The Red Star and Black Star thread.

[thecreekhouse]

My Red Star and Black Star pullets came from Cackle Hatchery and Cackle’s website says that their Red Stars are created using a Rhode Island Red rooter and a Delaware hen while their Black Stars are created using a Rhode Island Red rooster and a Barred Rock hen. How were your Red Stars and Black Stars created?

 

[thecreekhouse]

My 18 week old Red Star, Ruby.

 

[moniquem]

I'm in love with these. When I add to my flock I want to give these gals a try.

 

[thecreekhouse]

How big are your Red Stars and Black Stars. Mine are 18 weeks old and still quite small. As you can see, my Red Star Ruby is hardly bigger than my Silkie. I’m wondering how much she’s still going to grow.

 

[thecreekhouse]

I'm in love with these. When I add to my flock I want to give these gals a try.

I can’t wait for my 18 week olds to start laying. Apparently Red Stars and Black Stars are the best laying breeds (I know they’re not a breed but a hybrid. I’m using the term here loosely) that exist.

 

[thecreekhouse]

Many people use the names Red and Black sexlinks, Red Stars, Black Stars, Cinnamon Queens and Golden Comets interchangeably. However these are actually different chickens. Red Stars, Black Stars, Golden Comets and Cinnamon Queens are all sexlinked chickens because you can tell their gender at birth by the way they’re feathered. However, different breeds go into creating each type of sexlinked chicken. For example, according to the Cackle Hatchery website, their Red Stars are created by crossing a Rhode Island Red Rooster with a Delaware hen, while Cinnamon Queens are created by crossing by crossing a Rhode Island Red Rooster with a Rhode Island White hen. To create Golden Comets, Cackle crosses a Cherry Egger (Rhode Island Red crossed with New Hampshire Red) rooster with a White Leghorn hen. Cackle creates Black Stars using a Rhode Island Red Rooster with a Barred Rock hen.

Other hatcheries use other crosses to create chickens marketed simply as “Red Sexlinks” or “Black Sexlinks.” One of the largest commercial chicken operations in the world offers a proprietary sexlinked chicken called the “ISA Brown.” The ISA Brown looks pretty much like every other type of red sexlinked hybrid, with an attractive mix of brownish red feathers and white feathers. The company that owns the patent to the ISA Brown chicken has never revealed what breeds go into creating this particular red sexlink chicken but many speculate that it’s a cross between a Rhode Island Red Rooster and a White Leghorn hen.

What breeds went into creating your sexlinked chickens? You can usually find out by looking at the pages selling particular Sexlinks within the websites of the hatcheries from which your hybrid Sexlinks came. If you bought them at a feed store and are curious about their genetic make up, you can call the feed store and ask what hatchery they use to obtain chicks (you’ll have to speak to someone who actually knows something about the store’s chicken sales operation - likely the manager). After you know which hatchery your chickens came from you can look for “Red Stars,” “Black Stars,” “Red Sexlinks, “Black Sexlinks,” “Golden Comets,” and “Cinnamon Queens” within that hatchery’s website to find out what breeds were used to create your hybrid, sexlinked chickens.

 

[HuffleClaw]

Hello! Thanks for this thread. I have 2 red stars. I love my 2 girls of this breed. Eggs daily

Opal:

Maddie:

 

[thecreekhouse]

Hello! Thanks for this thread. I have 2 red stars. I love my 2 girls of this breed. Eggs daily

Opal:
View attachment 1662108

Maddie:
View attachment 1662109

 

[thecreekhouse]

Your Red Star hens are lovely. Are their eggs large? What color are they?

 

[HuffleClaw]

Your Red Star hens are lovely. Are their eggs large? What color are they?

Large brown eggs
The smaller white and blue eggs are from my bantams, the rest are from my 2 red stars