One roo among the 5 black star pullets

[Arielle]

I'm fairly certain one of my Blk star pullets is a roo.Maybe a second one, too! At 20 days, "he" has tiny tiny tail feathers; the RIR and other Blk Star are 1 1/4" already; the wings have just one Layer of feathers, RIR wings almost fully feathered. THis "boy" had a white spot about the size of a dime on "his" head ar 1 day old and it's mostly still there. "He" is noticeably smaller than the others. On "his" wings , high up on the back, "his" feathers are worn off and bare. "He" is the most aggressive, pushing napping girls off the perches and my DH saw "him" kicking at the others. His feathering is not solid black but barred with dark gray. There is one other chick that is very similar. Oh, in general the other black stars are a little smaller and less feathered out than the RIR and speckled sussex and SLW. Is he really a boy?

I purchased the black star pullets to increase the % of pullets knowing the art and science of sexing is on average 90% accurate; what recourse do I have with the hatchery? Any suggestions?

 

[Judy]

I thought black stars were a sex link. If they are, the males will be a different color, I believe. There are lots of threads on here about sex links.

Usually if a hatchery, or even the post office, causes you to lose a chick or messes up your order, they will offer to credit you or send a replacement. You could call them and ask. If my memory about the color is correct, you just have a female feathering out a little differently from the others.

 

[luvanimals2]

I cannot have roosters where I live so I did the same and purchased 8 sexlinks plus 8 others from Ideal. My Black Sexlinks ended up being girls and I honestly do not remember their coloring. Hopefully, someone else can help. My gold sex link ended up being MALE. Very obvious. The girls are gold w/ a little white in the wings. The boys are All White w/ a little brown in the wings.

I called Ideal to complain and said that I understood about the 90% but I bought a sexlink and I should be assured I was getting pullets. I assumed the risk on the other but should not have to worry about the sexlinks too. They said that the coloring is sometimes a little difficult to tell apart. Then shouldnt they use secondary sexing methods? I was so upset about it. I ordered 16 pullets and got 2 males. A friend ordered 50 pullets from Privetts with only 2 Males. Ideals CS was great though, they did take care of it. Good luck!

I hope they turn out to be pullets.

Nancy

 

[Arielle]

Thanks for your support!

I have actually spent many hours searching through pics at the hatcheries to figure out the male/female coloring of the black star. Apparently, black sex links are black with the boys having a white dot on top of head, then he feathers in blk and wh almost like a barred rock but not as distinct. Sexing the red stars looks like it might be easier, one white and the other yellow. Apparently, the reality is that its not so easy to distinguish between the sexes . . . .

If I'm going to have a roo, I do wish it could have been a very handsome RIR!

I'll contact the hatchery when I'm more sure of the sex . . . thanks you for your help.

 

[pascopol]

Hatcheries make a disclaimer in general about 90% sexing accuracy guarantee, so if you buy 10 pullets and they send you one male they have a right to do so.

However I find it interesting when you order males only, their "accuracy" shoots to 100% !

My first order of chicks years ago from Murray were all cockreals. They sent me 27 males not one pullet.

Isn,t that amazing ???


I,d call it "selective variable accuracy" depending what sex your,e buying LOL.

 

[Arielle]

I understand the 90% accuracy average; it's the average of all our orders put together that the hatchery averages 90%. However, the point of the sexlink genes is to have a much better accuracy if not a perfect accuracy. Isn't that why we pay a higher price for the purchase of pullets? HAs anyone else dealt with a hatchery over this ? I don't want to sound unreasonable if and when I call CS.

 

[HBuehler]

Black Sex Link roosters-some call Black Star to make them sound more exotic or something are all barred similar to a poor quality BR or Cuckoo the pullets are solid black at hatch and get varying degrees of a redish copper coloring in the chest area.if yours has the lines it is a roo
Sex links are not hard to sex at hatch with either color red or black...maybe they had a trainee that day

 

[Arielle]

I must have had a trainee Two of 5 pullets are boys.One is very aggressive already challenging the pullets. He's strong willed and doesn't back down-repeatedly pecks at intervals until the other turns in submission. And he's the smallest of them all! Second bo is more easy-going at this time. They are beauties; light gray barring.

When (IF) I call the hatchery, what do I say? Has anyone tried to get a refund or replacement in next order?

 

[pdsavage]

Both sexes hatch out black, but the males have a white dot on their heads. Pullets feather out black with some red in neck feathers. Males feather out with the Barred Rock pattern along with a few red feathers.

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html