who is the better egg layer the black sexlink or black austorlop

[CSWolffe]

the reason I was asking was they say the austrolop lays the most eggs a year like 300. . and I figured the sexlink would burnout quicker. so in the long run wouldn't the austrolop give you more eggs.

Yes and no... A Sexlink will burn out more quickly than a less productive layer which will lay longer, but you will get about the same number of eggs over the lifetime of the hen. Hens are born with a finite number of egg follicles, and when those run out will simply stop laying. If they lay 320+ a year you can expect about two years, and that's it; whereas if they lay 150-180 a year, you can expect about five years of decent laying.

It depends on what you want. If you plan on rotating out laying hens every 2 years, and if feed/egg ratio is important, than you want some of the production crosses like Gold Stars/Black Stars, Isa Browns, and even White Leghorns. If you want pet hens that will keep paying rent for years to come, I suggest a heritage breed or dual purpose, like Wellsumers or Wyandottes, as they can lay for years and years.

 

[Bens-Hens]

I would have to agree on a few points in here, although I am limited as I have not had a BSL. I have had Isa's though. After 18 months production really took a turn, by 2 years we had to look at new birds to keep the eggs coming, so in that respect the heritage breeds outlast the hybrids. A friend got the same Isa's from the same flock the same day, they are now 3 and she gets 1 egg a day from six Isa's, so if we kept ours that long we too would have seen an even bigger drop.

I believe the number 300 would have come from the BA's old world records found on wiki;

Quote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australorp

We love our BA's, and ours lays lovely purple bloomed eggs most days of the week. Our lead hen is a strong willed BA with lovely sheen and shape. I can't add to the feed requirements as we have a mixed flock and there is no way I could verify the amount she eats, but from observation, she seems to dig less than our similar sizes LS's

Our lead hen, 'Luna'


One of her eggs, bottom right.


Good luck in choosing, I might add to also look at other breeds too, lots to consider like mature rates and how long it takes to sex each breed if you hatch yourself, BA's take a bit of knack to pick, can be a few weeks before it's more certain on sex, where BSL are auto sexing.

 

[lazy gardener]

It's a matter of semantics... but BSL are not auto sexing. They are sex linked. Auto sexing birds breed true, and you can tell males from females at hatch with each generation if you don't mix any other breeds in. Sex linked birds are produced by breeding a rooster of a specific breed to a hen of an other DIFFERENT specific breed. The chicks can be sexed at hatch by outward appearances. If you breed 2 sex linked birds together, you will not get a sex linked chick, nor will you get an auto sexing chick. But you will get a chick that will be a very nice addition to your flock!

The BA claim to fame is based on a few highly productive birds. Are they good producers? Most likely. And they will probably produce longer than a sex linked bird, but perhaps not as much.

The sex linked birds are hybrids, and are specifically bred to be easily sexed at hatch, so the roosters can be disposed of. (in a commercial operation) They are egg laying machines. The commercial sex links lay very well and then burn out and are replaced.

Leghorns are an other egg laying machine. I don't know if they burn out as quickly as sex links. But they are excellent at feed conversion rates.

Now, let me muddy the waters with a couple of questions: I understand that hatchery sex links for the back yard flock, and commercial sex links are produced to be egg machines, and typically burn out quickly. So... What about the sex link that is produced in the back yard flock by putting a black or red rooster over a barred or cuckoo hen? These birds are sex linked... and if my personal flock experience is typical, they are superb layers. Is the good laying due to hybrid vigor? Due to specific genetics related to the sex linked trait? And will a home produced SL burn out quickly like a commercially bred one will??????????

Last rambling for this post: It does not have to be an all or none... unless you're only getting one bird. Why not choose a BA or any other heritage bird for longevity of egg laying, and add a SL or leghorn for plenty of eggs to start with.

 

[jonsccm]

Still learning genetics but could you breed a BA rooster with a BR hen and have a sexlink?

 

[KHoward]

I have had both BA's and BSL's and hands down the BA's win up until the first molt. After that my BSL went from 5-6 eggs per week went down to 3-4, which is still respectable. Having said that, I just had one BSL come out of molt in January and she started laying again last week, even in this cold Boston winter.

I have a mix of heritage breeds for fun first, and eggs second. But I have a few BSL's and Leghorns purely for egg production.

 

[lazy gardener]

Still learning genetics but could you breed a BA rooster with a BR hen and have a sexlink?

I'm not an expert, but I believe any black or red rooster that breeds true, over a barred or cuckoo hen will produce a sex link. You might post your question in the chicken breeds section, or do a thread search regarding sex link breeding. I ran across a chart somewhere that gives a lot of possibilities.

 

[jonsccm]

I'm not an expert, but I believe any black or red rooster that breeds true, over a barred or cuckoo hen will produce a sex link.  You might post your question in the chicken breeds section, or do a thread search regarding sex link breeding.  I ran across a chart somewhere that gives a lot of possibilities.

Thanks

 

[1111021749]

Do black austrolops stop laying in the winter?

 

[WNCcluck]

Welcome to BYC!

Australorps are great layers. The world record for egg laying is an Australorp that laid 364 eggs in one year. Our Australorp is about three years old. She stops laying when she molts each year, but she's back to laying form very quickly - more quickly than our other breeds.

Much of the laying issue is related to length of daylight hours. Here in NC we have longer winter days than, say, Vermont. The same breed might lay through the winter here but not there. Our girls slow down but never stop completely. This winter I think there might have been a handful of days that we've had no eggs from our eight girls.

Bottom line ... Australorps are wonderful!