Are Red Stars as Good as They Say?

[Beekissed]

Mine were adopted from someone else~not sure from whence they originated.

 

[riane'smimi]

Mine came from a feed store and they were debeacked which I really don't like at all. Just bought some leghorns at the show here this past weekend !

 

[LindsayB]

I've had red stars before. I like them and they do lay literally everyday, but they were also very feather picky. I tried to up the protein, feed treats, etc. They were just feather eaters.

 

[cravenchx]

All my girls are feather eaters! My red star is
almost 24 weeks old and no eggs. But it is November.
But the girls are talking more.

 

[Taylor]

personally i like to stick with the old breeds of chickens. I have had red stars and they lay great and all, but after a year their egg production drops dramatically! and after a while they get butt UGLY!!!!! you'd be better off with the old-timey breeds such as RIR's BR's BO's BA's Delawares, SLW, RIW's. these are dual-purpose birds, they lay very good and also can be used as meat. In the long run the old breeds will lay more as they usualy live longer than hybrids such as red stars. I have a RIR 11 yrs old and she still a laying 2-3 eggs a week. pretty impressive for a 11 yr old! I ain't never seen a 2 yr old red star lay 2-3 eggs a week. all my BR's, RIR's lay everyday too! and much prettier eggs than a red star does!

 

[fowlsessed]

If your looking for eggs they are one of the best brown egg layers along with black australorp and rir. If you don't mind white eggs, get some leghorns, super layers aswell.

 

[ChicKat]

Today my gold sexlink laid her 211th egg, and that is since her stay here which has been 217 days. This little bird is amazing, and probably has spoiled me for all chickens in the future. There are a couple of varieties of Red sexlinks...I believe mine is from Rhode Island Red male and Rhode Island White Female. I've been calling her a 'Golden Comet' But just refering to the hatchery page, I see they are calling these gold sexlinks and differentiate from 'Golden Comet' by the difference between New Hampshier Red and Rhode Island Red rooster.

If you want eggs--- size extra large and Jumbo from a little bird that has an amazing feed conversion ratio, then look into the sexlinks. They really are high-performance chickens.

As another poster said, she is no beauty queen.... but then after all ---she is a Chicken! lol

It depends upon what you want from your flock, ..." a work horse or a show horse" ;O) for me--it's the work horse.

Leghorns are nice layers and pretty birds, but they are not friendly, curious, and fun when compared with the sexlinks.

Although lots of folks don't differentiate in the Red Sexlink or Red Star hybrids, efowl hatchery takes the trouble to slice and dice all the sexlink varieties and explain the parentage--
here is a link to the page
http://www.efowl.com/Egg_Layer_Breeds_s/70.htm

You can click on 'gold sexlink, red sexlink aka red star, golden comet, production red, and black sexlink' They do a good job providing information IMO. Another chicken to consider is the ISA Brown.

In my zillions of hours on this forum, I have not heard a discouraging word about the gold sexlink or 'golden comet'.

Good luck with your chicken selection-- if you want eggs, you are certainly heading in the right direction.

edited to totally change ;O\\

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
I agree!!!

 

[speckledhen]

Chickens don't lay more than one egg per day, no matter the breed/hybrid, and they all quit when they molt, or at least, drop off production to near nothing. My Plymouth Rocks lay just as well as any sex link and will probably lay long after a sex link has quit. I have six month old, as well as two, three and four year old BRs, all laying. One of them is the best layer I've ever had. She just quit for her molt, but every day before that except on the rarest of occasions, like clockwork, Fern was in that nest and she is going on three years old.

 

[Beekissed]

I have many standard breed chickens who are in their 5th and a few in their 6 th year and they are laying strong in peak season and lay pretty well through the winter as well. The Black Stars chicks I purchased at the same time all died of organ failure or were culled for nonlaying in their 2nd year.