What exactly are Sex-Link chickens?

[Anianna]

I'm sorry to revive an old thread, but I have a question along these lines.

My neighbors told me their chickens are "RIR Sexlinks". Does this mean that the father was a RIR and the mother could have been just about anything else? When you are buying a sexlink, is there anyway to know for sure what you are getting?

They said they love them because they lay more and eat less than standard RIRs. I was hoping to get some myself. They are a beautiful light orange color and weren't at all noisy.

Allan mentioned they wouldn't breed true, I guess that means their progeny would not be like them. What would be the result?

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

The most common crosses in US hatcheries for red, gold or brown sexlinks is a RIR roo over White rocks, RIW or Delawares. So basically you are getting an F1 cross of these breeds when you buy chicks. It's great because you know sex for sure, and all are good egg laying breeds so their mixed babies can be even better! Once you put them back together for an F2 cross certain traits from either the roo or the hens will start coming out in both sexes. You have to keep both purebreds for breeding in order to make sexlinks. The later generations will likely be good layers as well, but they will be straight run, no way to color sex.
I have made sexlinks with a Buff rooster, and all sorts of hens, barred for black sexlinks and any genetically silver hen for gold sexlinks.

 

[Anianna]

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Thank you. I am very curious about the exact cross of theirs and I may have an opportunity to meet the person they bought them from and find out. They had a rooster who had a very similar body shape to the RIR, but was that lovely light golden orange and he had dark and white tail plumage. He was just gorgeous and the whole flock seemed to have such a great temperament.

They did lament that the chickens will lay their eggs just about anywhere despite the nesting boxes. Is that the case with any chickens? I know they like to lay in a nest that already has an egg in it and you can buy false eggs for that purpose, but I didn't know chickens would not be picky about where they lay.

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

Hmmm rooster may be a New Hamp, golden red with black tail feathers...shouldn't have any white...can't think of a breed exactly like that...
As long as you train them in the very beginning and give them nests they want to use they shouldn't be all over the place! Make sure the boxes are large enough, but not way too big, sheltered and in the shade, out of direct sun shining through a window or door, lower than the perch bar to prevent poo accumulation and have nice fluffy bedding material with a fake egg or golfball.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Thank you. I am very curious about the exact cross of theirs and I may have an opportunity to meet the person they bought them from and find out. They had a rooster who had a very similar body shape to the RIR, but was that lovely light golden orange and he had dark and white tail plumage. He was just gorgeous and the whole flock seemed to have such a great temperament.

They did lament that the chickens will lay their eggs just about anywhere despite the nesting boxes. Is that the case with any chickens? I know they like to lay in a nest that already has an egg in it and you can buy false eggs for that purpose, but I didn't know chickens would not be picky about where they lay.

Actually my only Redsexlink has a really bad habit of hiding her eggs. She won't use the community nest that ALL the other chickens use. She perfers a darker place, which is fine I can provide that, but if I take all the eggs away she starts hiding them in another place. I have no idea where she's laying right now I can't find it!!! Lucky her she's THE favoritest chicken around here, or else it'd probably be dumplins for her. She eats a lot and I don't get very many eggs from her coz she's constantly hiding them, and NO she won't go "totally" broody she just plays like she might.....

I don't know if it's true of all redsexlinks, surely not or somene else would complain about it.....she came from TSC btw so I have no idea exactly which combination of breeds she is.
My Buff OrpxBarred Rock black sexlinks DO NOT act this way about their laying habits, and neither do my white Leghorns.

 

[Anianna]

Quote:
Oh, no, the rooster was also a sexlink, as I understood it. I didn't mean that she had the rooster that was the father of the sexlink hens. I'm not sure what their reasoning was to choose a sexlink rooster, but they don't seem to be trying to breed them. She is dead set against getting chicks and says they're just a pain. She is much happier buying hens that are almost ready to lay. Maybe she picked the rooster for added flock protection?

Her coop is an open mesh floor out in the open. I don't know if they tried the fake egg trick, but I do they know about it. Perhaps the hens just aren't so comfy in the coop. I don't think they have a roost in the coop, but there is one in the pen under the coop. The eggs the picked up were under the coop, also, and then she told me not to free range the chickens or I would never find the eggs. LOL

 

[Anianna]

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How interesting. Perhaps it has something to do with RIR crossbreeding.

 

[HBuehler]

Quote:
Pics not there but you are describing a regular black sex link..they have browish red in their chest area some have lots others have very little.The most common breeding in this cross is the RIR roo and BR hen.BTW there is no Brown-black sex link

We breed them here For the blacks we have the common RIR and BR and for Reds RIR and RIW they are so reliable as layers they are our favorites.
It's my White legs that hide their eggs here..I know where to look though!!

 

[Anianna]

Quote:
Pics not there but you are describing a regular black sex link..they have browish red in their chest area some have lots others have very little.The most common breeding in this cross is the RIR roo and BR hen.BTW there is no Brown-black sex link

We breed them here For the blacks we have the common RIR and BR and for Reds RIR and RIW they are so reliable as layers they are our favorites.
It's my White legs that hide their eggs here..I know where to look though!!

Do you have any pics of your sex links? I'm curious to see how some of these combinations turn out.

 

[mac-ali eggs]

Does any one now the cross sunnyside hatchery uses in there blacksexlinks? i have 8 and same have yellowish legs and some gray also the coloring on the chest is a cream instead of the reddish copper that i had from tsc 2 yrs ago. i called sunnyside and was told they call them specialblacks and did not tell me the crossing only they were crossed for egg production and the asian consumer. Thanks Rick.