The Rock Star of Chicken Breeds
Black Star chickens are a cross between a Rhode Island or New Hampshire rooster and Barred Rock hen and are similar to Red Star, Red Sex-Link, Golden Comet and Golden Bluff breeds. These are sex-link chickens, which means that the sex of each bird is visually determined when it hatches from the egg. Hens are primarily black with golden breast feathers and roosters are typically black with scattered white highlights. Hens take about 20 weeks to fully mature and grow to around five pounds.
This breed is the rock star of egg production yielding over 300 extra-large brown eggs per hen annually. They have a friendly, quiet nature and usually only make noise after they lay their eggs. The hens are not particularly broody, and they can stand up to cold weather and bitter winter seasons. These notable characteristics make raising Black Star chickens easy, convenient and tolerable to apprehensive neighbors.
Egg Production
During the 1940s and 1950s, Black Star chickens led the way in the production of eggs. They consistently laid extra large brown eggs at 250 to 300 eggs per year, filling grocery stores and feeding many.
As a free-range and medium-sized chicken, the Black Star wasn’t a fussy breed.
People bred hens for their egg laying capacity and generally good health.