Chickens and roosters

[fuzziecreatures]

You do not have any orpingtons, you have red sex links. Chickens that can be sexed at hatch by the color of their down.

 

[judge]

Ok. Do I have two different kinds of chickens, or do we just have one breed with a mix of Roosters and hens? Are Production Reds and Red sexlink/star the same thing?

 

[hdowden]

they are 2 different breeds but both are breed for high egg production. they are close but not the same thing the sex links can be sexed at hatch due to the color of their down and they are a one time breed meaning you can not breed a sex link to a sex link and get a sex link. the production reds are basicly hatchery RIR, they are lighter in color than the rir.

 

[judge]

Thanks- so all the Sexlinks that I have should be hens? The Production Reds that I have could be a mix of roosters and hens? How long do I have to wait before I know the sex of the Production Reds? They are about 15 weeks old. Wow- i had no idea there was so much to know about chickens! I really do enjoy it though, and I really appreciate all of your help

 

[akcountrygrrl]

A red sex link is a hybrid bird bred for color sexing at hatching. This makes it much faster and easier for hatcheries to separate the cockerels from the pullets. The hens are primarily red with varying degrees of white through the tail, wings, neck, etc. The roos are primarily white with red leakage over the shoulders, back, and wing bows. Production reds are another hatchery cross bred usually from Rhode Island reds and New Hampshires. They are bred primarily to increase production capabilities. They will normally be red colored (but not the deep burgundy, almost black, of a true Rhode Island red) and have some black in the tails.

 

[hdowden]

Thanks- so all the Sexlinks that I have should be hens? The Production Reds that I have could be a mix of roosters and hens? How long do I have to wait before I know the sex of the Production Reds? They are about 15 weeks old. Wow- i had no idea there was so much to know about chickens! I really do enjoy it though, and I really appreciate all of your help

you can already tell the cockerels from the pullets in the production reds already. if you can get maybe a group pics showing all of them at once we can tell which are cockerels and which are pullets.

this is one of your cockerels, they have saddle feathers (long thinish feathers coming in at the base of the tail) coming in that you can also see on them and their hackles (neck feathers) should be pointed

 

[akcountrygrrl]

In my earlier post where I copied your pictures, I annotated which were roos and which were pullets.

 

[judge]

Thanks. I have 6 of the Production Reds, but i only put on 3 of them (I think). I'll try to get a pic of the 6 together