Obnoxious Red Stars

[Kim95037]

I'm so bummed out. I had two Red Stars (Natalie and Daphne) who I just had to find a new home for. They were super sweet when it came to humans, they would run up to me and I could always pick them up and pet them, but they started picking on one of my silkies and then on another bantam EE that I had. It was stressing everyone out including me so I finally decided the best thing to do was find a new home for them. They never picked on my EE before. Yesterday I heard her screech and next thing I know she's running across the yard and one of my Red Stars had a beak full of feathers chasing after her. This is happening while they are out in my huge yard free ranging. I was keeping them by themselves (I have 3 chicken coops) and thought they would be fine altogether with all of the room to roam around when I let everybody out to free range. I found a good friend that was able to take them, he has two Rhode Island Reds about the same size. So far they seem to be all getting along fine. It was weird because I have one other black silkie that is tinier than my white one and they never picked on her at all. Just curious, has anyone else had this problem with Red Stars? I was wondering if this was typical of the breed. I was really bummed out to have to let them go, I've had them since they were about a month old, they are just over a year old now and they were my best egg layers. They started picking on my silkie about 3 months ago and just started with Tabitha (my bantam EE) a couple of days ago. Also they are little piggies! Sometimes when I have treats I split them away from everyone else so my other hens can even have chance to have some goodies. I have mixed flock, two Barred Rocks, one Turken, two Silkies and one bantam EE.

And also three new EEs which Im really excited about but they are all by themselves and will be for a while yet. Thanks for any input!

Kim

 

[Michael OShay]

I wouldn't call it typical of Red Stars (Red Sex Links). The Red Stars I have had have usually been pretty docile, but I have had some exceptions, and have even had to cull an aggressive Red Star hen out of the flock on a couple of occasions. My Black Stars have been at least as good at laying (slightly better in cold, dark, winter weather) and have been the friendlier and gentler of the two Sex Link varieties and that is the primary reason that I now have only Black Stars in my flock.

 

[Kim95037]

Thanks for your reply. I didn't know they had Black Stars that were hens too. The gal that I got these two from said all the red ones are hens and the black ones are roosters. Well hopefully I will not have anymore chicken drama for a while.

 

[Michael OShay]

The gal you got those Red Stars from has completely misinformed you about Stars. Red Star is one label under which Red Sex Links are marketed by various hatcheries. Red Sex Links are produced by crossing a red gene rooster (RIR, NHR, or Production Red) with a white/silver gene hen (WR, RIW, Delaware, or Light Sussex). The resulting offspring can be sexed by color at hatching (Roos are whitish, hens are reddish). Other labels under which Red Sex Links are marketed are Brown Sex Link, Gold Sex Link, Cinnamon Queen, Golden Buff, Bovans Brown, Golden Comet, Hubbard Golden Comet, Isa Brown, Shaver Brown, Babcock Brown, Warrens, Bovans Goldline, etc., but they are all Red Sex Links. Black Sex Links (Black Stars) on the other hand are produced by crossing a Rhode Island Red with a Barred hen (usually a Barred Rock). As in Red Sex Links, the chicks can be sexed by color at hatching (Roos are black with a white spot on top of their heads, hens are solid black). Hope this helps with the confusion.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

All of my RSL have been pushy but sweet to me, easy to handle. They are usually at the top of the flock and are incredibly food driven. I would be wary of them with more docile breeds especially in enclosed areas with limited space.

 

[Kim95037]

Well the gal I got them from wont be getting anymore business from me anyway, for various other reasons as well. Thank you for the education!
I actually found a place in Lompoc Ca that DELIVERS the chickens to your door. Its called Dare to Dream Farms, and now they actually have a vaccine for infectious bronchitis! I lost a whole batch of baby chicks to infectious bronchitis, it was heartbreaking. The vaccine is fairly new and they just started with it this year. I wish I would have known about them from the beginning. They gauruntee the chicks to be hens or they will take it back, which is HUGE! I went thru more heartbreak when I had to get rid of Donald, my beloved handsome Russian Orloff. I had ONE neighbor who complained. Everyone else loved it. And he was just renting so he moved and no longer lives here. Anyway thanks the info!

 

[Kim95037]

Yep they are definitely food driven!