The Black star Chicken is a chicken breed that was first emerged between 1945-1950, immediately after the 2nd world war ended. The main purpose behind the production of this chicken breed was to combat the shortage of food that was caused by the prolonged war. The black star chicken is considered to be one of the recent members of the chicken race. Listed, below are some of the interesting facts about the black star chicken breed.
Parental breed
Many agriculturists believe that this breed was formed by crossing the Rhode Island red with a Barred Plymouth Rock. The exact origin of the black star chicken is not known but agriculturist believes that America is the continent from where this breed first emerged.
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Appearance
As the name clearly predicts the black star chicken is black, but the hens of this chicken breed have some golden patterning on their chest or breast area. The rooster of the black chicken breed is also black but have a white spot on their head. Their eyes are slightly brown they have a crest with five distinguish points. The crest or comb is red. The ear lobes are also brick red. They possess a medium-sized body with an erect posture. Their lower limbs are feather free. They have four toes per feet.
The black star chicken is believed to be sex-linked which means both hen and rooster will have a specific combination of genes that would distinguish them from each other.
Weight
The members of black star chicken are not big or heavy but are average in weight and size. The rooster of this breed weighs around 8 pounds which means about 3.5kg and the hen of this breed weighs about 5 pounds which means about 2 to 2.5kg.
Egg-laying capacity
Hens of the black star chicken breed are labelled as quite good layers. Each hen lay about 5 eggs per week which means about 250 eggs per year. But the drawback is that they lay eggs for about 2 years only. The female members of the black star chicken breed are considered to be good mothers to their chicks as they love to sit on their eggs.
Egg size and colour
The black star chicken lays very beautiful light to medium brown coloured eggs. Unlike the size of their bodies, the black star chicken lays large to extra-large eggs which are their centre of attraction.
Nature
The black star chicken is quite a docile bird. They love to move freely and pick their food from the yards. Like other chicken breeds, they don’t like to be touched and will follow you only if you have treats in your pocket for them. One of the best quality of this chicken breed is that they can adapt the environmental conditions very easily and thus are winter hardy but only up to a certain limit.
Note
The poultry breeds show great interest in breeding this chicken because they produce a good amount of eggs and meat. They require low maintenance and can tolerate harsh environmental conditions. They also have a very good feed conversion ratio (FCR). The average life span of this breed is about 6-10 years.
