Red sex links as a foundation.

[muskratlake]

Hello all. Are red sex link hens good breeding stock with males of true breeds ?good health and vigor being assumed on both parents. Thank you

 

[Matt1616]

Hello all. Are red sex link hens good breeding stock with males of true breeds ?good health and vigor being assumed on both parents. Thank you

You left out the most important part...what are you trying to accomplish?

 

[muskratlake]

Sorry my aim is to maintain good egg production and a healthy flock.

 

[muskratlake]

Sorry, my goal is to maintain good egg production and keep a healthy flock.

 

[Matt1616]

Sorry, my goal is to maintain good egg production and keep a healthy flock.

Sexlinks of any color are a hybrid made by crossing 2 breeds or varieties. There purpose is to be able to sex them at birth and high production egg layers. They have been refined by the hatcheries to meet the demand of the backyard chicken person to produce the maximum amount of eggs with the least amount of feed consumption. The hatcheries have been doing this for many years and have it pretty well mastered. Sexlinks are not really meant to be bred as they do not breed true because they are the result of a cross. Although there are people that probably breed them they are really intended to be throw away birds. The thought is you raise them to point of lay and keep them until they lay out a 2-3 years of age then you cull them and start over with a new batch. Breeding them to anything else will hurt their laying ability...the offspring will probably not be as productive as the Sexlinks themselves.

Matt

 

[muskratlake]

Thanks for your help. I will keep these girls another season and replace them . I have chantecler s in mind to try and breed. The reds were my first flock.

 

[donrae]

this was a nice post on the subject. It's older and the pics have dropped off, but the text is still there. He seemed to have good results starting with sex links.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/660815/breeding-sex-links-third-generation

 

[Fred's Hens]

Well, that was my old thread. We had a very specific goal in attempting some of these things. We also wanted to see how the genetics would endure over subsequent generations.

In a nutshell? In the end, if you want prolific laying birds such as the Red Sex Links which are made as a result of million dollar poultry genetics research, just keep on buying them, to be honest about it.

You really cannot match the R&D these huge poultry conglomerates like Hubbard, ISA, DeKalb, Tetra, etc in own backyard. Just cannot. We simply do not have access to those genetics. They're mostly patented.

It is very, very difficult to achieve flock eveness as well. The chicks you hatch are all over the place. The stuff that surfaces is incredibly interesting, but not always valuable or helpful.

So, while it was a fun project, if you want high quality, standard bred birds, go find a reliable APA/ABA breeder through the breed club of your choice for a breed.

If you want the ISA Brown, Tetra Tint, or other commercial based layers? Just go buy a box of chicks.

If you want to mess around with playing Dr Seuss, the sex link will give you a palate of genetics bombs you've ever enjoyed. LOL

 

[AK Chick]

Thank you, President of the Rhode Island Red Association, I bought Black sex-link chicks last spring and have wondered how they were bred. I am in Alaska, and have tried a few breeds of chickens now, and Rhode Island Reds have been the hardiest breed we
have tried. Mine are 3 years old now, and still producing 2 eggs a day during their laying season.

 

[AK Chick]

My rooster is a Chanticler/Arucana mix given to me when my first rooster decided it hated my small son, attacking him at every trip into the chicken yard and consequently became BBQ He is a very cold-hardy guy, and has wintered -25 degrees F temps with no health problems. He's friendly, large, and according to my more knowledgeable neighbor, virile enough to make my turkey start laying! (Something about pheromones, I think he said.) I'd go with the Chanticler.