It wouldn't be a problem transporting them that time/distance, so long as you had made suitable boxes to contain them, and you'll have to do this anyway. A 6-bottle-sized cardboard box will hold one hybrid, a 12-bottle- sized box will hold 2 so long as they're from the same pen and know each other - don't put strangers together. Put sheets of newspaper in the bottom of the boxes and a few woodshavings. Cut a row of holes 2ins in diameter along the top of the sides for ventilation and invent a reliable way to hold the flaps of the box shut over the hen. (Avoiding the complications of hens flying around in the car.....) I use an elastic rope round the bottom of the box, ends linked together over the top. Or you could possibly use a cat carrier if it was big enough, ie at least 12 ins from bottom to top for hen to stand up in. Keep the hens cool on the way home, use the aircon if available aor have windows open, they'll probably go to sleep. Have everything ready for them when you get home, (food, water and shade) so they can just quietly explore whilst you watch them. Get some redmite powder before they arrive, and once you've seen them eat and drink and recover a bit, catch them individually and powder them well, under their wings and right into their feathers and up their bums ( probably a 2-person job, this!) in case they've got any unwelcome 'visitors' to your lovely clean henhouse. Also powder the nestboxes and any nooks and crannies in the house, round and under the perches especially. Don't breathe the powder.
If you visit a breeder you haven't heard reports about, it will probably be OK, but be prepared in any case to walk away without buying if you think the runs and housing are dirty and crowded, or if ANY of the pullets in the pen look anything but lively and alert, with nice clean feathers and bright eyes. Examine each hen for mites, injuries, runny eyes or nose, and if any of them are sneezing, leave without them. If you can get all the birds from one pen you'll probably find they settle together more easily than if they come from mixed pens. Ring the breeder beforehand to find out what he hhas in stock, as by this stage of the summer many of his pullets may have been sold already, and you said you want 4-6, possibly of mixed breeds. Do try and get them all in one go, as even a delay of a week will make it difficult to integrate any 'late arrivals' from somewhere else.
Hybrid pullets usually come into lay between 20 and 28 weeks (sort of how long is a piece of string?) 'Puberty' varies greatly and will probably be delayed a bit by the stress of moving to a new place, however kind you are to them, so if you get them young their early laying pattern isn't disturbed. Most likely times are around 22 - 25 weeks in my experience, but 17-18 weeks is not unknown, and I've had 2 recently who went to 28 weeks. Whilst you wait, they have quite a lot of growing to do, which is good to watch, and it's comforting to know that it's actually better for the pullet to delay laying until she's fully mature, rather than starting too young - just like people or other animals. If you get young hens who've started lay, they may actually stop for a week or two whilst they settle in, so you're no better off than waiting for young ones to grow up. They should be on growers pellets when you get them, and after 16 weeks it's OK to put them on layers pellets if you think they won'rt get through a big bag of growers before they lay, though if the breeder offers to sell you a smallish bag of what they've been eating, take it, as ideally they should stay on growers until they begin to lay. Also find out if they've been wormed with Flubenvet, and if so, when, so you know when to do them again (6 months after previous doses.) If not wormed yet, arrange to treat them when you get them home, again part of the settling-in process before they lay.
What fun! It's so exciting, getting new hens. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
