The Pros and Cons of the Amberlink Chicken

A new chicken breed is reaching more and more popularity as the egg per chicken average goes higher, but are these chickens perfect, or are there some draw backs we need to know about?

Here are the pros and cons of these beautiful egg layers.

Pros

1. Eggs, and more eggs

Estimations of how much eggs an Amberlink lays varies from 270-400. In my circumstances I’d say 365 eggs a year is a pretty good estimate which means about an egg a day.

That’s pretty great. However as they age, each year the average will go down, so keep that in mind.

2. Cold Tolerant

The amberlink is a terrific breed for up north. It can lay eggs throughout the winter, even when it drops below freezing.

3. Heat Tolerant

They can also withstand any earth climate that’s above zero. Even in the desert they’d be pretty okay given a source of water and shade. They’re really great chickens.

4. They are super sweet.

Not for eating. They are really cuddly, especially when hand raised. When I returned from vacation my Amberlinks flew over the fence onto me. They will let me pick them up whenever, and will often follow me around the barn yard.

5. They love chickens

Besides loving humans, Amberlinks are crazy over other chickens making them a great choice for mixed flocks. They are especially good with close relatives, like Rhode island reds. I keep my three Amberlinks with a Speckled Sussex, two mix-breeds, a Faverolles, a Rhode Island Blue, and an Americana.

6. They aren’t too hard to sex

They are not color sex-linked but rather feather sex-linked. You can tell the gender of a chick under 10 days old by the feathers that come in. 2 sets of flight feathers for females, 1 for males. After that, you must use traditional methods.

7. Their eggs taste really good and are pretty and are big

Yeah. That.

Well, all that said, these are pretty great chickens. So great in fact, lets get rid of all other chickens and only have Amberlinks.

Woah son. The cons are also big.

Cons

1. Short Life Span

Amberlinks have a life expectancy of 4 years. Other chickens tend to have 12. This is 8 less years of laying, and 8 less years of fun cuddles.

2. You cannot breed them

Amberlinks are a hybrid that does not breed true. They are bred from mixing together genetics Rhode Island Reds, White Plymouth Rocks, and White Island Reds. But even with that, they’re wonderful traits are brought about by years of careful selection and breeding. The personal breeder really has no hope but by from hatchery when it comes to the Amberlink.

3. They don’t ever go broody

Hybrid chickens tend to not go broody. As for the Amberlink, I have literally never heard tell of them going broody. They were actually bred to not go broody to increase egg production. For commercial farmers this is good news, but for the backyard hobby farmer, we kind of like broody chickens. Whether you count this pro or con, it is the truth.

4. Roosters get it hard

Because these chickens do not breed true, the roosters of this breed have no purpose other than to help defend a flock, which can more conveniently be done with a heritage long lived chicken breed. What with them being so easy to sex, roosters are easily eliminated. That means the 7 out of 10 baby chicks born as roosters may not live to adult hood. This is the grim truth of commercial farming, and it’s pretty depressing.

5. They make bad meat

For me this is a pro, but it also means roosters really serve no purpose. Amberlink meat is skimpy and flavorful, because these are egg birds. But what this means is I don’t have to worry about selling Amberlinks I’m attached to. Like the ten baby chicks I’m currently raising.

6. They are prone to having egg laying problems

Because these chickens lay so much, and because they have some imbredness from being a genetically engineered breed, they are more prone than normal chickens to prolapsed vent, egg binding, and other difficulties.

7. They eat a lot

All that egg protein got to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is your chicken food. Amberlinks must be well fed and supplied to be healthy, because they lay a lot.

8. They need lots of calcium

Due to high egg production, Amberlinks need a lot of calcium to make all the egg shells. If you do not provide this, they will prioritize eggs over bones, and their bones will gradually be deconstructed.

Conclusion

Well that’s that. Don’t let the cons necessarily discourage you. There may be one more, but the pros are bigger.

I personally find it quite fun to keep Amberlinks, and worth it. However, I will always keep other breeds too to balance out.

Depending on your situation, you may choose differently and hopefully you’ll choose right.