LOUD! Red sex link 17 weeks old

[Dmontgomery]

I need to butt in on this thread because it seems to be the most recent. I have 19 RSL's that are 19 weeks old. As far as I can tell NONE of them have layed yet. I haven't even seen them be curious about the nesting boxes and I haven't seen that the RSL rooster shows any sign of trying to mate them. They free range dawn to dusk. Does this breed hide eggs in the woods? The combs don't appear to be larger, at least not compared to the BR and EE pullets that are just a couple weeks older. Could it be that this summer was so hot that it delayed them laying?
Thanks for letting me interrupt you for a minute...

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have 5 golden comets / red sex-links. My first to lay did so at 17 1/2 weeks, the last to lay did so at 18 weeks 5 days. Their combs will swell and get a deep red. They will squat when you put your hand over their back, about 2 weeks before laying

My girls are in a 500 square foot pen. I don't free range. Chickens will lay anywhere, but mostly in a secluded area, like in a flower pot, under shrubs, in bushes, under steps/decks. GC

 

[GC-Raptor]

I have 5 golden comets / red sex-links. My first to lay did so at 17 1/2 weeks, the last to lay did so at 18 weeks 5 days. Their combs will swell and get a deep red. They will squat when you put your hand over their back, about 2 weeks before laying. Sorry for the double post. I just wanted to add that heat will delay/slow down, even stop laying. I have a chicken bath that they can walk in to cool down. On hot days I drain and refill several times a day.

GC

 

[koko51]

hello. I was just wondering if your chicken in this photo is a hen or rooster. I'm asking because my chicken looks identical and I am not sure if it is a hen or not.. And do you find that they get aggressive at all?
Thanks

 

[drumstick diva]

a "red sex link" rooster would be mostly white

 

[Dmontgomery]

hello. I was just wondering if your chicken in this photo is a hen or rooster. I'm asking because my chicken looks identical and I am not sure if it is a hen or not.. And do you find that they get aggressive at all?
Thanks

This is a group of RSL. The mostly white one at the top is George, a rooster. All the others are hens.

 

[koko51]

This is a group of RSL. The mostly white one at the top is George, a rooster. All the others are hens.

Ok cool thanks for the photo explanation. I'm new to raising chickens and have one red sex link.. I hope it lays lots of eggs

 

[Dmontgomery]

Well I hope you get better results than we have so far. 3 weeks ago I complained mine weren't laying at all. Now I can report I'm getting maybe 2-3 of them laying. But each day the combs of the others are getting noticeably bigger and redder. They are all now standing around watching the older hens in the nesting boxes and have started doing the squat. So we assume we just got a batch of late bloomers and not complete duds.

 

[koko51]

Fingers crossed that is the case