weather, and get along great with our dogs and cats. If we're on the porch, "the girls" will keep us company. Can't imagine a better egg chicken than the RSL; they were just what this newbie needed.

These are our two Red Sex Links Margo (Top) Barbara (Bottom) they are great members of our family and fantastic with our 9 month old son. He loves petting them which they let him do with no trouble, they only peck if they think you have food. Margo is the loudest and bossiest of the two, and a bit nuts in personality but she loves getting stroked and having cuddles and will often fall asleep in my arms in the garden. Barbara is the calmer of the two but shys away if she thinks she is in trouble. She also gets beaten up by Margo some times but they'll still will cuddle up to each other when it's sunny out. They both give us an egg each daily (the odd now and then they haven't but this barely happens). They eat almost anything we feed them and come straight up to you whenever you come over to the run. I've on occasion had Margo fly out of the coop/run into my arms, which was a little scary the first time she did it
They are very nosey birds and if anything is going on in the garden they want to know about it. Especially Margo. They are great farm animals and family friendly pets. I do not mean they she be living in the house with you like Joey and Chandler's duck and chick in Friends just FYI how did they clean up all the poop!!!!!???
But we love our girls, they are a great addition to our family and our garden. We don't have any weeds as they get fed straight to the chickens as soon as they appear. We also have a lot of friends now who save all their weeds when they do the gardening and bring them over to give to our chickens. I can honestly say I would get this breed of chicken again.

I started with 8 chicks from TSC . 1 died of overeating. 4 from a coyote raid. 2 from prolapse and hence cannaballism. So now I have only one. That said, they do lay consistently and large eggs. I have been dissapointed though about the feather picking on the other birds since I provide them ample food, forage, nesting boxes etc. I have to islolate them to prevent that. Overall I would say that they are good birds, but one must be especcially protective with them and notice feather picking and cannaballism before it becomes a REAL problem. As of now I purchased 10 more Red sex link chicks. Hoping for the best!

This is the best possible e bird you can buy for beginners and they lobe people. I have 8 and average about 7-8 eggs a day all year round. I love my reds

Amazing layers these birds are. Mine lay at least 6 days a week spring - fall and winter its been 5 days or more a week. They eat a few more pounds of food a week during the winter times but so do I to keep warm... The like to sit out on your shoulder and just relax. Only negative would be is when 3 want to sit on the same shoulder and knock each other off for the space. All in all I would recommend Red Sex-links for first time chicken keepers that want egg laying chickens that don't go broody and a bird that's good with the family!