The Ultimate Guide to Sex-Link Chickens as Backyard Poultry Jenny Graham, March 29, 2024March 28, 2024 Many backyard chicken keepers are drawn to sex-link chickens. They have a sex-linked trait which makes male and female chicks a different color, ensuring you bring home only females for your backyard flock. What Are Sex-Link Chickens? Sex-link chickens aren’t a specific breed of chicken but rather a cross breed, or hybrid, that produces sex-linked chicks of different colors. In some sex linkage, male chicks will even have a white dot on their head. This is the main reason, other than high egg production, that they are so sought after. Jump to the Most Popular Sex-Link Chickens What Exactly is a Hybrid Chicken Breed? When it comes to your choices for your flock you can choose heritage, which are pure breeds, or hybrids. Hybrids aren’t exactly a breed though, as they are crossed with two different breeds to produce specific qualities. Sex-link chickens are considered a hybrid chicken as they do not breed true. To be an actual breed, they must produce the same offspring as the parents. This is impossible with hybrid or sex-link chickens. Why Should I Choose Sex-link Chickens For My Flock? If high egg production is what you are after then sex link hybrid chickens are the clear winner. Not only do they lay a ton of large brown eggs, they also start laying them around 4-5 months old. While heritage breeds, or pure breeds, can take up to a year to start laying eggs. They do however, have the opportunity for a more colorful egg basket with blue eggs, green eggs, and even pink. Popular Sex-Links Chickens While this list doesn’t cover all the sex-link types of chickens I really do feel like it covers the most popular varieties. These are the sex-linked chickens you will most commonly find available to order from the hatchery. Red Sex Links This hybrid is noted for their brownish, red feathers. They are bred from New Hampshire Reds or Rhode Island Red rooster over a White Plymouth Rock hen, Silver Laced Wyandotte, Rhode Island Whites or a Delaware hen. Since there is such a variety over the parents used for red sex-links, there are different varieties that include, the Novagen Brown, Golden Comet, Golden Sex Link, Cinnamon Queens, ISA Brown, and Red Stars. Day-old chicks, upon hatching have male chicks that are pale yellow to white and female chicks are light, reddish brown. Red Sex-Links, especially the ISA Brown, are often said to be the best brown egg layer. Black Sex Links Black sex links are made by breeding a barred hen with a non-barred rooster. Most commonly, a Rhode Island Red rooster over a Barred Plymouth Rock hen. Black sex-links can also go by the name Black Stars and Black Rocks. Barring is a recessive trait that is only carried by the males. Upon hatching, chicks will show up as solid black females and black males with a white spot on their heads. Black sex-links are known for their high egg production and large brown eggs. White Novagen These white sex-link chickens lay a plethora of white eggs by 4-5 months old. They are a commercial leghorn strain with solid white feathers and are amongst the best layers of white eggs. However, I have owned this variety a couple of different times and found that they aren’t quite as hardy as other sex-link chickens or the Novagen Browns. Lohmann Brown The Lohmann Brown chicken breed is another sex-link chicken bred from lines of Rhode Island breed and White Plymouth Rocks. Another high egg production hen, laying around 300 eggs a year. Sapphire Gems They are a cross between two color types of Plymouth Rock, the Blue and Barred. They are also known by other names, including Blue Sapphire or Sapphire Blue. Not to be confused with the Sapphire chicken, which lays bright blue eggs. Sapphire Gems are an excellent brown egg layer. Breeding Sex-Link Chickens, or Cross Breeds In my opinion, the biggest drawback to these cross breeds of chickens is that they will never breed back true. You get one generation and that’s it. Now, can you breed them to hatch out new chicks? Yes, but there’s no guarantee what breed or sex you’ll get. There is always the option of getting an autosex breed though. What is an Autosex Chicken? Often confused with Sex-Link chickens, there’s also autosexing breeds. They are pure breeds of chickens that have different colored male and female chicks as well. Several heritage, or pure breeds of poultry will auto-sex. As a result, the offspring will breed true and pass on the autosexing quality, where as sex-links will not. Some of the most popular breeds are: Light Brown & Silver Leghorns Cochins Welsumers Delaware Chicken Breed Coucou De Rennes Chicken Breed Cream Legbars Barred Plymouth Rock & Cuckoo Chicken Breeds The Biggest Reasons You Need to Have Sex-Link Chickens for Backyard Chickens Sex Link chicks have many positive qualities to add to the back yard flock. Their high egg production is just the beginning. Excellent Layers- Chickens enthusiast everywhere know that sex link chicks are the best brown egg layer available. You’ll be gathering eggs in 4-5 months. Reduced Broodiness- They are bred for egg production so broodiness is usually a quality that is bred out. Have I had a sex-link go broody though? Yep, I sure have. Roosters-If roosters are something you want to or have to avoid, ordering sex-link chicks from the hatchery is the best way to ensure you get only hens. Dual-Purpose Breeds- Sex-link chickens are said to be a good dual purpose chicken for making a good pot of chicken and dumplings. They are by no means a broiler chicken. Hardy- Sex-link chickens are very hot and cold hardy. Good Foragers- Want to save money at the feed store? Let those sex-link chickens have some free range time to supplement your layer feed. Free-range Environment or a Coop- Sex-link chickens will thrive in either option, a coop or as free-rangers. Good luck finding all those eggs though! 3 Biggest Reasons Sex Links Might Not Be the Best Choice for Your Backyard Chickens While there are lots of pros to keeping sex-link chickens, there are some cons you may want to consider before filling your brooder with these chicks. You Want to Breed Your Own Chickens If breeding your own chickens is what you are after, sex-links are not the way to go. You may consider looking at some of the auto-sexed chicken breeds if you still want the chicks to be easily sexed on hatch day. You Want a Broiler Chicken While sex-link chickens can be dual purpose they are not the best meat bird to present on the table. They are much better suited for a pot of chicken soup, chicken salad, and for making bone broth. If meat birds is what you are after, look to the Cornish Cross or the Freedom Ranger for meat production. Cold Hardy but Combs Are Prone to Frost Bite You’ll find that sex-link chickens are both cold hardy and hot weather hardy. They do however have a single comb that can be prone to frost bite in the coldest climates. Sex-Link Chickens, Heritage Chicken Breeds, or Hybrid Chickens When it comes to the best breeds of chickens for your backyard flock, the choices are practically endless. What are your ultimate goals for your flock? Is it high egg production or protecting those precious heritage poultry breeds? I always like to have a mix for a super colorful basket of eggs. My #1 Tip for Ordering Sex Links or Baby Chicks Online As you can imagine, most people ordering chicks want mostly hens, if not all hens. Most hatcheries have a sexing guarantee and can ensure you get hens. But what happens to all the roosters? You may notice that sometimes when you order chicks, they arrive at the post office with a few extra in the box. These are often unwanted roosters that are packed to just get rid of. Additionally, they do this for extra warmth with a minimum order while they are being shipped. A couple years ago I got a male duck who lived happily on our farm for several years. I have found that packing roosters has been less common over the last couple of years though. Most often, roosters of egg laying breeds they are often culled at the hatchery. So, if you really don’t want roosters packed, you may consider calling the hatchery so they can put a note on your order. My Favorite Hatcheries Cackle Hatchery Hoovers Hatchery Valley Farms Hatchery Sex-Link Chickens Hopefully we have sorted out all the basic details on sex-link chickens so you can make the right choice when adding to your backyard chickens. Me personally, I like a mix. A ton of large brown eggs, with some green, blue, cream, and chocolate eggs mixed in. Good luck building your backyard chicken flock! Happy Homesteading & Chicken Raising, Jenny @ The GrahamStead Family Farm Jenny and her family have been homesteading for over 20 years. They are currently farming on their 10 acre Florida farm, that they built from the ground up, 8 years ago, growing 100% of their meat and a lot of their vegetables. From their small herd of Aberdeen Angus Cattle, Pastured Poultry, Sheep, and seasonal pigs, they are able to raise enough meat for the family while selling extra to the community. All the while, striving to butcher at home, as much as possible, and use the bits and pieces of their harvest by preserving food, making bone broth, and (Jenny’s favorite) tanning all kinds of hides! Sources: https://www.cacklehatchery.com/whats-the-difference-between-sex-link-and-autosex-chickens/ Chickens Homesteading sex-link chickens