What point of lay actually means
Point of lay describes a pullet that is mature and about to start laying, typically around 18 to 22 weeks depending on breed — hybrids tend to start earlier, heavy pure breeds later. The visible signs are a comb and wattles that are growing and turning red, a bright, alert look, and often a submissive squat when a hand passes over the back. A bird sold as point of lay should show most of these; a small, pale-combed pullet is younger than claimed and may be weeks from her first egg, which matters if you are paying point-of-lay prices.
The hands-on health check
Pick each hen up — a seller who will not let you handle birds is a warning in itself. She should feel solid and muscular, with a breastbone you can find but that is covered, not sharp. Check for bright eyes, clean dry nostrils, and breathing with no wheeze, rattle or gaping. Look at the legs and feet: scales should lie smooth and flat, not raised and crusty. Part the feathers around the vent, which should be clean, and check under the wings and around the vent for lice or mite irritation. Watch the whole pen move: you want active, curious birds.
Questions about the source flock
Ask the breed or hybrid type and what laying to expect, whether the pullets were vaccinated as chicks — commercial-type pullets commonly are, backyard-bred birds often are not, and it changes what protection they carry — and how the flock has been reared and fed. Ask whether there has been any respiratory disease or unusual losses in the flock, and look at the other pens, not just yours: sneezing, discharge or listless birds anywhere on the premises mean your apparently healthy hens have shared the same air.
Laying expectations to set
Even a genuinely ready pullet usually pauses when she is moved: new surroundings, new flock mates and a journey commonly delay the first egg by a week or two, and early eggs may be small or odd-shelled while her system settles into rhythm. Hybrids then lay heavily through their first season; pure breeds lay fewer eggs and are more likely to slow down in winter or go broody. Knowing which you have bought prevents a perfectly normal settling-in pause from looking like a problem.
Settling them in at home
Keep new hens shut in the coop for the first day or so, with feed and water inside, so they learn where home and the nest boxes are, and let them out once they are putting themselves to bed. Expect squabbles as a pecking order forms, and provide more than one feeder and drinker so lower-ranked birds are not kept away. KinsLe's Transferrable Profiles round out the move: the seller transfers each hen's profile to you with her origin, age and laying notes attached, so when the first eggs arrive — or do not — you have her real history to judge by.