Hi, I'm new here. My wife and I live on an acre lot in a small town in Western Arkansas and just got a chicken "tractor" and found a guy wanting to sell 14 mo. old golden comet layers at $10 each which I jumped at. The five hens i bought never seemed stressed and adapted easily to their mobile coop. It HAS been less than a week but I am still surprised that they haven't laid an egg. Not one. The hens appear to be very healthy and, if anything, look younger than 14 months (maybe because they are on the small side). They eat well and are very calm and friendly. I just hope they are not "done" as layers...since getting them I've read some posts here where people said this cross will start laying early but sometimes quit early too. Thoughts?
14 months isn't THAT old. Mine are 2 years old and still laying nearly every day. The thing I would question is....were they REALLY 14 months old? Could it be that this person passed off some much older hens onto you? They may take a while to start laying because of the stress of the move, you may yet be pleasantly surprised. If they are 14 months old, they could start to go downhill as far as egglaying in less than a year...you know what they say - your mileage may vary. Some take a sharp decline at 18 months or so while like I said mine are still going really strong at 2 years. I hope they are just taking some time to get adjusted to their new home and not that you got taken for a ride on some spent hens.
Thanks Mortie...and yes, I do tend to be trusting to the point of a fault. We'll carry on as if they're good layers taking a "relocation break" and hope for the best
My comet quit laying after a year, they tend to lay very well at the beginning and burn out quickly, if it was a dual purpose breed it might keep laying until 5-6.
