Starting to believe the hype is just that: hype.

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Let me start by saying my Gold Comet (red sex link) pullet is beautiful. She is friendly, she is fabulous, and she has a delectable fluffy butt.

She is the least "organized" (for lack of better term) layer I have.

I bought her back on Dec. 03 2010 as an 18 week old pullet, and by the end of December, she laid her first egg! (approx. 22 weeks old at that time)

It took her 2 1/2 weeks to repeat the process with one lonely egg. Since then, I have gotten 3 eggs from her. 3. Smallish eggs.

She is fed the same layer feed as everyone else, same amount of light, she isn't the "lowest on the totem pole", and she seems healthy, fat and sassy.

WHERE are the eggs??? They are not being eaten, and my hens don't free range. There is NO place they could be hidden. Will she ever get consistent?? It never fails: the prettiest hen either gets killed or won't lay well.

For relevance, she is housed with a BR hen who lays nearly daily, an andalusian hen who lays nearly daily, and a silkie who lays circles around the sex link with 3-5 a week.

 

[silkiechicken]

Lol

Looks like you might have gotten a dud.

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Yeah, I've got a few duds too. But maybe she's just a late bloomer.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

By spring, she'll be shootin''em at ya.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

LOL!

A dud!

I certainly hope she's not a "dud"! She is a beautiful girl and her little eggs are beautiful, but I keep reading where people say how their sex links start off laying daily and just won't quit...she is evidently not a chicken at all...maybe a smallish flamingo in drag?

Since she won't pay her way with eggs, my husband named her "Charity"...because he says it's charity that we keep her.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Little egg? That is curious in itself. Is there a possibility that she is not the age reported to you? Much older? Somewhat younger?
A comet should be laying everyday and laying a rather large egg at her age. Perhaps the advent of spring will bring better results.

Have you tried keeping her in a separate location, pen, in order to determine her laying? Just a 3 day trial.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

I have tried segregating her but then she turns a little aggressive

When I say small, it's more like a medium size store egg.... maybe it's taking her a while to work the kinks out? I know she is around the age the seller told me: he runs a business locally where he sells point of lay pullets and he alternates breeds seasonally so he only has P O L pullets of each breed available for a few months through the year.

Charity has me confused. If she acted sick I would be worried, but she is frisky and fancy free at the moment, just not paying her way!!

 

[sharol]

I have a partridge rock that is a pretty inconsistent layer. I know she has laid a couple of complete eggs because I had an egg from each girl those days, and her eggs are different than the eggs I get from my Dels or the GLW. I also find broken, shell-less or soft shelled eggs under the roost a couple of times a week. I'm pretty sure they are hers. I just hope she gets the plumming working consistently and doesn't end up with laying problems. She is a lovely girl, if a bit shy, and I would hate it if she developed serious problems. Misty has a home with me regardless of whether she lays or not, but soft shelled eggs can be problematic. Good luck with her.

 

[wood&feathers]

None of us wants to think we have a hen who is a "dud" but it does happen. I have 2 production reds in my flock. One is a real egg machine who hardly misses a day. Other than a squirrel tail she's pretty to look at too. The other is kind of scrawny, and her neck feathers spiral around like a barber pole. She alternates between being a brazen hussy favorite to the roo (and getting beaten up) and hiding in a nest box pretending to be broody. All my other hens have fired back up great as the days lengthen, but Boldy maybe lays one a week. She is a sweetheart toward people, so she will continue to get a free ride, but I won't be letting any of her eggs linger under even a suspected broody.

 

[sourland]

She may be a dud, or she may be old, or she may not even be a sex link, or she may start laying better in the spring.