~Chicken Breed Profile: Black Star~

I'd like to begin a series that I will visit from time to time sharing our experiences with different breeds of laying chickens. Searching catalogues from hatcheries can be overwhelming and often there is very little information available making the decision making process a difficult one. Hopefully, you will find these breed profiles and others opinions in the comments to be useful as you make additions to your own backyard flock.

The Black Star is a sex-linked chicken which basically means that when the chick has hatched, the hatchery can determine whether it is a pullet or cockerel visually. The parents of a Black Star are a Rhode Island or New Hampshire rooster and a Barred Rock hen. The pullets produced are primarily black with varying amounts of rust colored breasts. One of ours was all black though with an iridescent green cast to the feathers.

Among other sex-linked chickens, there is the Red Star, Golden Comet, and Golden Buff.

{Black Star} 

Purpose- Egg Laying

Size- Around 5 pounds
Appearance- Average-sized single comb; overall black, may have rust-colored breast feathers

Maturity-  20 weeks

Temperament- Docile & friendly; Not flighty; Relatively quiet- only announcing they've laid their egg; A wonderful "pet chicken"

Broody- No
Estimated Annual Production- 300+
Egg Description- Extra Large Brown egg
Winter Hardy- Yes
Foraging- Very good

While I love the heritage breeds in our flock, I will always have a few of these hardy, production-bred gals among our layers. I have found their personalities to be friendly, but more to the point, since they are bred to lay really well helps carry us through molting season and the cold winter months.

The fact that these hens are geared for egg production can mean that their reproductive systems are sometimes dysfunctional. This was the case with one of our hens where, within the first week or so of beginning to lay, we found a clutch of 22 eggs most of which were double- or triple-yolked. It was too much for her body to handle and she died soon after.

I have a soft spot in my heart in particular for the Black Stars since our first layers were a group of six of these gals. We have one left from that original flock and she'll be needing culled this spring since she surely is no longer laying and most likely is the culprit behind our flocks' egg-eating troubles.

Do you have any experiences with the Black Star chicken? Would you recommend this breed? Please share your thoughts with us!


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