Are cherry egger's a sex-link breed?

[crazychickens]

I have 3, 4 month old cherry egger pullets. They all three have started to lay little eggs, but Im worried now because I read on BYC that sex-link chickens dont lay after a couple of years. These chicken are sweet hearts and are loved by my 2 yr old little girl.

She thinks they lay little eggs just for her.

Do anyone out there have cherry eggers over the ago of two that still lay eggs?

I feel awfull now because they go right up to my daughter and let her pet them, you know how non-gentle a 2 year old can be, yet they stay by her.

I cant be feeding a bunch of chickens that dont lay any eggs.

 

[patandchickens]

I've certainly heard of people with sexlinks that DO TOO keep laying when they're older, just not so much. If that makes you feel any better.

Anyhow, by that time you may not *have* three of them still -- three mostly-retirees (if you are limited to just 3 hens) is a different thing from one or two retirees with one or two vigorous young layers.

Seems to me, 'wait to jump off that bridge til you come to it'

Regards,

Pat

 

[scgamecock]

Cherry egger is the same thing as a Production Red.I have PR's but they are not over a year old.They are not a sexlink but they are a production strain of RIR's and New Hampshire Reds.They are excellent layers but I can't say how well they will do after the first year.

 

[crazychickens]

I dont have a number of how many chickens I can have because, I live on a farm and have a ag. zoning. It's just, I all ready have a few (3 to 5) freeloader hens, that eat, but dont lay eggs. I dont know what to do with them. So adding 3 more to the mix, would mean 1/2 of my flock eat but, dont lay any eggs. See my proplem!

Now my daughter is in love with these cherry egger's, we raised them from chicks.

Is a production red and a sex-link the same thing?

 

[blue90292]

go to cackle hatchery's website. they have a description for production red, cherry egger, sex-link, etc etc. you'll get your answer there on what makes each of them different.

they're also laying little eggs cuz they're laying pullet eggs. a beginners egg. after a bit, they'll get bigger. alot of times, the eggs will even get bigger after their first molt.

if your girls aren't laying right now, it's probably because of the weather. they need 14 hours of daylight to lay well. put a timer in your pen where the light will turn on around 4am. that way, by the time it gets dark, they'll have had around 14 hours of light. also, feed them a ration with more protein. catfish food has 30percent. cat food has 20 percent. give it to them as treats. that'll also help them lay. i bought a delaware and a PR from a guy who said they don't lay anymore. the PR was actually molting and the delaware, after i gave her some tlc with sunflower seed and wet cat food as treats, she started laying again.

 

[silkieluvr]

I have an almost three year old red sexlink/ cherry egger (i beleive they are actually the same thing) but she lays a jumbo egg every day! even through winter, her and my barred rock were the only nes laying consistently every day.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Well, that is just sort of a basic thing with keeping any sort of animals, isn't it? (With the *possible* exception of dogs and cats). If they're an agricultural or convenience thing, then when they stop producing you either eat them or otherwise dispose of them; OTOH if they are pets, you keep feeding them. Pretty much the same with any other animal, in the larger sense anyhow. Either you can and wish to keep them, or you can't or don't in which case you find them new homes or the business end of an axe. Just have to decide where you stand, same as with a horse or cow or whatever.

Anyhow, it seems like older chickens often just sort of tail off in production rather than just up and stopping forever one day, so it may not be *entirely* no eggs.

Plus, as I say, I would not worry too far in advance. While plenty of chickens live to 3 or 6 years of age or older, *plenty* do not, so you may in fact not have quite so much of a problem as you are expecting... or rather, as these are your daughter's favorites, perhaps a somewhat different type of problem.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[crazychickens]

I went to the cackle hatchery web page and my cherry eggers look the same as the red production chickens. The site didnt say how long they would lay for. Well maybe something will happen to them before they reach 2 years old, that is why I got 3, but I'm going to keep hoping, they take after silkieluvr's hen.

They are good little girls, 2 feet of snow and they still give us an egg a day each.

 

[scgamecock]

They are hard to tell apart from RIR's.They are a Production strain, meaning they only breed the best egg layers for chicks.Again they are not a sexlink.Sexlinks will not breed true,where these guys will.

 

[silkiechicken]

All birds will slow down over time, just the freuquency of laying over time is different for different breeds. My sexlinks are going on to their 3rd year now and still lay large eggs.... bigger than before but fewer than before. I had more than the two I have now, but other things got to them... ie predators. I free range so it is sometimes a risk.