Six Month Old Chickens

[Just-Moxie]

My old hens lay huge eggs. And they tend to be heavier, and waddle a bit more when they walk. The teenagers, are still spritely and bouncy....youthful when they interract with the others. Maybe if you can watch them for a bit (?)

 

[catjac1975]

I have found some pullets on craigslist and plan on picking them up this Sunday. The listing says they are raised by a son and his parents and that they have just started laying. They are sex linked pullets. I can tell when pullets are young, like 3-5 months old but not sure if I'll be able to tell that they are 6 months old. I've heard horror stories of how people sell old hens and say they are young. Any way I'll be able to tell that they are in fact young and not old hens? The seller has responded very timely and courteously to my messages and they sound like honest folks, but you never know. They are $25 each but if you buy 4 or more, they are $20. This is a good price since they usually go for $30.

Mary

You should be able to tell if they are old, I think. They get pretty ratty looking when they age. At 3-5 months old they should look pristine and a little smaller than full grown. That is a little young to be laying. I have one young rooster that is only about 10 weeks old strangling out crows already and he is pretty small. Check for mites is what they always say but I am no sure I would see them. Perhaps sprinkle them with diotomateous earth just as a precaution. Are you adding them to your flock? I always assume people are honest. After all you are going to their house.

 

[thistlebloom]

My Red Stars were laying before 5 months, closer to 4. Their eggs started small like usual, but I was amazed at how quickly they got huge. I'd say within a few weeks their eggs were as big or bigger than any my Wyandottes laid.
So size of eggs may not be real conclusive evidence Mary.
I get some that keep the egg carton lid from closing. They've been laying for about six weeks I think.

 

[ninnymary]

My Red Stars were laying before 5 months, closer to 4. Their eggs started small like usual, but I was amazed at how quickly they got huge. I'd say within a few weeks their eggs were as big or bigger than any my Wyandottes laid.
So size of eggs may not be real conclusive evidence Mary.
I get some that keep the egg carton lid from closing. They've been laying for about six weeks I think.

What I'm hoping for is that the eggs will still be small, indicating they just started laying. I've also had hens lay before 6 months. He said some had started laying not all.

Mary

 

[Just-Moxie]

While small egg size is not conclusive, it is a good indicator. I am looking for small eggs myself right now, as I pretty much know who lays what from the Big Girls section. I haven't seen any of my pullets investigating the nest boxes yet.

 

[bills]

Traditionally, I have kept sex-links, because of their higher egg production, and friendly nature, but they are pretty small for the pot.
The Black-rock hens, (which were had given to me), were actually pretty good egg producers, and twice as heavy meat wise. I found them to be fairly aggressive, in nature. But If meat was and end goal, after egg production drops off, they would probably be a decent choice as a dual purpose bird.

 

[ninnymary]

I picked up my chickens today! Woman was very nice and said she had selected a variety of color for me. They are beautiful healthy looking birds. They were the last ones she had and another caller kept wanting them but she had already promised them to me. I was able to lower the price from $120 to $110 by whining that I had come from a long way. She also showed me the 4 pullet size eggs that they had laid that morning. I like the fact that they were different shades of brown. Some were dark while others were lighter.

Cell phone died, will post pictures later.

Mary

 

[so lucky]

Oh, fun! New chickens! So did you get 4 chickens, all red sex link?
I only had one red sex link chicken left, out of the original chickens I got 4 and a half years ago. She started getting sickly and not eating last week, and we ended up putting her down. I hated to do that, but she was not going to recover, and had not laid an egg in months and months, if that was even a consideration.

 

[ninnymary]

I got 6 sex-linked. I think they might be golden sex linked because they look kind of golden to me. One of them looks more like a Rhode Island Red though.

Mary

 

[ninnymary]