Red Sex Link

Like I said above, lay very large eggs one year. They getting so big I'm afraid ones going to break in the vent

I have two Red Sex Link hens and have had them for a year now. Though their egg production is high, they're extremely aggressive towards my other hens and bite me as well when I go in to feed them. I even have to stay in their run while they eat or they continuously chase one hen in particular away from the food (I keep multiple feeding stations), even when they're not eating from the same dish or even interested in the food for that matter. When the hen they have targeted gets on one of the branches in the run, they lay underneath it either together or taking turns, preventing her from getting down for the entire day and if I let them out of the run to range around the yard, that same hen is more often than not too afraid to go back in at night, especially if they've gone in first. These girls were hand raised and were quite sweet when they were very young but became more distant as they aged and are getting increasing more aggressive every day. I enjoy spending time with my birds but not these two. They've earned themselves a one way ticket out of my flock and I won't get this breed again. There are plenty of other more docile breeds that lay very well - these just aren't worth keeping in my flock.

I would not get this breed again but I do realize the one I had is not usual for the breed.

I must be the exception with these birds....they are my first and I am not wild about them. I got them at TSC as chicks (they are 16 weeks now) and they were supposed to be Buff Orpingtons. When I actually got a Buff Orpington locally I realized that they were not what they were supposed to be, and when I posted a picture here it turned out that they are Red Sexlinks.

I lost two pullets early on because they would actually try to escape their cage and get close to the dogs, and the chihuahua thought they were toys. I lost another to some unknown predator that got into their cage..possibly a rat or a snake. A fourth had a lot of feathers pulled out during the attack, but she has recovered.

When I bought a Buff Orpington to replace the one lost in the attack, I got a good look at what they were supposed to be like, and there is a tremendous difference. My little Buff is always the first to come to me, and when I pick her up she perches on my fingers. The Red Sexlinks usually give me a hard time and struggle like they have no idea what is going on. If I am not careful they will scratch me with their claws because they are flailing around. They have been picked up twice a day, every day, since I brought them home, so you would think they would know what is going on, but no. The one that has been handled the most (the one whose feathers were torn out) is the most difficult.

They just seem to have rather contrary dispositions, while the Buff is very cooperative and sweet.

When I expand my flock I am going to stick to Orpingtons.

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 bought four Red Sex Link hens for my flock three years ago. One has died every year, and two died this year. It was very upsetting because they had quickly become my favorites. They were all very sweet and loved to be pet. They all presumably died of the same thing, but I'm not sure what it was. I think they just layed so much that their little bodies just gave out.

The first one that died also had a horrible habit of picking the feathers out of everyone else's bottoms. After a few weeks they all picked up the habit and I was left with a flock of bald chickens with irritated skin. Thankfully they stopped after she died, and are back to normal now.

I've had these birds before. They are good layers for about a year maybe two. Since they lay so prolifically, they blow out and their little bodies can't really keep up.

Got these last spring at Tractor Supply. Yes they like to eat and are prolific layers. Nice enough to me and my grandchildren. So far they have almost killed two of my flock of 7 . They attacked one of their siblings and tried to tear her wing off , got to the flesh before she got away and hid. Now separated in a separate cage from the rest. They of course didn't like the older hen from hello so I separated her out. Left her out of her cage yesterday while they were out free ranging and they doubled back and almost killed her...now all these other pretty reviews.... maybe I just have devil hens but ...I'll never get them again and when they slow down taking them to the Amish to well you know. Never again.


Chickens in the pic is my old hen hatched by my granddaughter in a grade school science project.

I LOVED MY FIRST RED STARS, I THINK BECAUSE MY ROOSTER KEPT THEM IN LINE (got rid of him because of my husband) EVERY TIME A NEW HEN CAME INTO THE GROUP, THEY ATTACKED THEM, NOT JUST PECKED THEM TO PUT THEM IN THEIR PLACE, THEY GRABBED THEM AND FLIPPED THEM IN THE AIR. I WOULD RAISE THESE HENS TOGETHER AND MAYBE INTRODUCE NEW HENS IN A FREE RANGE SITUATION. GREAT LAYERS, THEY LAID EVERY DAY NO MATTER THE WEATHER. I ONLY HAVE ONE THAT IS NOT A GOOD LAYER, MAYBE BECAUSE SHE IS NEW AND HAS NOT SETTLED IN. BUT I HEARD THAT SEX LINKS WILL STOP LAYING SOONER THEN HERITAGE BREEDS, IS THIS CORRECT? SHE'S JUST A LITTLE OVER A YEAR OLD!

Let me start by saying that my problem may have been with the bird and not the breed, as I've only had one of this particular type. She was sweet enough, great with the kids, had a cute personality and was a great layer. All of which are reasons she gets three stars. However, I noticed that eggs started disappearing, she ended up being the culprit, and I wasn't able to break her of it. She was also an escape artist. I often found her out of the run, running amok through the garden, tearing stuff up. Not only that, but she was a terrible bully when it came to my banty hen, and my younger hens. She was relentless and wouldn't leave them alone. I ended up re-homing her, but she left a bad taste in my mouth.

We purchased our sex-links from a local breeder to try out the hybrid breeds to see how they were. They began laying earlier than our heritages, and more often, but the eggs themselves were thin shelled. All our hens have the same feed and have access to oyster shell inside the coops, none of the heritage breeds have thin shell issues - the black sex links we also purchased do, however. They are very people friendly, and as chicks would like to perch on your arm and eat from your hands. They are not aggressive with the other chickens and are easy to take care of.

Our hens have stopped laying earlier than other breeds, probably due to being hybrid birds bred for a specific person (I've heard birds bred for one thing in particular are not exactly the most healthy or live the longest). Of course, there are exceptions: one still lays really good and has thick shelled eggs, but we received her from another farm when their coop burned down. Perhaps it's genetic.

Our red sex links, compared to all other breeds we own (including the blacks) are the least intelligent. They stay out at night and some of them we have to find and bring in every night because they will stand outside the coop when the sun goes down, not moving. They're quick to find their way out but not in, I guess! Unlike every other bird who runs for cover when an eagle or hawk flies over, our sex links just stand there and look at it, while the roosters screech again and again to warn the hens to go to cover - again, easy picking for predators. They will pace for hours back and forth along the fence-line, while every other chicken has left through the gap we left open when we let them free range, because they don't seem to be able to see it or find it.

We've been lucky not to lose any of our sex links to predators, even with many close calls, due to a very good, protective rooster. If you have sex-links, make sure to watch them carefully! We've had a few go missing at night in winter and turn up the next morning, with really bad frostbite, because they don't return to the coop and simply go somewhere that we can't find them (presumed something had gotten them).

Despite their faults, they are a great breed of friendly, talkative hens who lay well at first but taper off quickly. Great for backyard flock owners who want to get a lot of eggs but don't have a lot of room for copious amounts of chickens. Watch them carefully though.

From all the other reviews, some people have smart ones, so maybe their inability to tell an open door from a brick wall is also due to their genetics. Be careful where you get them!

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).

These beautiful hybrid chickens are of the "sex link" breed, meaning they're bred so that hens and roosters are different colors when they hatch. If you were to breed a sex link hen to a sex link rooster, you would not get a sex link. Females are egg-laying machines that continue to lay light brown eggs exceptionally well in the heat and cold, while many others slow down. However, this breed is not cold tolerant, doesn't know how to hide from predators, and eat like horses. Roosters tend to be on the aggressive side. Also these birds have a shorter lifespan than normal birds, averaging at maximum 5 years. You may know them by any of the following names:
Red Sex Link
Golden Sex Link
Red Star
Isa Brown
Golden Comet
Golden Buff
Cinnamon Queen
I would recommend this breed to any one who wants a great egg layer, will keep their birds enclosed, and lives in a warm climate.

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!

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.

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

Seem to have more health problems than all of my other girls. Not much meat on them.

I have 3 of these and they give me the most eggs of the others. Even in winter, they are still giving me a few eggs. I call them really dumb because when there is a predator, they are not even scared, they just go about their business until they get killed. I had 4 of these until a couple days ago when the nicest one got killed by a fox. Overall, i really like this breed and would recommend it to someone who wants a good steady flow of eggs from their girls.

These were our first breed. I got them when I was 12 (now Im 14) and two died from natural causes when they were 1 1/2. I dont get it. they were perfectly healthy then they stopped laying and next thing I knew they were as thin as can be and die. It wasnt worms or anything like that and none of the other hens got it.

on the other hand these birds are the friendliest, most people-loving chickens you can get. I never could have wished for a better pet. So Friendly!