Isa Brown = ?

[Amastacia]

if i'm not mistaken, there are a lot of names for the same hybrid breed. is the Isa Brown the same as the Sex-linked Red, Golden Comet or whatever else there is? i'm trying to get a fairly complete list of the names for this one breed so that i know what people are talking about

thanks

 

[Spangled]

No, not exactly. An ISA Brown has a whole lot more to its genetic development than "just a cross." It goes back generations. Only the folks at ISA make the ISA Brown. Their genetics are a trade secret, for lack of a better term.

If you go to their website which is isapoultry.com, you'll see where you can download the laying graph and laying chart. The numbers are phenomenal. The Isa Brown is one of the best commercial chickens out there if number of eggs in the first year of laying is your goal. Of course, there is a huge difference between a state-of-the-art commercial setup and a backyard. Lighting, temperature, ventilation, space, safety, feed--almost all of those variables are different and have a marked effect on the chickens, their production, and their health.

Last time I checked, Townline Hatchery was the only US source for Isa Brown chicks.

Sex-linked Reds can be made up of many breeds. I do believe that the ISA Brown is a sex-linked red chicken, but that is not a "breed." It just means that a gold-based male was bred to a silver-based female. The male chicks are whiter (silver-er) than the reddish gold-based female chicks at hatch.

First edit: typo (waiting on second edit ;-))

 

[Amastacia]

it is kind of like the "all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares" thing. as i'm reading your information, Isa's are sort of supposed to be the ultimate sex-linked red. ok, i can believe that explanation. thank you.

and yeah, Isa's are great layers. their eggs are huge (they are just over a year old now) and they lay almost daily. they also have a good bit of personality. more active than the BO or BR and better layers, though i still like the others better. go figure

.

 

[Amastacia]

oh, and would it be likely that what TSC had labeled as Isa's might just have been some other random sex-linked red? because people have posted photos of their sex-linked reds and they look a lot like my Isa's.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

To a large degree all red-sex link chickens are going to look alike. But as Spangled has noted that's only looks. Performance wise there can be quite a variation depending on what was used to make the cross.

Sex-linking only makes it possible to readily discern male from female at hatch. If two poor layer strains are used in making the cross you may well see somewhat of a boost in the offspring's productivity from the "hybrid vigor" the cross produces. But they will still not lay anything like what a good commercial bird will lay that has had decades of professional breeding in its makeup.

Now what you saw at TSC I cannot say. If they claimed they were ISAs I'd be inclined to believe them. Presuming they didn't get them mixed up with the other chicks they were selling at the time.

 

[Amastacia]

so, considering their laying abilities (their eggs tend to be too big to fit into the egg crates i have, even the ones for extra large eggs) they are either Isa's or close enough to make no difference.

i suppose it doesn't really matter, i don't have a rooster so they won't be breeding. i was just curious and am prone to confusion

thanks for the information