Looking for a chicken that’s good for both eggs and meat? Meet the Black Star sex link chicken. Popular during tough economic times, this bird was a favorite for commercial egg production and farms across the U.S. post-WWII. Today they are making a come-back to backyard chicken coops across the country.
They are reputed for their egg-laying ability in vast weather conditions. We’ll go over what a ‘sex-link’ chicken is and why farmers prefer these, how to tell a male from a female baby chick at hatch and what you need to know about preparing your coop for a sex-link chicken.
What Are Sex Links?
A sex link chicken is any chicken whose physical appearance can identify as male or female. This is usually accomplished by looking at the bird’s plumage or an easily spotted mark.
Black Star chickens are a type of sex link chicken called “black sex links.”
When it comes to chickens, few are more easily identifiable than Black Beauty or black sex links. These chicks are born all black, with male baby chicks having a white spot on their head. This is why they are so popular among chicken owners looking for all females, aka egg layers.
What Are Hybrid Chickens?
There are many different types of chickens, but all of them can be classified as either purebred or hybrid.
Hybrid chickens are animals that have been bred for specific characteristics. A hybrid chicken refers to the offspring of two different breeds or varieties in the poultry world.
These traits include egg production, meat quality, disease resistance, and temperament. They may also be more docile than purebred chickens, making them easier to keep as pets.
Hybrid chickens are not purebred and will not breed true if you try to hatch their eggs. You must cross the same parent breeds if you want more chickens like your current flock.
AutoSexing Chickens VS Sex Links Hybrid Chickens
The Cream Legbar is a good example of an autosexing ‘breed’; the chicks can be identified at time of hatching hatch by the light spot on the top of the male chicks head. Female chicks do not have this spot.
Auto-sexing breeds and sex-linked hybrids are both chickens that produce chicks with different colors or patterns at hatch.
Sex lInked hybrids and Auto-sexing chickens each have advantages and disadvantages; it’s helpful to know the difference before deciding which type is right for you.
Auto-sexing breeds are purebred chicken that gives male and female chicks a different color or pattern noticeable at hatch.
This can be helpful if you’re wanting to know the gender of your chicks right away. However, one downside to auto-sexing breeds is that they can be more expensive than other chickens.
Sex-linked hybrids are developed by crossing two different purebred chickens with each other to produce chicks that follow certain color patterns at hatch. Sex-linked chickens are not an actual chicken breed, more of a mixed or designer breed.
One advantage of sex-linked hybrids is that they tend to be hardier than other chickens. However, one downside is that they don’t breed true, so you may not get what you expect if you decide to breed them yourself.
About the Black Star Poultry Origin
After World War II, there was a need for more eggs to satisfy the food demands of the expanding U.S. population. The Black Star sex link chicken was created through a cross-breeding effort to meet this need.
Breeds like the Barred Plymouth Rock hen were crossed with New Hampshire or Rhode Island Red roosters to create these sex-linked chicks. These breeds are known for their hardiness, high egg production, and high meat quality. More about the Rhode Island Reds and Barred Plymouth Rocks can be read in our previous articles.
The Black Star sexlinks quickly became one of the most popular types of chickens for commercial egg production during the 1950s.
Thanks to this cross-breeding method, the Black Star sex link chicken was able to help meet the increased demand for eggs in the years following World War II.
Black Sex Link Appearance
First, it’s important to note that the American Poultry Association doesn’t recognize sex-linked chickens as pure breeds. This only means no ‘industry’ standards are set for this chicken. A list of the American Poultry Association accepted breeds is found in this link.
Black Sex Link Chickens average 6 pounds for females and 8-9 pounds for males. Black Star pullets and cockerels weigh only slightly less. Black sex link pullets and black sex link cockerels 5- 8 lbs. They will have black-colored legs and light yellow skin. They will also have red wattles and combs. Their body size and shape are similar to the Barred Plymouth Rock.
The males will have a similar pattern to the Barred Plymouth Rocks’ barring’. They’ll also have some mahogany feathers mixed in. Females have an amber coloring in their neck feathers.
Both sexes will still have a very distinctive look that can help identify that they are Black Star sex links.
Note: These are the standard colors, but there could be a slight variation depending on which parent breed they take after more.
What do Baby Black Sex Link Chicks Look Like?
When Black Sex Link baby chicks hatch, males will be all black and have a tell-tale patch of white feathers on their heads. Female baby chicks will not have this patch and be all black.
The Personality of Black Sex Links
Many Black Sex Link Chickens owners love them for their energetic, active, and friendly personalities. They’re chatty and confident enough to be around humans without much coaxing. They have a curious nature, leading to stubbornness if you want them to get out of the garden or back in from free-ranging.
Are Black Sex Link Roosters Aggressive?
Like all roosters, they like to be at the top of the pecking order, which can lead to aggressiveness in mixed flocks.
Recommended Hen to Rooster Ratio is 1 Rooster for every 10 Hens.
Are The Black Sex Link Chickens Noisy?
They are chatty birds and can make quite a raucous when laying eggs (like many chickens). While their ‘volume’ is in the medium range, the chatter of a flock is noticeable.
About The Egg Production Of Sex Link Chickens
One of the reasons why Black Stars are so popular is because they’re great egg layers. They’re often compared to Rhode Island Reds in terms of egg production. Although hens typically take a break in the winter, you can help continue egg production through the winter months with a few safe and easy tips.
when do Black Sex Link Hens start laying
On average, the black sex link pullet starts laying at 20 weeks. However, many hens will lay as early as 16 weeks. They typically maintain peak egg production through about their fourth – fifth year but then begin to slow down in terms of egg quantity.
How many eggs do Black Sex Link Hens Lay?
Black Sex Link Chicken hens can lay about 220-280 eggs in a year with proper care.
Fun Fact: many chickens will lay tiny ‘fairy’ eggs very early on, possibly their first 1-3 eggs before you see the first full-sized egg.
That’s a lot of fresh eggs, making them a great choice for hobby farmers or homesteaders who want to sell eggs or have a large family to cook for. Read more about cleaning and storing fresh eggs here.
Did your Black Sex Link Hen Stop Laying Eggs? There could be many reasons why; find out more in this link.
Black Star Chickens as Meat Production Birds
In addition to being great egg layers, Black Stars also make decent meat birds if sent to market at maturity of around 20-22 weeks. Although the meat production isn’t what these birds were bred for, they still provide a hearty meal or pot of soup!
Some Other Popular Sex Links
There are many variations of sex link chickens depending on the hatchery you shop with;even a deep gray, bluish tone of the black sex link called the blue sexlinks chicken. However, two of the most popular, along with the black sex link chickens, are the Red Star sex link chickens and the Cinnamon Queen sex links.
Red Star Sex Links
Red Sex Link (RedStar chickens) are the most popular sex-linked hybrid chickens. They are typically produced by breeding a New Hampshire Red Rooster or Rhode Island Red Rooster with a Delaware hen, Leghorn hen, Silver Laced Wyandotte, or Barred Rock hen.
Red Sex Links are famous for being docile, hardy, dependable egg-layers in all weather conditions. The hens lay 200-280 large (sometimes x-large) light-brown eggs yearly.
New red sex link chicks are easily identified at hatch. The females are the ‘red’ or darker, and the males are the ‘easter picture’ yellow fluff balls.
At maturity, males are primarily white and light colors with varying colors on their heads and wings. Females are primarily shades of reddish brown. Size of the Red Sexlink chicken: Hens usually weigh 5-6 pounds, while roosters weigh 6-8 pounds.
Golden Comets or Cinnamon Queens
(sometimes called Cinnamon Queens, Golden Buff- sex-linked)
The golden comet chicken is a product of breeding the New Hampshire Red rooster and a White Rock hen (see note at the end of section). These chickens are medium-sized birds, with the hens weighing about 4 pounds and the roosters weighing about 6 pounds.
They’re popular for their fast maturity, early egg production, and abundance of rich brown eggs. This sex-link hybrid will start to lay eggs younger than most standard breeds and produce 250-320 large to extra-large brown eggs annually.
Males and females have yellow eyes, beaks, and legs (sometimes greenish legs). They are sex-link hybrid chickens: you can tell the sex of newly hatched chicks.
For Golden Comet baby chicks, the males are pale yellow, and the females are golden brown with stripes.
The Golden Comet (aka Cinnamon Queen) hens have bright red single combs with yellowish-brown beaks and legs. Their eyes are usually yellowish-orange in color. The males are generally larger and have more pronounced combs and wattles. Males can be all white, mostly white, or the Mahogony Red with patches of white. Females are full reddish brown/ mahogany feathered.
Note: some hatcheries will cross-breed a Rhode Island White Rooster, where you will see more ‘white’ feathering in the males.
The Chicken Coop Size for Your Black Sex Link Chickens
Space
Your chickens need at least 6 square feet each in their coop. If they’re allowed to roam free every day, you might be able to get away with less space in the chicken coop, but more area is ideal.
Perch
Chickens need eight – twelve inches of roosting space per bird. They tend to want to spread out more during summer but will huddle together when it gets cold.
Nesting boxes
One nesting box per 4 hens is the recommended number (1:4). The standard size of 12 “×12″ for nesting boxes will work perfectly. If you make anything larger, though, chickens might nest together and end up damaging their eggs.
These particular hens are known to be early layers, so it is recommended to have nesting boxes installed and ready to acclimate to them by 14 weeks (at the latest).
Feeders and Waterers
The size of these containers should be big enough for your chicken flock. You should also replace the food and water every day to keep it clean and fresh.
The Chicken Run
Space
Sex Link chickens are wonderful foragers and love to stretch their legs whenever possible. If you have to confine them to an area, such as a run, make sure they have enough room to move around. The minimum space for each bird is 10-15 square feet.
Increase their space and place to move around by adding lateral space with perches at various heights. Even old tree stumps and logs will do the trick here. If you allow them ‘free range’ a few times weekly, they will thrive on this freedom. You will ensure that your Sex Link chickens are healthy and happy birds by providing them with enough space to move around.
You want to provide a shady area, like a tarp or shade cloth (for summer), a lean-to, or a tented structure. These shelters not only give your birds some fresh air and exercise but also provide much-needed relief from the heat in the summer and protection from rain or snow in the winter.
Fencing height
It’s important to keep your chickens safe from predators, so build a chicken run enclosed with 6-foot high fencing. Remember to make the enclosure escape-proof by filling in any gaps in the fencing. By taking these precautions, you can ensure that your chickens will remain contained and protected.
The best way to deter and prevent predators from entering your hen house is by having a secure and well-maintained hen house and run. Predators that fly overhead, like hawks, are most effectively deterred by an overhead covering like hardware cloth. Hardware cloth also makes it easier to drape a tarp over.
Dust Bath
Chickens need a “dust bath” to stay clean and free of lice and mites, which can be provided by a simple dug-out area in the run. You could use a kid’s pool, or an old tire filled with dried soil/sand/diatomaceous earth will work just as well.
Free-Range and Foraging With Black Sex Links
These birds are excellent at foraging, and their adventurous side thrives in a free-range setting. This is where their thick-headed strong will may also show up in their desire to stay out, even when you are trying to rally them back into the coop. They will undoubtedly be the workhorses at thinning out your ticks and grubs.
The same cautionary recommendations apply to any bird that free ranges. Be certain to leave a door open to the coop so they can get to safety from predators if necessary.
Black Sex Links; Cold-Hardy Chickens & Heat Tolerant
Black Star Sex Link Hybrid chickens are quite resilient in warm and cold climates. They can handle heat and cold just as easily, making them incredibly versatile birds.
Coop Prep
A structurally secure coop is vital if you want to keep these chickens. Check that cracks are well sealed and install good ventilation. Ventilation will prevent moisture build and allow fresh air circulation. This will keep your sex links warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Your runs should have a dry, sheltered area for your chickens to retreat to. You should also check the fencing regularly for any ‘breaches’ or weak spots. Repairing these quickly will reduce any risks to your flock. A full article on preparing your coop for winter is in this link.
Waterers
Water is vital for your chicken’s health, especially during extreme weather. In the summer, keep ice cubes in their water to prevent it from getting too warm. And in the freezing temperatures of winter, you’ll need a heated waterer to stop their water from freezing solid.
By taking these precautions, you can ensure that your chickens are comfortable and well cared for.
Frostbite
Combs and wattles can quickly become frostbitten in the winter, especially the roosters. You can prevent frostbite by applying a small dab of petroleum jelly on the combes and wattles.
Are The Black Sex Link Chickens Good For Urban (City) Flocks?
Their strong desire to forage and their chatty nature make these a difficult breed to maintain in a rural setting. These birds will wander fearlessly into neighbors’ gardens, and their thick-headed, stubborn personalities will make it hard to get them home. While they handle confinement well, their chatty nature could be problematic for neighbors nearby.
Read more about Quietest Chicken Breeds (Suited for Urban Flocks).
Life Expectancy of the Black Star Sex Link Chickens
While it’s true that chickens bred specifically for egg production often don’t live as long as other chicken breeds, that doesn’t mean they have a shortened lifespan.
The main reason for their shorter lifespan is not because they lay so many eggs but because they are typically kept in crowded conditions and given little opportunity to exercise. As a result, they often suffer from health problems such as heart disease and obesity.
However, given plenty of space to move about and access to fresh food and water, they can enjoy a long and healthy life. On average, when well cared for, these chickens live 8-10 years, which is a good lifespan for any chicken.
Are the Black Sex Links Right For Backyard Chicken Keepers?
The Black Star Sex Link Hybrid chickens make good backyard birds for many chicken keepers. They are cold-hardy and heat tolerant, making them versatile in different climates. They also do well when free-ranging or foraging. Your chickens will be healthy and happy if you provide the basics of a structurally sound coop and plenty of food and water. More and more backyard chicken owners, hobby farmers, and homesteaders are adding sex links to their flocks daily.
Be Sure To Read About Our 15+ Top Egg Laying Hens.
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