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?

 

[MelanieR]

I have red stars that I LOVE!!! Super friendly little birds. I heard that because they are bred to lay so much and start so early that they very often stop laying after a couple of years. Another BYC member told me that you can extend their laying life by not introducing lights during the winter (i.e. let their bodies rest.)

1 year seems very drastically short to me. I haven't heard any such thing thus far, but this is my first year with chickens so I don't know much. I'm anxious to see what other members comment on the thread.

 

[jtbrown]

My red stars, cinnamon queens, etc. are my favorite girls. I have two left after a fox attack. They still lay well, they are the friendliest of my flock, they don't get pushed around by the other ladies. I love them, so I understand your concern. I also didn't know about their shortfalls/ills until after I had already gotten them and fallen for them.

Mine are molting at 18 months old. So, we will see how they do. Don't freak out too much, I have heard they can have these things happen, but as with most things chicken, you cannot do much more than keep them in healthy environment and wish for the best. Enjoy the girls, don't fret. Even if the egg industry only uses them for one year, doesn't mean yours will only last one year, often by not rushing them through laying (no lights extra), then you really do get longer duration out of them. Good luck!

 

[Fred's Hens]

This gets a wee bit complicated, but it isn't the Sex Link, or breeding for sex link itself that is at issue, per se. One could take heritage, full bred, quality, long life birds and mate them in the right way to get sex linked, or sexable chicks.

Most folks mind immediately go to the commercial, red sex links and some of the commercial black sex links so popular with folks these days. Yes, they mature very quickly, enter point of lay far too quickly for their body maturity, lay up a storm, sometimes pushed with lights to do so, lay huge eggs in grams and size and can have somewhat lithe little bodies.

It is the breeding that does it. These birds have been bred for decades now to be the top brown egg layers of the universe. Their genetics push them to some extremes and sometimes, quite honestly, there's a price to be paid for being that prolific, so fast and so furious.

There are a few things one can do to slow things down a bit. Don't push the high protein feed from weeks 12-18 and this help slow down the POL. But even if you don't light them in the winter, they often are still going to lay pretty heavy their pullet year winter. It is hard to slow these birds down.

 

[Fred's Hens]

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?

Cancer? I don't know about that, but they do tend to be susceptible to ascites and other reproductive malfunctions that can case peritonitis and death. But, and this needs to be said, so do almost all the popular hatcheries "breeds" these days. They've all been bred, slowly, over time, to become far more production oriented birds, some would say too productive, than their true bred heritage calls for. We've seen this pop up in Barred Rocks and other breeds that folks think of as being a sturdier, more heritage oriented bird. Well, not so much when it comes to most hatchery strains, I'm afraid.

 

[StarLover21]

My Sex Link is seven and still lays

 

[aoxa]

My Sex Link is seven and still lays

Awesome!

Mine is 3 and lays every day

 

[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.

 

[keesmom]

I had a black sex link live to 10. She'd still be running around but coyotes wiped out my free range flock in May. She didn't lay regularly at this age but we still got some from time to time.

 

[mickey328]

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!