Sex-Linked Breeds Question

FaithFeathers

In the Brooder
6 Years
Sep 22, 2013
24
0
24
Hello all!
I live in a neighborhood in the city and I absolutely CANNOT have roosters. I am hoping to buy some chicks at the feed store tomorrow, but am slightly disappointed that I am limited to only 2 breeds; red and black stars (I don't have a problem with these breeds, I just wish I had more variety to choose from). So I was wondering, are there any sex-linked breeds other than these two? And is there and concrete way to be sure that a chick is a hen versus a rooster? Are there any breeds that may not be sex-linked but males are distinguishable somehow from the females?

Thank you for your help,
FaithFeathers
 
I have Red Star. They are smart, funny, fantastic layers of big brown eggs. You will love them, too!
Your other option is to buy older pullets from a local farmer.
Good luck & enjoy!
 
There are some true breeds that are auto-sexed from birth such as Cream Legbars, but sex links are actually hybrids and not breeds. Red Sex Links are produced by crossing a red gene rooster with a silver gene hen. Male chicks are whitish, female chicks are reddish. Black Sex Links are produced by crossing a red gene rooster with a barred hen (usually a barred rock). Male chicks have a white spot on top of their black heads, the tops of the heads of female chicks are solid black. I've raised both Black and Red Sex Links for years, and they are both egg laying machines, producing more than 300 large, brown eggs per hen per year. I actually prefer the Black Sex Links to the Reds as my Blacks have typically been friendlier, slightly better layers in really cold winter weather, and have tended to have a longer laying life. However, you can't go wrong either way.
 

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