Sex-Links = short life span

[Nslangton]

I read on a thread a few days ago about all of the problems with sex-links and early death rates. I can not find it now. I am freaking out. I love my sex-links, they are sweet and lay large eggs daily. We plan on keeping them until they die naturally and were hoping that they would live for years. I was reading the thread and it mentioned internal egg laying, being egg bound, and high rates of cancer in these hens causing them to dye within a year. Is this accurate? Is there anything that can be done to keep them healthy and living into the geriatric years?

 

[ChicKat]

So true Fred's Hens.......

It is because of a gold sexlink that I became addicted to chickens. She actually did go broody, and was sitting on eggs, when she had a heat prostration episode and I nearly lost her. It was my fault and not hers.....the heat here can kill.

There will always be one that breaks the mold (most of us have chickens designed NOT to go broody, especially sexlinks). She also would come up to you and peck your shoe to remind you that she was standing there waiting to be fed. Although she recovered from that heat prostration incident when I thought I had lost her, she has since died...and I don't know her age...so I cannot contribute to the sort-lived/long-lived question of the thread.

Many sexlink owners remark about their personality--- or friendliness, or perhaps the correct term would be how docile they are, allowing themselves to be picked up, displaying antics that humans find entertaining and amusing. If someone has only room for a very few chickens, I would recommend a sexlink among their small flock even if the duration is only a few years long lifespan.

 

[Fred's Hens]

We have several different kinds of sex links. We have some Black Sex Links that are 4 years old and look like a million bucks and lay steadily.

We have had a couple different commercial red sex links. Some individuals are 4 years old and lay respectably for a bird of that age, that has laid so many eggs in her career. We also have, sadly, a strain that has completely burned out in 2.5 years. So, since there are dozens and dozens of these strains, one cannot say with certainty, but only make some observations about "some" that does not apply to "all". Hope that helps.

 

[ChicKat]

I read on a thread a few days ago about all of the problems with sex-links and early death rates. I can not find it now. I am freaking out. I love my sex-links, they are sweet and lay large eggs daily. We plan on keeping them until they die naturally and were hoping that they would live for years. I was reading the thread and it mentioned internal egg laying, being egg bound, and high rates of cancer in these hens causing them to dye within a year. Is this accurate? Is there anything that can be done to keep them healthy and living into the geriatric years?

Not to be too offensive to the persons who like to perpetrate the story of short-lived sexlinks, but I think it's kind of silly. LOL. There are so many factors in a chicken's life that could add or subtract years from their lives. ( add my tag line..."after all they ARE chickens")

Probably the lives of all sexlinks will average shorter than the lives of all pets and breeders, because that is part of how the egg laying business usually works. " All in/all out" right around the time of the first molt. So most sex links don't get a shot at old age.

so glad people here have stories about long-lived and long laying sexlinks.

IMO common sense as stated by Fred's hens.... not bringing them into maturity too quickly, and if breeding (which is probably nearly impossible since they are hybrids) use the oldest healthy hen and the oldest healthy rooster of the parent stock to put some old age genetics in their little feed-conversion-egg-laying-machine bodies.

Take good care of your sex links and appreciate them.... you never know with chickens, but I suspect that in general they would respond to good treatment with their longevity in mind like many other chickens...sex link or not.

 

[Fred's Hens]

and if breeding (which is probably nearly impossible since they are hybrids) use the oldest healthy hen and the oldest healthy rooster of the parent stock to put some old age genetics in their little feed-conversion-egg-laying-machine bodies.

We've been using various sex-links in our breeding for years. But to back track, just one more time. The fact that a bird may be sexlinked does not, in itself, tell you a blessed thing. You could put a Heritage RIR over a Heritage silver/white bird and make red sexlinks. They'd NOT likely be awesome layers, though good ones, and they'd live as long and as normally as any other bird of their large fowl kind.

The term "sexlinks" conjures up a commercial, fast growing, fast laying Reddish Brown hen with white sub feathering. Those birds, in many cases, are commercial, brown egg layers and are to the layer world what the CX is to the meat bird world, in many respects. They've been selectively bred by the poultry genetics corporations for decades to be the birds they are today. It is these birds that primarily leap into people's minds whenever someone says "sexlink".

They were developed for a single purpose. Lay eggs. They aren't dual purpose birds. Grow quickly, enter POL quickly, lay lots and lots of jumbo sized brown eggs, tolerate very close living quarters, never go broody, and convert feed in an extraordinarily efficient fashion. That's what the industry needs and gets. Since the industry turns over their flocks quickly, how long they may live, in terms of 5-8 years, is completely irrelevant.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Yes indeed. These birds, while developed for the commercial hen houses of the world, have indeed become popular with small holders and BYCers. The backyarder likes these hens for most of the very same reasons a business person with 20,000 hens in a long barn likes them.

Sexed at hatch, by feather color
Fast maturing, quick to lay
Prolific layers of large eggs
Accepts close quarters
Lays well in winter, especially their first winter.
Efficient converter of feed

 

[mickey328]

I agree completely. This is my first experience with chickens and I chose the sexlinks for exactly the reasons outlined. We're restricted here to 6 birds, females only and our main reason for wanting chickens was eggs, brown ones. Since we're in a residential neighborhood, I wanted birds that were relatively docile and quiet. Because we're only allowed 6, I didn't want broody birds. While we don't usually get horrid winters, it can get cold for periods of time, so I wanted hardy birds.

Taking all that into consideration and doing a lot of research, sexlinks seemed to be the ideal birds for us and so far they've been perfect. What I didn't know was how darn much FUN they are!

All in all, if you're in a situation similar to ours I heartily recommend them; you won't be disappointed.

Mickey

 

[terryg]

Keep in mind that chickens were never bred for longevity. I have vintage poultry books from 1900 and they all advise to cull the poor layers at the first molt and to never keep layers past the second molt. In general, the hens with the longest natural lifespans are those that are the poorest layers. The really good layers - which today are the hybrids like the Red Stars - deplete their systems and give out. Hens like Polish, who are not good layers, can last and last. This is one reason why I let my hens take a break in the winter and don't leave a light on to force egg laying. It is true that ovarian cancer is very prevalent in hens, so much so that they're the animal most used for ovarian cancer research. That said, some hens can live many years. I have an Australorp and 2 Barred Rocks pushing 9. And one laid a few eggs this year! I write a lot about old hen care on my blog. You might want to start with this post:
http://hencam.com/henblog/2012/04/how-long-do-chickens-live/

 

[Mrs. K]

2. 5 years almost exactly has been my experience. Where I live we have hard winters, and I do let mine free range with a great deal of predators, I have never had a bird of any breed live beyond 3.5 years. Maybe it is the winter, maybe it is the predators, maybe it is just hard luck.

However, my egg production birds, such as the sex links, when they get to the 2 year old mark, they look old, and by 2.5 I have lost them.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

When you read this thread pay a lot of attention to what Fred said early on. There are two basic types of sex links you might get from a hatchery, the ones that are the commercial egg layers and the ones made from two specific breeds of dual purpose chickens.

Just like the broilers are highly specialized for meat, the commercial egg layers are highly specialized to produce a lot of eggs in a short time. They are not bred for longevity.

The ones made from dual purpose breeds are not as specialized. They will be like their parents. There is nothing about them being sex links that affects their longevity. Their parents affect that.

How you feed them does make a difference, especially the commercial sex links. They have fairly small bodies and produce fairly large eggs. This can be hard on their bodies and can lead to laying problems. Think of a woman giving natural birth to a ten pound baby on a regular schedule. That will be harder on her body than having a seven pound baby. The higher percent protein you feed them the larger the eggs. Don’t love them literally to death by feeding them a really high protein diet if you want longevity. Keep the protein level around 16% and you will still get lots of large eggs without making it even harder on them.