Star

my grandma has a few and they follow me everywhere
they where not hand tamed but are very frendly,
the hens lay 1 egg about every day,
my rooster popcorn is very nice and loves the rain =)

I have a flock of 25 sex-link hens, both black (from Townline Hatchery) and red (from Meyer Hatchery). I prefer the black variety to the red. The BSL are larger and calmer with a light brown colored egg. The RSL are a slightly better layer with a smaller body size and a darker egg shell. The blacks can get large enough to butcher. These birds are easy to keep and lay exceptionally well. I pasture mine with a trailer coop and an electric net fence. They are cold hardy and they do just fine in my unheated/uninsulated coop (I live in MI). I also had a BSL go broody and raise 6 CornishX chicks. They make very good mothers. I will never have a flock without these birds, they are wonderful.

6/6/12 Update: My Order of ISA Brown and BSL pullet chicks came in yesterday from Townline Hatchery. There are 52 ISA Brown and 45 BSL for now. Some of them are replacing my flock and my mothers flock, others are going to be sold in a couple months.

I have 2 red stars, got them last summer at 16 weeks old and they were my first chickens. Very friendly, non aggressive, great with my daughters, my big dog(weimeraner), chatty little ladies too. And the only time I wasnt getting an egg EVERY day from each was when they went through some sort of mini molt for like a month right before winter rolled in, but after that, they havent missed a day laying again, and they give me some nice Large - X Large medium brown in color eggs This is a highly reccomended breed for someone who wants a nice backyard flock with HIGH egg production, and very sweet, sociable, and cold hearty birds.

I love my Red Star. She is very sweet, freindly, a good layer, even at SEVEN years old!

My Black Star's on the other hand...

Are not very freindly and are LOUD! One of them started crowing. Yes, I'm sure it was a hen, as she was black with gold hackles, and I have seen her lay an egg. I know she was trying to crow but it came out more as a bloodcurtling shriek that would rouse everybody in the neighborhood. She even did it once and 2:30 A.M! It was a horrible noise! We gave her away to a good home- pretty much the only thing we miss is her big double yolkers; she was a great layer! We have another black star who is pretty quiet and small- we like her okay. However she had a VERY loud egg song.

So if you live in a urban area like I do; beware the black stars.

We have 2 black stars. They are lightweights compared to some of my hens but they make up for it with spunk. They are at the top of our flock's pecking order. They are some of our best layers and quickly rebounded after the winter moult back into semi regular egg production. They are very pretty and add some variety and color to our flock. My only complaint is that they are loud. Bawk bawk bawk! Cackling after laying, cackling in the morning if you don't let them out in a timely manner, and cackling if (God forbid) some other hen is in their favorite nest box when they need it. The eggs are nice though and they are fun to pet and tend to be very friendly. We have had good success with this variety and would have at least one in a mixed flock to bump your egg production up a bit.

love this breed exelent egg layer, she is in charge of my flock!

Our Black Star was the runt of the group, literally half the size of a few others that were just a bit older but that never deterred her from... anything. Great personality, although she can cause a bit of pain when treats are around. She started laying right on time at about 25 weeks and has been a joy.

I have three black star roosters (used to have five, but gave two to a friend) and ten red star pullets. This is my first experience with chickens and I raised these from day-old chicks. The pullets produce large brown eggs from shades of light-pinkish brown to a nice pecan brown. They produce fairly well throughout the Winter months and very well in the Spring, Summer and Fall. Both breeds are very friendly. They don't mind being handled for short periods of time which makes it easier to check their health condition when you need to. They do well in confinement, but prefer to have space to wander about. They're good foragers and will supplement their own feed by finding various bugs and worms to eat. The roosters are great flock protectors and are constantly on the lookout for intruders. My friend (the one mentioned above) tells me that their meat is very tasty, as well. They also breed well. I hatched out seven of my flocks eggs and these birds are a little bit bigger than their parents were at the same age. All in all, the star breeds are great for people who are new to chickens and want plenty of eggs and good meat for their freezers.

I got these birds with the Brown Egg Layers special from Murray McMurray and they are wonderful. When I first got my birds I didn't get to spend that quality time with them to insure that they become friendly pet birds so I wasn't expecting what I got. PETS! They are wonderful pets, super friendly and lay plentiful eggs. Some eggs are even really dark brown. They started laying between 20-24 weeks. I love these birds. They are a must to add to your flock!

I love my Gold Star! She is so nice and she lays an egg every single day for me. The only complaint I have is that her egg shell color changes. It will go from a medium brown to almost white. Her egg size is always the same- BIG!

These birds are great egg layers and some variations are nicer and more docile than others, while some don't even let me get near them. They are very hardy and a good forager and free ranger.

These are wonderful, friendly birds excellent layers and good foragers. They lay lots of eggs and are easy to keep in a back yard setting. They're not flighty or noisy like some of the other egg laying breeds such as Leghorns.

Friendliest out of all our birds, they are curious and investigate everything. Good layers of large, dark brown eggs.

Great birds if egg production is what you are after...just a little boring for my tastes. I do still keep a few around for egg production.

big brown eggs

The Stars/Sex-Links are overall fantastic Birds!

- These are not the prettiest pattereof chickens that you will ever see, but do they their job, and will provide you with a bounty of delicious fresh eggs
- These birds barely ever go broody
- They are good foragers and mine are not too loud and noisey
- They lay a beautiful large (ours were extra large) brown egg almost everyday
- They are friendly birds (*my reds seem to be much more noticably friendly and outgoing then my blacks, my reds will follow me around the yard and like to be in our presence, while my blacks like to go off on their own)
- They did well throughout the cold winters

- My girls were hatched in April of 2010. This past little while I have noticed a large drop in egg production.

If you are looking for a great hardworking layers of big eggs, and not worried about replacing when they start slowing down after a year and a half or so, or if you are looking for a special looks or pysical features in a bird, I would for sure consider giving this breed a shot. From my experience, I would reccemend them and deffinitely get them again for the eggs
.

Great birds if you want lots of big eggs. They were friendly, almost to friendly. They tried to come inside with us and we even found them trapped in the garage a few times.

When I collected eggs to hatch in the spring, over 50% of all hatched eggs came from these birds. That was not what we were looking for and I only had one coop, so we sold them to make more room for better breeders (but not better layers)

First generation cross makes gender known at hatch. GREAT layers for any operation of large/XL brown eggs. They will slow down after 2 years, not for those who wish to keep the flock laying for many years since they are strongly bred for early production.

Calm birds, some flying ability. Good foragers. Not likely to go broody but can happen. The color sexing is only good on the first cross, so you must buy more or produce the cross yourself.

Great pets for backyards, great layers when you need dependable eggs, at least for the first 1 1/2 years. They seem to handle confinement well with their calm natures. Good size birds, easy to put weight on them after they're done laying.