McMurrey Black and Red Stars????

[babalubird]

McMurry ends their description of these birds with "They will not retain these characteristics in the future."

What do they mean? Does that mean if your Red Star Rooster breeds with your red star chickens, you don't get the same Red Stars?

Want a good egg layer. These sounded good but this makes me wonder if I have to re-buy from McMurry every time I need to replace my layers every couple of years.

Anyone in the know, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Connie

Here's their description:

"We have finally found the sex link BROWN EGG LAYER that meets our strict specifications; easy to raise, lays large brown eggs, and has a good feed conversion ratio. A "sex-link" chicken is one, which at time of hatch, can be sexed by its color. RED STAR: These hens will mature with feathers that are reddish brown with flecks of white throughout. The males are all white with nice yellow skin. (They will not retain the same characteristics in future.) At approximately 22 weeks these hens will start to lay and lay they will. We're sure this hardy bird will become a favorite of yours as it lays eggs right through hot or cold weather. No wonder it's called the Red Star."

 

[miss_jayne]

sex linked birds are crosses. they will not pass down the traits of all the males looking one way and the females another.

if you want the benefits of sex linked chickens, yes, you would replenish the layers. that would be at 12-18 months of age for 'optimum laying'. after that age, they will (most likely) slow down egg production.

if you want to raise chickens that will produce offspring that are comparable to the parents, you would want to go with a certain 'Breed', not a cross or hybrid bird.

 

[greyfields]

Red Star + Red Star != Red Star

The Red and Black Star is just their proprietary name for "Red Sex Link" and "Black Sex Link" if you want to google it and learn more about them. They are absolutely fine birds, produce well, have good temperments and will go on laying for a long time under the right conditions.

 

[jenjscott]

I have some red star. they are great egg layers. They started laying this past summer`at 4 months and are still laying almost every day. Just for grins I hatched a couple of their eggs, both are white hens, but have also started laying nice big eggs early. so while they don't retain their sex link color trait, they seem to have retained their egg layig abilities. If you don,t want to mess with raising the roosters, you 'd be better off just buying the pullets when needed. I am waiting to see if they go broody. Your brest egg layers are not supposed to, but I wouldn't mind a setting hen or two, so long as all twelve don't do it at the same time.

 

[mikarod]

Quote:
Surely you don't mean that by breeding a red star to a red star you'll get a red star???

I think that the people mean, that the hens can't keep producing eggs at the rate they laid before the aging process took over.

OR...they could mean that the males and females will start to look more alike as they age, but in all honesty...the males will look quite different than the females of the same cross.

 

[Beekissed]

As with any hybrid you have genetics from both breeds. Depending on which traits are dominant or recessive, you cannot guarantee that you would have the same results with each successive breeding, as you would with a standard breed.

When you breed a white rock with a white rock, its a fair bet you will have a white chicken.

When you breed a red star to a red star, you could have a splash, a red, or a white and any variation of the three. Its a grab bag as far as features go, but if both strains of chickens that produce this hybrid are good egg layers, the chances are great that any subsequent breedings of these birds will produce good egg layers, as this is a dominant gene for both original species.

 

[chiknlittle]

I got 4 of the red stars from Murray McMurray Hatchery, and I have to say that they are the funniest, most gentle chickens ever. Well, the two that are left could be described that way. They are submissive and will let you pick them up and hold them like a football and I believe that it is this submissive trait that caused some of my white rocks to peck 2 of them 2 death. The other 2 are in a coop of their own now, and even with no artificial light to extend their day and no heat lamp the 2 remaining hens still manage to lay 1 egg a day each and they are the nicest looking eggs with a chestnut brown colored shell that never gets cracked. I'm ordering more to be delivered in Feb. because I think so highly of the ones I have now. But you have to watch them. I thought that one of them had been eaten by a predator when she wasn't in the coop at bed time. Turns out she flew the coop and eloped with my golden polish rooster. They came sheepishly walking out of the woods the next morning.

I can't speak on the genetics part of your question, but they are good hens / layers and tolerate winter well. Good luck!

 

[Eastins Eggs]

Red sex link are RIR roster over Delaware hen or White Leghorn. Black sex link are RIR roster over Bard Rock hen.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
= means "equals"

!= means "does not equal"

Sex Links age no more or less quickly than other breeds. They also don't "burn out fast" like many people argue. This is a criticism by people who have dealt with ex-battery hens. Any bird burns out under those conditions.

Sex linked males & females look dinstinctively different at all ages.

 

[greyfields]

Quote:
Yes, but no.

If you look at the parent strains they use for their crosses, they do not resemble the "standard breeds" we would see in the backyard. They are highly specialized strains of bird.

I have bred my own Black Sex Links using standard breeds. Are they BSLs? Yes. Will they perform to the same level as a Black Star, Black Rocket, etc? Probably, if not most certainly, not.