Any idea what breed this is???

[jason736]

Hi,
My girlfriend and I are raising chickens for the first time. It's been really interesting. We are trying to figure out what breed or cross we have. They came from Sunnyside Inc in Beaver Dam, WI. The birds are only listed as "Dual Purpose Brown". We have 26 of them and they're 14 weeks old. Any ideas???
By the way, this site is great. We've never had chickens before and everyone has been soo helpful....THANK YOU.

 

[houndit]

Those look to me like sexlink layers. There are brown sexlinks, gold sexlinks, and red sexlinks. Some hatcheries give them fancy names like Cinnamon Queens, or golden buffs. I have never seen to much difference in the different sexlink colors.

 

[bigdaddyabc]

I went to their website and looked around. They are not very specific are they? In my opinion, you have a version of a Red Sexlink. I love my Black Sexlinks. Mine are a cross of Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks. It looks like yours are a cross of Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons. They cross breeds to get the best qualities of both birds. In many cases they get better egg production out of the cross then either of the parents. Again, just my opinion based on what I have read on breeding and crosses. Beautiful birds though. Best of luck to you.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree. They are red sex link pullets. There is no way to know for sure what the parentage is, but the mothers were white and the father was red or at least reddish. I think they have developed their own lines so the parents are probably not from a specific recognized breed. I'd suspect some white rock in the mother's background and RIR in the fathers, but I could be way off. Should be nice hens though.

 

[jason736]

Thank you all. The hatchery description is pretty nondescriptive on the breed orgin. They're pretty birds though. It's hard not to turn them all into pets; they're really doscile. About half of them have to go to the table this fall.

 

[solarquail]

Yup red sex links they are production layers of brown eggs reach egg laying time in 4 to 6 months so you should be getting eggs soon!

 

[geebs]

nice sexlinks..... Beautiful!!

 

[J.Pryce]

Red sexlink for sure- they look like my Isa Browns.

 

[dtchick]

I agree with the red sexlink conclusion. When I bought mine the breeder called them Red Stars. You will love them, they're friendly birds and reliable egg layers.