What gender is my isa brown "It"?

[ponygirly306]

i got her from a market and i got her in june - july and I'm in australia so it is spring now

 

[mikarod]

As the daylights increase, you should get some eggs. Usually when there are 11-14 hours of light, the hens start increasing their egg production.

 

[hinkjc]

I'll go with the crowd and say hen, but I'm not betting my flock like silkiechicken. LOL

J/K - definitely a hen!

Jody

 

[ponygirly306]

is there anyone that has actually had and bred isa browns, i would like to hear from them

 

[silkiechicken]

I've had "isa browns' which is just a brown sexlink really. Many people on this board have sexlinks because they are pretty much the only chicks you can get with a 100% accuracy that they are girls or boys at hatch by feather color, plus they are very commn. It's generally a type of bird made in industry because of the demand for only girls for production. Not many backyard types I know raise two parent flocks as breeders to produce sexlink chicks because then they would be left with tons of boys they could not sell and would probably have to destroy (like many hatcheries), or eat as adults (not economical). Might as well just raise pure breds.

Simply, an Isa Brown is not a pure bred type of chicken. They are the product of a cross between a pure bred mom and a pure bred dad, thus boys and girls will have different feather colors. Most birds cannot be sexed by color alone, with a few exceptions like Salmon Faverolles.

She is a girl, and if you still doubt it, you could make some nice stew or find her a new home since she appears not to be laying. I bet you won't find any male parts in her. Really though, what a previous poster said about sexlinks burning out is true, since in addition to being commercially bred for boy vs girl, they are also bred for fast egg production that peaks at a year old and just dwindles from there. However, the dwindling is not a rule and some do continue to produce well just like purebreds.

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

I wonder, did she start to Molt when you got her? Sometimes birds will go through a stress induced molt.

2 yrs ago I got a 1 yr old flock of 30 Isas and they all started to Molt after the move and weren't laying for like 4 months....... they were in horrid shape when I got them.
Then after they started laying about a dozen turned out to be egg eaters.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

You keep pushing. You asked our opinions and we have given them to you. Now if you would like help figuring out why she isn't laying then ask that question.

 

[ponygirly306]

i sorry, i just wanted to see who actually had them...

 

[ella]

Ok here's a list of who actually has them and has answered your post

Me Ella (I have had 5 female red sexlinks and 1 male and have bred 3 black sexlinks from my flock) I say HEN

The1Much: says HEN

Chickerdoodle13: says HEN

SilkieChicken: says HEN

Farmer Kitty: says HEN

FancyFowl4Ever: says HEN

Simba49450: Says ROO

Hope that helps clarify.

 

[ponygirly306]

thanks, it looks like the majority is hen... ok then, cool!