Well, the Comet is a result of a sad story. We started this chicken journey with three EEs, one of whom died rapidly within an 8 hour period after only two weeks from purchase, another who succumbed to Mareks disease and we were left with an only EE child. Given the time of year and difficulty in finding started pullets (we are not equipped for chicks) and given her age, after extensively searching, we found a farmer who had several breeds, most of which I wasn't interested in for various reasons due to our circumstances. He had ISA browns, Cinnamon Queens and Golden Comets. He steered us away from the ISAs so we bought a Cinnamon Queen and a Golden Comet so our remaining EE would have a friend. I knew they were production breeds and the potential inherent issues but to this point, we thought why not, we would eventually like to eat some fresh eggs afterall. Fast forward a couple months and the 3rd EE also died from Marek's. That left the Cinnamon Queen and the Golden Comet. After two months from purchase, I found the Queen dead in the layer at 6:00 am. She was eating, drinking, foraging, acting normal but never looked quite right to me in conformation; her legs looked 'off' and she never flew, just sort of hobbled and she was extremely small. We have no idea what happened. That left the Comet all by herself. So here we were again. We recently purchased two more pullets - a BA and a BO.It'll happen!
I'd read (and expected) our Bluebell might not start laying up til she's around 40 weeks old (and she's only 20 weeks, now). We'd originally bought two Bluebells, but one turned out to be a rooster and the seller.. well, lets just say I'm glad we have our one Bluebell and we'll not be dealing with the seller ever again.
What made you decide to go with a Red Comet? I'm always interested in what influences people to get particular breeds of chickens.
My son says I like my chickens bougie.I just like seeing the pretty colors of their eggs, tbh. If I've gotta deal with all the fuss & stink & getting picked by the occasional broody hen, at least I'll have the prettiness to offset it all.
The comet is 7 months old, I reached out to the farmer a while back who said he was surprised that she had not been laying by 20 weeks being a production breed. She is healthy, her combs and wattles are large and red and she is my sassy, active girl. I don't know why she hasn't started laying yet other than the extreme heat. That's ok. I enjoy her company and know eventually the BA and BO - currently 5 months old - will eventually lay. So that's a long answer to your question. It was timing, circumstances, availability and needing a smaller, friendly hybrid who will give us lots of eggies - someday - maybe.
