Downsides to sex link/production breeds?

[MonicainAZ]

Hey all, as I consider getting my first chickens, I'm looking at various breeds. I've been considering most of the popular breeds like barred rocks, Rhode Island reds, buff orpingtons, etc., plus the various sex link and production hybrids. I'll only have hens and they will be pets and egg layers.

My understanding is that the sex links are usually hybrids of popular breeds, like a mix of Rhode Island red and a white rock for a red sex link. And the chicks usually are better layers than either of the parent breeds because they are hybrids. This sounds like a great deal!

However, my instincts tell me there is no such thing as a free egg for lunch, LOL. Is there a cost to be paid for the extra production? Shorter lifespan, more health problems, eat more food??? It's not really important to me that they lay lots of eggs as truthfully I'll probably be giving a lot of them away anyhow, my husband and I can't eat that many eggs! Mostly I just want them for the chicken TV, but the sex links are attractive to me because I can't have roosters where I live so avoiding that possibility seems worthwhile.

I'm sure that I'm COMPLETELY overthinking this. But I'm a dog show person, and breeding is sooo important there. Possibly not quite so much with chickens, but old habits die hard. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Michael OShay]

It's a general rule of thumb that sex links, which are egg laying machines, burn out quicker and die earlier than standard breeds, however there are always exceptions. I've raised both Black and Red Sex Links over the years and while they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 large, brown eggs per hen per year, I've had some of them lay pretty well even at 4-5 years of age. Some of my Black Sex Links have particularly long laying lives, even given me a fair number of eggs at 5 years or so. In fact, I was very surprised to learn recently that the world's oldest living chicken is a Black Rock (one of several labels under which hatcheries in the UK market Black Sex Links) who is 17 years old and just layed 2 eggs. You can read about this amazing Black Sex Link hen at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ritain-squeezes-eggs-THIRTEEN-years-last.html. I personally love sex links, particularly the Black Sex Links as they are very friendly and hardy hens that will give you loads of very large, brown eggs.

 

[MonicainAZ]

Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. And wow it is amazing that older hen lay new eggs after so long! I can't say the article did a good job of portraying the breed as having a good personality, since apparently that particular bird is "a complete psychopath," LOL!

 

[Michael OShay]

Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. And wow it is amazing that older hen lay new eggs after so long! I can't say the article did a good job of portraying the breed as having a good personality, since apparently that particular bird is "a complete psychopath," LOL!

That hen is something like 120 years old in human years. We might be complete psychopaths as well if we lived to be 120 years old. )

 

[dekel18042]

Sex links are definitely one way to go or if you wanted something different you could get an autosexing breed that can visually be sexed at hatch like the cream legbars or welsumers.
There are other breeds that this can be done with, too.

 

[donrae]

If you're not so much interested in egg production, I'd advise the more ornamental breeds like silkies, Polish, cochins....breeds like that. The downside of them is they tend to go broody so you have to deal with that, but they lay less and can live longer. Another downside is they're more vulnerable to predators.

 

[Torch404]

When I only had a few chickens I loved my sexlinks as they were always putting out eggs. My standard breeds though were far less consistent, then they'd go broody and then they'd molt and then and then and then and it felt like they just never produced enough for what I was feeding them. The sex links no problem just more eggs. If you have more than a few hens the lag in egg production, would probably be unnoticeable but with only a few hens it can lead to having to buy eggs.

 

[junebuggena]

If you're not so much interested in egg production, I'd advise the more ornamental breeds like silkies, Polish, cochins....breeds like that. The downside of them is they tend to go broody so you have to deal with that, but they lay less and can live longer. Another downside is they're more vulnerable to predators.

Also, most Silkies and Polish are only available if purchased as straight run. A lot of times, this translates into getting all boys and no eggs. If temperament is a concern, when sourcing from a hatchery, it's a roll of the dice. You never know what you will get. I will say that Barred Rocks have really fun personalities that tend to get inherited by their black sexlink pullets.

 

[MonicainAZ]

Also, most Silkies and Polish are only available if purchased as straight run. A lot of times, this translates into getting all boys and no eggs. If temperament is a concern, when sourcing from a hatchery, it's a roll of the dice. You never know what you will get. I will say that Barred Rocks have really fun personalities that tend to get inherited by their black sexlink pullets.

Yes, that has been my reason for not considering ornamental breeds more seriously. I live in the middle of the city, not on a particularly large lot, and roosters are out. I can have maybe 3-4 hens max. It would be hard to get a boy and fall in love and have to send him elsewhere. I know there are no-crow collars and such, but in addition if I only have maybe 2 hens and one roo, those girls may end up feeling abused, LOL

And thanks for the point about personalities from a hatchery. If I buy them locally can I generally expect them to be similar to whatever their parents are like?

 

[junebuggena]

Temperament is largely inherited. I went with hatchery stock. My barred Rocks have been my favorite by far. They aren't snuggly, but they are very curious and interested in everything going on. Black sexlinks tend to be similar in nature.