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Sex links! What's the big deal?

Discussion in 'General breed discussions & FAQ' started by gritsar, Jul 24, 2014.

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  1. Jul 24, 2014 #1
    gritsar

    gritsar Cows, Chooks & Impys - OH MY!

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    More a little vent here than anything else. Last year we were needing a larger amount of eggs than what I could get from my elderly brahma hens and my single serama hen (who is always broody). No chicks were to be had, so I contacted a friend of my husband's that had some young FFA red sex links and he agreed to sell me four.
    Of all the breeds I have had these sex links are my absolute least favorite!!!

    The sex links eat way more than my brahmas ever have, are extremely flighty and are bullies. When they reach time for their first adult molt they will be so out of here in a flash. I don't understand why some people like them so much. [​IMG]
     

  4. Jul 24, 2014 #2
    luvmypets

    luvmypets Songster

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    Sex-links are more of a layer than a pet. Ours bullied the younger chicks, but as they got older they calmed down. Our younger sex-links are flighty but the older ones are more calm.
     
  6. Jul 24, 2014 #3
    gritsar

    gritsar Cows, Chooks & Impys - OH MY!

    28,906
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    Nov 9, 2007
    SW Arkansas
    I had hoped these were just young and would calm down in a more stable environment than the one they came from, but it hasn't happened. They can't be trusted around my chicks and juveniles and have even displaced my sweet brahmas in the pecking order.
    I am raising up some replacements for them - I give my eggs to the elderly at my church - and will stick with my calm and loving breeds from now on.
     
  8. Jul 24, 2014 #4
    Samjoe

    Samjoe In the Brooder

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    Funny how different birds of the same breed can be,mine are sweet as kittens!
     
  10. Jul 24, 2014 #5
    Ol Grey Mare

    Ol Grey Mare One egg shy of a full carton. ..... Premium Member

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    Generally speaking the biggest "selling points" to sex links are
    a) the guaranteed sexing of the chicks
    b) the "egg laying machine" reputation of sex link layers

    The temperament, etc of sex links is going to be a mixed bag because of the fact that they are a mixed breed bird so there is not that "generally speaking" ability to generalize their behaviors, etc based on breed since there are so many possible breeds that can be used on both sides of the equation to result in sex linked chicks being hatched.

    People who are avid fans of sex links are looking for guaranteed pullets and lots of eggs - both of which are very well delivered by sex links, even if love and cuddles or feed efficiency may not be (which, again, depends on the bird and the birds used to create the bird)
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2014

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