Black sex-link personality?! and pics

[AnimalFriend<3]

What personalities have you experienced with your black sex-links? I have heard that they especially docile as well as aggressive, so I wanted to see what the people at BYC have to say. If you have any other pics or stories about your BSL please do share!

Thanks!

 

[AnimalFriend<3]

Quote:
I have a different experience....we currently have 7 BSL and 4 light brahmas. The brahmas are sweet and calm but the BSLs have personality...very friendly and chatty. Several of them are very attached to us and gentle when accepting treats in our hands. They are very pretty, adaptable and cold hardy too. They lay very well all year long and don't get very broody. They just like people. They do have assertive personalities but are not mean. When I was a kid we had 50 of them and they were laying machines but always curious and wanting to be with you. I admittedly don"t have alot of experience with lots of different breeds. Having only had BSLs, light brahmas, a leghorn, cornish, RIR, Buffs, and barred rock bantams but BSLs have always been my favorites. They are smart, cheeky, and friendly while being super layers. They will definitely be part of my flock as long as I have them.

This makes me excited about my new BSL's!!! thanks

 

[farmerlor]

I didn't much like any of my sex links. They were standoffish but not aggressive or mean to each other....really they didn't seem to have much personality compared to the Easter Eggers and Orps and even the mean, evil RIRs. They did lay like machines but they seemed to burn out earlier than the other chickens so we probably won't have anymore of them in our flock.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quiet, reasonably. Stand offish. Compared to the typical Red sex link, boring.
Larger, much bigger eaters. Feed conversion to egg laying noticeably worse. Slower to POL, and lay slightly less than Reds.
Beautiful green highlights in back feathers. Tough. Take the cold better, and seem hardier. Certainly more meat to salvage at the end of lay.

May be just the strain I got, but I'll not get them again for the reasons given.

 

[ryanhodapp]

This is my first year. I have RIR and 1 BSL. My BSL doesnt look like the previous pictures, mine is just about all black. Tail feathers are dark black with bluish tint.
I got her at a feed store when she was about 4 months old. I needed her to befriend my RIR who had lost her bud. So I dont think she was handled much and the first night I got pecked.
I have been pecked one other time, but now she knows I have the treats. I can even get her to eat worms and cheerios out of my hand. but if I dont have food, forget it.
My RIR is my queen. She was very late to lay, she talks all the time and is lazy about getting off the perch for treats. But she is my favorite, probably because she was part of the first 4 I bought.

I have two EE's that I raised from the very beginning, they are still more cautious than my RIR.

I really dont have an opinion, just telling you about mine.

 

[gordonburrito]

This is our first BSL (Snickers) killed by our neighbor's dog. She was the friendliest chick we've ever had and was much more interested in us than her flock. She got along with her fellow chicks and even let a much smaller buff orpington chick into the flock without any problems. She had lots of personality similar to a barred rock. She is also the reason we added 2 BSL to our flock later.

Scrappy and Foxy were not the same as Snickers (much to our disappointment). They are both fairly aggressive with the other birds and with intruders in the yard...much like a RIR. The thing is they are also fairly lightweight, so its all about attitude for them. They are beautiful birds and good layers. I like Scrappy much more than Foxy as she will squat for me and allow me to pet her without protest. Foxy will not recognize me as rooster

She IS, however, the first on my lap when food is involved and the first one off when its gone. She is also the most intelligent chicken we have owned. She can solve problems and figure out ways to get what she wants without having to submit to pettings or other unpleasantries. When we were picking out the chicks Foxy was the one that jumped up on my wife as if to say PICK ME!!!.....little did we know it was not friendliness but a plot to escape an unpleasant situation that was on the young chicks mind. If she wasn't so scrawny and a good layer, she might end up being a table bird.

The moral of the story is every chicken is going to have its own personality and probably even more so with a mutt breed. If I had to restock my small flock of 6, I would get one instead of two this time.

 

[BethieofVA]

My favorite chicken is Daisy, a BSL. She is sweet and loving. Her BSL sista, both from a local feed store, never grew up. LOL! They are both a year old and Minnine has never laid an egg. She has no comb or wattles, but too is sweet.

 

[AnimalFriend<3]

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Your experience is very encouraging! I think it just shows that all birds are different and there is no way to tell what you are going to get.

 

[CopperCT]

Quote:
I have a different experience....we currently have 7 BSL and 4 light brahmas. The brahmas are sweet and calm but the BSLs have personality...very friendly and chatty. Several of them are very attached to us and gentle when accepting treats in our hands. They are very pretty, adaptable and cold hardy too. They lay very well all year long and don't get very broody. They just like people. They do have assertive personalities but are not mean. When I was a kid we had 50 of them and they were laying machines but always curious and wanting to be with you. I admittedly don"t have alot of experience with lots of different breeds. Having only had BSLs, light brahmas, a leghorn, cornish, RIR, Buffs, and barred rock bantams but BSLs have always been my favorites. They are smart, cheeky, and friendly while being super layers. They will definitely be part of my flock as long as I have them.

 

[bawk_bawk]

I think that the experience depends on how the genes split. If your BSL shows more red, it's more likely to be a bit more aggressive towards the chickens. (will post pictures when I can)

It seems our two hens are a tidge aggressive, but they're still loving. While they're not quite as curious as RSL, they're reaction to seeing an 8 inch wall of snow outside their door is hilarious.