hi all. i had some company here this weekend and she was telling me of her sexlink chicks. then she asked me what they were exactly. she thought they were a cross breed. i have heard of them,but i dont know either. also, we found one of my hens in the dog house laying on 18 eggs. if the eggs are laid one a day how come all the chicks hatch at one time?does anyone out there know?sure would appreciate it. thanks cody

-- cody (urbusted@alltel.net), January 29, 2002

Answers

sex links are crosses,, the color of the bird tells you the sex. The eggs all hatch because she starts setting on them at the same time, after she has 12 or so eggs in the nest,, she will start to set,,thats when the timer starts for hatching

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 29, 2002.

This link may answer some of your questions: Webone, http://www.webone.com.au/~paleface/chickens/sexing.html Modern commercial hatcheries use a variety of tricks that allow them to determine the sex of every chick from the moment it hatches. The most common way they do this, involves the cross breeding of birds of particular colours which result in male chicks having different colour down than female chicks. This is known as sex-linked crossing. I shall explain some of the more common sex-linked crosses in this article as well as give some pointers on sexing pure breed chicks. Basically there are five different methods of determining sex in day old colour-crossed chicks

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), January 29, 2002.