I have had my Red Stars since April 1st 2014 and I love them. They started to lay the first tiny eggs at 15 weeks 3 days and now they are laying machines. I usually get between 14 and 20 eggs per day out of 17 layers. The question I have is they don't seem interested in brooding the eggs. Is there something I have to do to get them interested in brooding? These are my first chickens ever so I do not know. thank you in advanced for any and all help
Welcome to BYC! We're glad to have you. Red Stars are bred for egg production, and are very good at that. But, they aren't good broody hens. Most high-production chickens have had broodiness bred out of them, as broodiness = no eggs. It's very likely that there is nothing you can do to make your Red Stars go broody. They just don't have the instinct. With that said, you may be able to encourage them to go broody by not collecting all the eggs in the nest boxes. Sometimes, seeing a pile of eggs make a hen start thinking about going broody. But, this won't work if the bird just naturally isn't that broody. But it doesn't hurt to try! Some Red Stars do go broody, eventually. Give your birds some time, and maybe you'll get a lucky Red Star that does want to brood. If you really want broody hens, I suggest getting some Silkies, Cochins, or Old English Game. These breeds routinely go broody, though it does depend on the individual bird. Orpingtons and Wyandottes may also go broody, but if they come from a hatchery, it isn't guranteed (as hatchery birds are bred for egg production). Good luck with your Red Stars! I hope you still enjoy them, even if they don't go broody. They are a favorite of many members on this site, for their excellent temperaments and great production of large eggs.
Glad you joined us! Since Red Sex-links are very high production birds, they will probably never be interested in brooding eggs. That simply isn't what they were made to do.
Hello there and welcome to BYC! I agree with Wyandottes and BantamLover here. This breed does not go broody very often if ever. Get yourself some Silkies or Black Australorps. Silkies love to go broody and Black Australorps are better than average in the broody department. Enjoy your flock and welcome to our flock!
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. Red Star is one label under which some hatcheries market their Red Sex Links, which are produced by crossing a red gene rooster with a silver gene hen. The offspring, which can be sexed by color at hatching, are egg laying machines, but as you are discovering, they rarely go broody. It' simply not in their hybrid nature. If you want a breed that makes a decent brooder, yet still lays a lot of eggs, I would recommend Black Australorps. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
Welcome to BYC. As others have mentioned it is rather rare that a sex link production bred bird will go broody. Get a couple of cochins or silkies if you want some broody hens.
Also if you bred your sex links hoping to get more, they do not breed true, they are mixed hybrids. You would not get birds that can be sexed by color and very likely you would lose the high production factor. They are what they are - high production egg layers. There are true breeds that produce a lot of eggs like Australorps etc. If you used a rooster of the same breed, you could replicate them.
