name of a chicken

[shoetou]

talking with my neighbor she mentioned a chicken to get and I cant find any thing coming close to what she said . she called it a black some thing some thing . she said that thy will lay all year round regardless and they make good meat birds when you need to thin the flock . any body have any idea of what she my have been talking about

 

[md1812]

Would it be a black sex-link?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Also known as Black Star. It's exactly what she is talking about. High production layers and much larger than Red Stars (sex links) so make for excellent dual purpose birds. It's a cross breed made from production reds over a barred bird (Plymouth Rock). They're black with red leakage on the neck and chest.

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/black_star.html

They don't breed true due to being cross breed. If you order from a hatchery specify you don't want packing peanuts or you'll get a bunch of free males thrown in too. Unless you want to butcher random breeds of male birds.

 

[Michael OShay]

Would it be a black sex-link?

Also known as Black Star. It's exactly what she is talking about. High production layers and much larger than Red Stars (sex links) so make for excellent dual purpose birds. It's a cross breed made from production reds over a barred bird (Plymouth Rock). They're black with red leakage on the neck and chest.

https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/black_star.html

Agreed. Black Sex Links are readily available at hatcheries and they are very friendly and hardy, egg laying machines. I've raised them for years (along with dozens of other breeds and hybrids), and they have been my best layers, consistently churning out more than 300 large brown eggs per hen per year.

 

[shoetou]

If I order Chick's now will they ready to survive the winter

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Sure, a bird only needs to be fully feathered for cold temperatures. They huddle together and puff out feathers when really cold. The trick is to have plenty of ventilation so there is no excess moisture in coop that will freeze on their combs causing frostbite. A ventilated and dry coop is all you need. No heat, no insulation.

I put my chicks outside in spring when it's 50F days and 30F at night. They are not completely feathered at 4 weeks but handle those temps just fine. It doesn't get under 0F until late December here so chicks this week would be three months old to easily handle real winter.

 

[Michael OShay]

If I order Chick's now will they ready to survive the winter

It depends on where you live. If you live where winters are really cold (below zero temps), I would personally recommend waiting until spring to order. Even though chicks are fully feathered by 6-7 weeks, they lack the body mass at that age to deal with those brutal temperatures. My family and I will be moving to Montana the first week or so in September, but we are going to wait until spring to get our chicks.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I live where winters are cold. 40 minute drive to Canada. My Plymouth Rocks are 14 weeks now and easily 5 pounds. It doesn't get below 0F until late December. That's more than 14 weeks away. Ample size to start into winter and will be laying in Spring. May start late winter but usually birds not laying by winter hold off until spring.

Your Black Star will likely be larger at 14 weeks than my standard bred Rocks.