Question about sexlinks

[mama24]

I doubt you will get a broody sexlink. They seem to breed that out of a lot of hatchery birds. I have a red sexlink, not sure what kind, and she is the sweetest bird! She's friendly and makes the cutest little purring sounds! And she lays HUGE eggs. She doesn't lay as often as my Delaware hen does, but her eggs are much bigger.

 

[LilyD]

I am hoping that they will not stop laying for long. I live in Vermont and we get very cold snowy winters here. I talked to a lot of people around here and they said that the Sexlinks do really well for cold hardiness and also for egg laying year round so I am keeping my fingers crossed!!

Would be nice if they are super nice and have great personalities too.

 

[Kathi D]

The first two winters my hens laid all winter long, but this year was different. I don't know if it was because they are older, something to do with the weather, or what. A lot of people told me that if I supplied a few hours of extra light in the coop they would keep laying, but I didn't want to have a hen sweatshop!

So I'm hoping these young ones will keep laying through the winter, and I'm planning to add a few new chicks every year now just to keep it going. I see new and bigger chicken coops in my future . . .



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[LilyD]

Mama24,

If they don't get broody that's okay, I am not opposed to buying more chickens if needed. But I wasn't sure if being a hybrid if they wanted to hatch if the babies would be okay. It would be terrible if she worked hard to hatch out eggs and then the babies were sick or had problems because they were from hybrid parents. Shows how little I know about chickens lol. I am glad to hear that yours is friendly. That is my primary concern. I know the kids will not be able to stay out of the coop once they are here and since I will have boys and girls I want to make sure that they are all nice and aren't mean to the kids.

 

[LilyD]

Yeah I am starting out with a bigger size coop knowing that I will probably add more later on. Then I won't feel bad that I am making them too cramped when I find new babies.

 

[Kathi D]

Also, just be sure to be stocked up on eggs in your fridge when winter starts. They will last a long, long time in the fridge, you know. I had several dozen going into winter but not quite enough to last the whole time! I will make sure to keep better stocks this year--I'll have to get stingy with giving the extras away until I make sure I have enough to last. You just get so spoiled with fresh eggs that it's a pain to go back to STORE eggs.


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[carrlr]

Between my BR, BO, and Red Sexlinks, the sexlinks were the most consistant layers over the winter and have the largest eggs of all even though they are smaller birds. We had a particularly long on cold winter, so everything kind of slowed down. I wish I knew what combination mine actually were. The red sexlinks even started laying younger/earlier. I will definately include them when I get more.

 

[LilyD]

I tend to make deviled eggs anytime we have holiday parties so I will need a lot of eggs. My family is huge and uses about 3 dozen per holiday for
Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Plus I have a growing teenager who has two hollow legs to fill. I have a feeling 12 hens might not be enough lol.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hens will seldom attack kids. Roosters might. If all you have is hens, you will not have fertile eggs to hatch but the kids should be very safe.

Not all roosters attack people. In my experience, mopst don't. But some do. If you are that concerned about it, just keep all hens and no roosters.

If you want to hatch your own and have a rooster, get an incubator. It is true that sex links are not known for going broody, but they are living animals. Those instincts are not always totally bred out of them. There is a thread active on this forum today about someone having to continually break her sex link from being broody. But I certainly would not count on a sex link from a commercial hatchery to go broody very often if at all.

I make my own sex links from breeds that are known to go broody. They have just as much chance of going broody as any other hen from the parent breeds. But hatchery sex links are usually not from breeds (or strains of breeds) that are known to go broody.

It is quite common for first year pullets to not molt but keep laying throughout their first winter, especially if they start laying a little later in the year. However, practically all second year hens will molt and stop laying for a while when the days get shorter.

 

[LilyD]

Okay I have another newbie chicken owner question. At what age do chickens stop laying. I have heard many different ages. Is it kind of like with women who go into menopause does it just vary depending on the person or is there a set age at which they tend to stop laying?