) If you haven't done so already, definitely check out our Learning Center at https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center. There is lots of useful information there. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Cheers.
With that red of a face they should be laying or will be. Older hen's comb, wattles, and face tend to get more white when their laying years are behind them. It's called bleaching. They're all crossbreeds. The bottom one is commonly known as a Golden Sex-Link. Excellent brown egg layers. Laying hens need a 16% protein to remain lean and keep egg laying up. Calcium is very important as well. Always keep oyster shells on hand to give them an extra boost of calcium if needed. You can tell if your hen has enough calcium if the shell of her egg is really soft.Hi all! I told my husband I wanted chickens, he came home with 3 of them. He didn't ask the farmer anything about them. I'm totally in the dark to what breed, age or health of any of them. If anyone could identify the breed that would be great and is there a way to determine if they are old enough to start laying? I need a crash course quick! Thanks yall!
In case you're confused by the terms that Birdrain92 and I have used, Golden Sex Link is one of a number of labels under which some hatcheries market their Red Sex Links which are produced by crossing a red gene rooster (RIR, NH, or PR) with a silver gene hen (RIW, SLW, Delaware, Light Sussex, or silver factor WPR). Not only can the offspring be sexed by color from hatching (female chicks are reddish/goldish, male chicks are whitish), but they are egg laying machines, consistently churning out more than 300 large brown eggs per hen per year.
