I have twelve productions reds, got them at three weeks old, started laying at 5 months. They have been laying now for about 2 months and never get less than 9 eggs, usually 11 or 12.
They are very friendly birds, will sit with the dogs, cats and goats with no problem. They don't like the cats going into their pen and will actually chase them out. When i first got the chicks, I was worried about the cats chasing them, seems I didn't need to worry LOL.