My black chicken . Hen or rooster?

[Michael OShay]

I got two like this at a sell yesterday they have no red on them as I can see and no red on the face but I was told at the sell they were bsl pullets

You were given incorrect information. They appear to be hatchery grade Black Australorps, but definitely are not BSLs. I've raised BSLs for years and as you can see in the photos below, BSLs have reddish or copper colored feathers around the neck.

Googled from http://chickengardener.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/black_sex_link-e1286339073512.jpg and https://www.dunlaphatchery.net/birds/Standards/img/Black-Sex-Link-Chicken.jpg.

 

[curtishannah]

well ty for the info well r the australorps good egg layers and a good bird ??

 

[bngowe]

Hmm.. This is useful. So some of the other barnyard mixes have, have that pattern of bsl. Now I know what they are mixed with. I was wondering what type of breed this all black chicken is. Now I know it's part australorp. It has like a bluish / purple sheen to the black feathers, but has no red anywhere. Also, thanks everyone. I am happy to hear that I have a hen. I just hope these mixed breed chickens lay well. They look so much skinner and more lean than my buff Orpington and even my ameraucana.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

well ty for the info well r the australorps good egg layers and a good bird ??

Yes. Australorps set the record for most eggs laid by a hen in a year - 364. They take a while to fill in and start out very thin & scrawny looking but end up being nice fat hens. They tend to have a good disposition. The only downside I've found is mine never go broody. But if you don't want broody hens then it's all good. But in my experience they don't go broody very often.

 

[lovepeeps]

she is beautiful. I want one

 

[Michael OShay]

well ty for the info well r the australorps good egg layers and a good bird ??

Australorps are my favorite standard breed. They are extremely hardy, calm and gentle (my children, and now my granddaughter, made lap pets of ours), and they are the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. As CochinBrahmaLover pointed out a Black Australorp holds the brown egg laying record (it was the all time laying record until broken by a caged White Leghorn in 1979 that layed 371 white eggs in 365 days) with 364 eggs in 365 days, and while my Australorps have never had that kind of production (and likely never will), I've still had a few of them lay over 300 eggs in a year. Black and Red Sex Links will usually outlay them during their peak production period , however an Australorps peak production period lasts longer than a sex link's peak production period.

 

[bngowe]

Just an update on how my barnyard mixed black hen turned out

 

[ChickenPox]

Thats a beauty!

 

[BantamLover21]

She turned into a beautiful bird!

 

[Wyandottes7]

Just an update on how my barnyard mixed black hen turned out

She's very pretty!