my little red baby

[LucyCline]

I got this chick out of the 'assorted rainbow layer' bin at a local feed store. The lady, who was not very knowledgeable, said she thought it was a Red Sex Link. I'm just looking for some verification that this is indeed a RSL. I'm new at raising chicksn and not good with determining breeds. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[chikenscratch]

Yes, I believe your chick to be a Red Star female. The male RS tend to be yellow then turn white. The female are the color above and are reddish and white mix as they age.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yup, looks like a RSL hybrid to me.

 

[LucyCline]

Thank you both so much! I have one more I'd like you to take a look at, if you don't mind.



This one is supposed to be a New Hampshire. Is there any way to tell if it's a female or a male at this age?

 

[StarLover21]

Definitally not a new hampshire- looks to be another RSL, which means it's a girl. New hampshire would be reddish overall and have red feathers coming in.

 

[hdowden]

if thats another rsl im thinking that one might be a cockerel

 

[LucyCline]

The bin that the yellow one was in was marked New Hampshire Reds and all of them were yellow. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be a male. What else could it be?

 

[Fred's Hens]

There is no breed called New Hampshire Red. That's a made up name that some hatcheries use.
A lot of these red laying strains, by whatever name the hatcheries make up, are merely different kinds of production red birds. My advice is to relax and enjoy the chicks. They're gonna be what they're gonna be. Hatcheries supply feed stores and they don't sell show quality or true to type birds. That's fine, but they're rarely even close to the Standard of Perfection for any "breed" they sell. They perform a service, selling inexpensive, healthy chicks to people.

A lot of feed stores and TSC type stores now just sell bins of chicks called "assorted red layers" without making any particular claims. That's just as well, frankly.

Some of the best layers people have came from such a bin.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Gold Comets

 

[chikenscratch]

Its another RSL. All RSL that are red/white blend are female, the male start yellow and turn all white.