Do I not want sex links?

[CleverCluck]

I read a thread earlier that said they didnt like sex links and several others agreed, I was wondering why? i have 3 Amberlinks, will i not like them? 2mo old never had links before

 

[Folly's place]

Yours may be wonderful, and I've never had Amberlinks so have no opinion about them.
My problems were with the red production types, including the hatchery Rhode Island Reds. Many of the hens were aggressive with their flock mates, and did a lot of feather pecking, and just didn't 'play nice' out there.
They were excellent short term laying hens, but caused extra stress in the flock.
Mary

 

[Jsam5]

I’ve always had a great experience with sex-links I have a few Rhode Island reds and some black sex-links they are all good layers and are very sweet and have never pecked at each other.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@FortCluck has sex links I believe. Wonder if she will chime in with her experience.

 

[FortCluck]

I read a thread earlier that said they didnt like sex links and several others agreed, I was wondering why? i have 3 Amberlinks, will i not like them? 2mo old never had links before

There are pros and cons to having sex links.

Sex links are a hybrid breed thats sole purpose is to lay eggs and they rarely take breaks when they lay... So in winter or in hot months you will not see really a big decrease in their egg laying, which is good and bad. It is good because you'll be getting eggs when others are not, but it is bad because it is tiring out your chickens system.

Sex links do not live very long because their systems get tired out from laying constantly and I think they rarely live past 4+ years old. When I say they lay a lot of eggs, I have one that maybe took a month off over an entire year and that wasn't a month straight, it was just a day here and a day there.

I have red sex links and they are probably the friendliest chickens that I have, but I am a bit upset that they will not live very long. Mine are two years old and I am already starting to see signs of aging.

My Jersey giant rooster seems to not like sex links at all and he rarely mates with them, which is a good and bad thing because I like to create offspring by incubating fertile eggs and I can't do that unless he is mating with them. Honestly I wasn't too impressed with their offspring either and that is because hybrids really do not give off good offspring because that's not what they're created for, they are created solely to lay eggs.

Sex links aren't good for meat birds, I'm not sure if you were using yours for meat. they don't really create a lot of meat on their bodies so it's not something that someone who wants meat birds or a meat source should go towards.

If you are looking for a really friendly bird thats sole purpose is to give you eggs than sex links are perfect for you. If you are looking for a bird that lives a long length of time, then a sex link is not good for you.

I would honestly buy more sex links when yours are getting to the age of about one and a half to two years old so that you always have a supply of eggs and you are not losing out on eggs when the others pass.

 

[FortCluck]

I also have a Rhode Island Red that I rescued a few months ago and she is 4 years old, she is actually still laying.

She is probably the nicest thing ever and the owner told me that she hates people. I find it very funny that she hates people because she flies up on my back every single time I go into their fenced in area and she rides on my back like I am a carnival ride

I do believe that some people have bad experiences with certain chicken breeds, but it doesn't mean that all of them are going to be aggressive or mean towards people.

I do believe the best thing you can do as a chicken owner is to spend as much time as you can with them from when they are a chick all the way until they are an adult because I have always seen friendlier chickens when owners are very hands on.

Many chickens that I have rescued from people and they say that they hate people is because they never spent time with them. The chicken is very unfamiliar with humans so they are scared of them.

 

[Jsam5]

I never knew about them not living very long as they are good egg producers.They arnt going to be used for meat outs are solely for eggs and when they stop laying they get to live out their lives on our farm. Thanks for the information!

 

[FortCluck]

I never knew about them not living very long as they are good egg producers.They arnt going to be used for meat outs are solely for eggs and when they stop laying they get to live out their lives on our farm. Thanks for the information!

I have a friend that has golden comets and they rarely live till they're 4. They're another hybrid that is a good egg producer.

My Rhode island red is still going strong after 4 years and I think they live longer than a sex link.

I have a lot of crosses I made, but most are young so I won't know how long they live until years down the road.

 

[Jsam5]

I have some golden comets as well and was a bit confused on why they are four years old and I only have two left because I read chickens usually live much longer (I started with 6) two were got by predators and the others were found just laying there. Now it makes much more sense.