What is the difference between Black Stars and Black Sex link?

[comerrick]

I have 4 week old black stars pullets.
But today in my order from Ideal, I got 4 black sex-link males for warmth. Ideal says their black sex link are a cross between RIR Roosters and BR Pullets. The chicks have blond on their chests as well as the spot on their heads. But when I look at the pic for the Black Stars, they don't have that blond on their chests. So can anyone explain the difference?
Lov
Liv

 

[fullhouse]

Boys and girls of sex linked crosses look different. Their color is linked to their gender.

 

[comerrick]

I do know that. Both the Black Stars and the Black Sex Link are both Sex link chickens but they have different parentage some way and I am wanting to know what that is.
Lov
Liv

 

[fullhouse]

Black star is a black sex link. Lots of the hatcheries have there own names for the different ones even though they have the same breeds.

 

[purplepoen]

I've always heard that they're the same thing.

 

[can you hear me now?]

What I do know is that to make a black sex link you cross a RIR roo with a BR hen.

 

[MissPrissy]

They are the same thing. Hatcheries give them their own unique names.

 

[can you hear me now?]

So we are saying that hatcheries have got to add a little pinache to thier chicks to maybe sell more of them? If the sex links are so popular why don't they somehow become a standard breed? Or are they?

 

[MissPrissy]

No, they are not a standard breed. They are bred by using 2 pure bred chickens to produce a predictable out come at hatch every single time. This is the 'sex link' part. At hatch pullets are always black and cockerals are always yellow. They are bred so they can be sexed by color immediately at hatch. It is exactly the same way they breed red sex link. The sex trait is linked to the color of the hatching chick.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

If the sex links are so popular why don't they somehow become a standard breed? Or are they?

As Ms Prissy said, you breed the RIR roo to the BR hen to get a sex link. The reason sex links are not their own breed is because when you breed the them to each other you do not get more sex links. They do not breed true. A RIR, for example, bred to a RIR always produces RIR chicks, and those chicks bred to each other produce more RIRs. That is what makes them a distinct breed--something that doesn't happen with sex-links.

HTH

edited to add: Hatcheries probably LIKE sex-links because you'll need to come back and buy more, since they don't breed true. Yes, you can breed your own, but you'd need to keep RIRs and BRs to create them. They probably hope you'll think it's too much bother to keep 2 extra breeds to make your sex links when you can just buy the little ones from the hatchery.