4/28/2023 0 Comments Black baby chickenThe Black Star is a very suitable chicken for the backyard. These problems usually start showing up after one year of age sadly this is to be expected as nature never intended that their system would be in constant production. The Star, like many other production hens has a tendency to suffer from reproductive issues – egg yolk peritonitis, egg binding and cancer. They will tolerate cold and heat as long as they have shelter and food. Known Health Issuesįor the most part, Black Stars are remarkably healthy and robust. If you are a hardcore homesteader you will appreciate knowing the FCR, but if you have 2 hens in your yard for pleasure, you don’t much care because you love them. Now admittedly it’s a bit silly doing an FCR on our backyard hens, but large poultry enterprises use this to judge how thrifty hens are and then pass the information down to us chicken people. Well, the simplest way I can put it is how much feed did the hen need to eat in order to give you X number of eggs in a given period. They also have a great feed conversion ratio (FCR) too! If you hatch the eggs you will get a ‘mutt’ chick not a Black Star (more on this later). Any offspring will not breed true – remember, they are a product of two different breeds. They are not known for being broody although one will occasionally set but generally they are not reliable setters.Īs they are a production hen they are only ‘built to last’ in extreme egg laying for about two years. The Black Star will lay around 5 eggs per week (250+ per year)! A lovable egg machine, the Star lays eggs that are brown and large to extra-large in size. They are not a nervous or flighty breed so they live together peaceably for the most part. They love to forage if allowed, but they adapt very well to confinement too. In general they are quiet birds with a sweet disposition, only raising their voices when singing the egg song. They are friendly and curious and can be cuddly if you raise them so. This little egg superstar is a docile and very hardy little bird. It is adaptable, thrifty and low maintenance since they can adapt to local conditions, be it hot, cold or in between. If you breed two together you will not get a Black Star chick – what you will have is a different hybrid. The Black Star is a hybrid so there is no standard of perfection for this chicken. The outline is somewhat rectangular in shape. They have an upright carriage, with a tail held at a perky high angle. The Black Star roosters will feather out somewhat like Barred Rocks, there is no mistaking a rooster for a hen with this breed! The legs of both sexes are clean and yellow in color with four toes to each foot. The hens will feather out with mainly black feather with the occasional gold flecking mainly on the breast area. In plumage, the appearance of the boys and girls is striking. They have a single comb which is red, as are the wattles and ear lobes. They are a medium sized chicken with roosters weighing around 7-8lbs each and hens around 5lbs. Since those times the Black Star hasn’t looked back – she remains one of the most prolific egg laying hens and a backyard favorite. There is no mistaking the sex of these chicks upon their arrival! Because of this, they are also known as Black Beauty or black sex links. The combination of the sex genes from the parents produce all black female chicks and the males are all black but have a white spot on the head. The breeds are usually a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster mated with a Barred Plymouth Rock hen. The hens not only performed very well in egg laying trials (by laying consistent large quantities), but it was also sex-linked.īlack sex linked chicks are produced by two separate breeds. The crossing of the Barred Plymouth Rock hen with a Rhode Island or New Hampshire male was a blessed marriage. The Black Star was one of the breeds created of this time. In order to help combat this, poultry scientists were crossing and re-crossing various breeds to try and make the hens into super layers. Some foods were already rationed, so the influx of people really stretched resources quite thinly. It wasn’t long before many of the troops started to arrive home and refugees were heading for America to make a new start in life. The Black Star chicken was created not long after the 2nd World War ended (1945). History and Background of Black Star Chickens Keep reading to learn more about this little beautiful hen, and find out if it is suitable for your backyard. However these days you are most likely to find them on homesteads. This breed was created to lay a huge amount of eggs to satisfy the grocery needs of the expanding population in the 1950s. The Black Star chicken is a relatively recent addition to the backyard chicken world.
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