Friendly chicken breeds and layers of Lg - Ex Lg eggs lay year round

[BlueMoon]

My Golden Comets (red sex link) are friendly, chatty, social and lay large brown eggs They seem to prefer cooler weather.

Are Red Stars the same as Golden Comets (AKA Hubbard's Golden Comets)????

 

[Blisschick]

Jersey Giants lay really large eggs. Some of the eggs I got this past year were as large as a regular hen's double yolker!

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
When you see the name "star", "comet" or "queen" you are dealing with a proprietary crossbred hybrid for laying purposes. The exact same cross in one hatchery may be given a different name by another hatchery.... although they have all independently developed their breeding stock over many generations.

But in general:

1) Red Stars are Red Sex Links = RIR sire X Leghorn

2) Black Stars are Black Sex Links = RIR sire X Barred Rock

Some use a New Hampshire Red in lieu of the RIR in these crosses, then give them a new name for marketing purposes. Also, sex links do not work on reverse crosses. But generally if you use a Red sire you will get a sex linked hybrid.

A Black Sex Link in the UK is called a "Black Rock" and a hatchery in Scotland claims proprietary rights to be the only person to sell BSL's in the UK. I just thought I'd throw that in because it's crazy.

3) Golden Commets = NHR sire X White Rock

4) Cinamon Queen = NHR sire X Silver Laced Wyandotte

5) I am personally making "Greyfields Sex Rockets" which will be a RIR X Sussex. I've never seen this cross commercially in the US, but it has some name in the UK which ended in Rocket. I don't remember.

According to The Feathersite, there are also the following:

6) Rhode Island Red sire X Rhode Island White = Red Sex Link (Isn't this how the ISA-Hubbard strains got started?)

7) Production Red X Deleware = Red Sex Link

The reason I go through all this is that if you are looking for year around laying ability and larger eggs, your best bet is any sex linked hybrid. No purebreed keeps up with them in productivity.

I have a lot of sex links and have bred some now. It's simply not true they are difficult or "burn out" too quickly. I believe this rumors get started because people are getting hold of "rescue hens" from egg battery operations... so these animals are burned out and crazy, but you would be too if you were kept under those conditions.

 

[johnnyjack]

say what ya want but my leghorns are calm and eat out of my hand .i think its got alot to do with the way they are brought up .if you work with them alot they will be friendly. no matter the breed.

 

[kayri]

Quote:
I can tell you that this is TRUE! Lexie's eggs (one of Cyn's Barred Plymouth Rocks) are giant, and I have never heard anything bad about the Barred Plymouth Rocks. I hated my Sex link! She was mean and retarded.

Sorry you got a mean sex-link. My black sex link (Midnight) is very friendly. All my chickens are nice, but the barred rock and one of the buffs are really great. In addition our Austrolop used to be bit stand-offish, but once she started laying she became super-friendly. Can't say anything about egg size as they are just a bit shy of 6 months old and started laying about about a month ago.

 

[susanhai]

we have a red sex link and a black sex link... the black one doesn't like to be held but her eggs are consistently too large for the egg carton... no double yolkers, just huge. the red one is a sweetie, lays a normal size egg and laid her first at 14 1/2 wks!

 

[opihiman911]

I have RIR and they are large/X-large brown egg laying machines. They are all a little stand offish except one who will jump in my lap looking for treats. RIR roosters can be absolute terrors of the coop, that why I don't have one.

A friend of mine has buff orpingtons and black austrolorps, which are actually black orpingtons bred in australia. They both lay large brown eggs. His hens are so friendly and docile they can actually be a pain and trip you up or fly up on the table while you are eating. He has a HUGE austrolorp rooster that is beautiful, shiny black with green florescence, and so tame his 4 year old son picks him up and carries him all over and puts him in his wagon and takes him for a ride.

Another friend has only barnyard cross breeds of brown layers. He started with the brown egg variety from one of the hatcheries and kept the RIR and Delaware rooster. He has been hatching alot of strong healthy brown egg laying machines that lay mostly large eggs. I've hears that the plymouth and barred rocks are normally large-jumbo eggs layers, but not as productive.

I used to like only pure bred chickens, but I'm starting to like my friends mix. While I can't really quantify it, it does seem that his mixed breed flock produces more consistant, less down time during molt, less problems. He has several of his first generation hatches that are 4-5 years old and don't seem to really slow down in production. My RIR really slow down by year 3, and are only giving me 1-2 eggs/week by then. I normally hatch a new batch during the second year so when the older one really slow down, the young guns step up and take their place and the older ones are off to retirement.

Hope this helps,
Cory

 

[eaemnc]

This is by far some of the best info. I have read. That piece http://www.newfarm.org/features/2005/0605/pasturechix/indes.shtml

Thank you so much for posting it!,

Ann

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[nccountrygirl]

I have 2 BSL and they lay Lg. brown eggs almost every day, and they are the friendliest birds I have.

 

[MNKris]

The Red Stars I got from McMurray are fabulous. They are the most gentle, best layers I have ever owned, and I have owned quite a few different types of chickens. These gals have laid eggs right through their molt and they are laying now when the Easter Eggers have stoppped. I am going to get some more in February. I find it hard to believe they are RIR x Leghorns due to their temperament. They are way more calm than I would expect that cross to be. Maybe they really are retarded

They do lay as good as a leghorn though. In prime, I was getting about 5-6 eggs a week from them. I am down to about 3 right now. They are 3 1/2 years old. The eggs they lay have always been large to Jumbo. With the Easter Eggers, when they were in their prime, I would say I got about 3-4 eggs out of each. I am not getting any right now, but I would expect when they start laying again it will be about 2-3 a week. The Easter Eggers are more of a medium to large, but they have fabulous shells. Don't know why, but their shells always crack perfectly. My Red Stars need oster shells for some reason to keep a good eggshell going.

One thing I don't like about my Red Stars is that they don't like to roost where they are supposed to. For the most part, they would rather lay in their nest boxes at night and I have to clean out the boxes every day. The Easter Eggers and every other type of bird I have owned have always used our roosts. Grrr....

The Easter Eggers are so unique and so pretty. Not as friendly as a Red Star though. Not even close...