My new post.
SUMMARY OF THE PAGE
· Golden Comet Chicken Breed Complete Care Guide
· Is the Golden Comet Chicken Right for You?
· Summary
Golden Comet Chicken Breed Complete Care Guide
The Golden Comet chicken is one of the more recent hybrid chickens that has been bred for great Egg Production.
History of Golden Comets
The Golden Comet is a sex-linked chicken. A sex link is not a ‘breed’ in the true sense of the word. It is a cross-breed or ‘hybrid’ chicken. This is an important distinction, as you will see.
If you mate a pure breed chicken with its’ own kind, the chicks will look the same as their parents.
A sex link chicken is a sex-able bird at hatching; that means it’s easy to tell the males from the females.
This is a useful trait for us hatcheries, as it means that the hens can be retained for laying, and the males are unfortunately disposed of.
If you live in an area where you are not allowed roosters, sex link chickens are the best bet for having all girls with no ‘oops’ in the pack.
The golden comet chicken results from a mating between a New Hampshire rooster and a White Rock hen.
There are several red sex link hybrids:
· Gold Sex Link
· Golden Buff
· Red Star
· Cinnamon Queen
Sometimes all or some of these names are used interchangeably, confuses people, and individual hatcheries may have a different name for their ‘line’ of sex link birds.
Appearance
The Golden Comet is generally a light/medium reddish-brown, possibly flecked with some white feathers. It’s actually quite a small bird for a standard chicken, with females weighing around 4lb and males weighing in at 6lb.
They have a single upright comb – comb and wattles being red in color.
The beak is a yellow/brown color, and the eyes are yellow. Legs are also yellow, and the bird has four toes on each foot.
The golden comet chicken hen body is an inverted triangular shape with a ‘U’ shape between the head and tail which is held quite high, almost perpendicular.
Breed Standard
As a hybrid, there is no standard set for this golden comet chicken eggs
Egg Laying and Broodiness
Golden Comet chickens excellent layers of medium to large brown eggs.
They can lay from 5-6 eggs per week which puts them on a par with the Rhode Island Red hen.
They can put out a whopping 330 eggs per year – that’s almost an egg every day!
True to their reputation for production, these girls can start laying at 16 weeks and continue to be very productive up to around the two-year mark.
After that, egg production will drop off noticeably.
They will seldom go broody – it has been bred out of them, so if you want to hatch some chicks, you will have to fire up the incubator.
This is where the ‘hybrid’ part becomes important.
You will not get a Golden Comet chicken from Golden Comet hens, and the offspring will crossbreed.
Remember, the original pairing was a New Hampshire rooster over a White Rock hen. If you want to ‘create’ a Golden Comet, this is the pairing you need.
In effect, to maintain your flock of you need a flock of White Rocks and a couple of New Hampshire roosters.
Golden Comet Chicken | |
Egg Production |
about 330 per year |
Egg-Laying Age |
Can start laying eggs at about 16 weeks |
Broodiness |
No |
Beginner Friendly |
Yes |
4-5 years |
|
Size |
Hen: 4lb; Rooster 6lb |
Good for Children |
Yes |
Disposition
The Golden Comet chicken is described as a personable and curious hen, is very mellow, and doesn’t mind being picked up by folks.
In fact, some folks say the Golden Comet chicken breed actually seeks out people over its’ own flock mates.
They are resilient, tolerating a wide variety of temperatures. As with most single comb chickens, keep an eye open for frostbitten combs if it is freezing where you live.
They easily become family pets as they are so friendly and gentle. In a flock situation, they are peaceful members.
They dislike any squabbling or pecking generally and will move away from the troublemaker if they can.
They are better to keep with breeds that are calm and non-aggressive as this will avoid them being picked on. Suitable breeds to mix with would be Cochins, Plymouth Rocks, Faverolles, or Orpingtons.
Health Issues and Welfare
A Golden Comet chicken should not have any real problems in her first 3 years other than the usual possibilities of worms, lice, mites, etc.
As they were bred to maintain a high production rate, their lifespan is usually shorter (generally less than four to five years).
As with all high production hens, they most often succumb to reproductive tumors, egg yolk peritonitis, or other reproductive issues.
Is the Golden Comet Chicken Right for You?
If you want hens that will produce an abundance of eggs for your family, look no further than the Golden Comet.
She has a prolific output and lays very early. The downside to that is after 3 years, you will need to replace the flock with new girls if you want to maintain egg production.
The Golden Comet chicken is great for kids; they are gentle, enjoy people, and aren’t easily ‘rattled’ in most situations. They seem to take everything in their stride.
Golden Comets are also great for a 4H project or a chicken beginner as they are a pretty low-maintenance bird that can be almost self-sufficient.
They tolerate confinement well, but if allowed to free-range, they are good little foragers.
Why This Chicken Is Right for You |
|
· Great egg-laying hen · The hens start laying eggs very early · This chicken gets along with other chickens · This chicken is friendly with people and kids picking them up · They don’t really have many illnesses the first 3 years as long as you monitor lice/mites |
Summary
Hybrid hens such as the Golden Comet are great birds for a small backyard as they take up relatively little space, they aren’t particularly noisy, and they are egg-laying dynamos!
As you may imagine, two or three years of fairly constant egg-laying take a toll on their bodies which is why they don’t usually live to ‘old age.
In a commercial setting, breeders would replace these hens after two years maximum.
Golden Comet chicken hens are the ones that people receive when they rescue hens.
They do go on to ‘pop out’ those eggs for another year or so usually, but not as prolifically as before. Folks that have rescued them say they are delightful and enjoyable birds to have around your yard.