Sex-Links = short life span

[aoxa]

I don't recall reading about a short life span, but did see a couple bits about their egg laying years sometimes being only a couple years...primarily because they lay so many.  I have 6 RSL pullets, about 8 months old and am thinking they'll last quite a long time yet.  I get an average of about 4 to 5 eggs a day from them.  If it falls off too sharply in a year or two, we'll likely cull them.  It will depend on how healthy they are...if they're getting decrepit and seem to be in pain, I think it will be kinder to send them along than let them suffer.

Hope your girls do great!

My lone RSL has been laying for over 60 days straight. You don't get a perfect egg day with your six?

 

[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.

 

[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]

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/

 

[kitmarlowescot2]

Hi, Terry hope you are having a good Holiday weekend. I have always wondered and I know that your younger hens are from hatchery stock, and that you got Buffy and the Polish from someone else's overcrowded flock. And your bantam leghorns from a breeder. But where did you get Eleanor, Edwina and Twinkydink from are they hatchery stocks or did you get them breeders ?

 

[terryg]

Hi, Terry hope you are having a good Holiday weekend. I have always wondered and I know that your younger hens are from hatchery stock, and that you got Buffy and the Polish from someone else's overcrowded flock. And your bantam leghorns from a breeder. But where did you get Eleanor, Edwina and Twinkydink from are they hatchery stocks or did you get them breeders ?

The only hens that I have gotten from local breeders have been my bantam white leghorns, who came from Don Nelson's show stock. The others are all from large mailorder hatcheries - even the ones that are hand-me-downs.

 

[Nslangton]

Thanks everyone, I feel much better after reading these posts. We wanted eggs and lots of them and that is what we got. We did get our birds from a local hatchery that only breeds two egg layers and two meat birds. They have a great reputation and have been in business for 100 years; however, I am sure that they provide the white leghorns to the commercial facilities. We picked our hens up on hatch day and they were all very healthy and we had no problems with any of them. The were not put on layer feed until the first one started to lay at 16 weeks. I will make sure not to extra light them. Our run has pull down shades due to the extreme heat this summer that blocks the sunlight. We do have a huge window in the coop, but that only gets the afternoon sun. We can't free-range because we have numerous predators daily. We feed the hens tons of greens, veg tables, fruits, etc. We try to give them a never ending supply of what they would have if they were free-ranging. I hope that helps them. At this point I would have to sell our eggs for about $50 a dozen to make any profit lol. We do get a lot of joy from watching them, they are so funny. Hope to have them around for quite a while.