My silkie show bird winners! And is it too early to breed?

[Silkiesarefluffydinos]

I have both a question, and a exciting news!

So, in early June I got one week old black Silkie chicks as show birds I entered them in our state fair, and they both won first place!!! I have a pulley named Willow, and a Cockrel named Juniper! They are almost four months old, on Halloween they will be officially 4 months old!!!!!!

I was also wondering if I bred them in the early spring or almost spring(maybe February or March) would it be to early if the hen is laying? I read in one of Gail Damrow's books that the earliest age you can breed is 7 months old, but the hen has to be laying for 3 weeks beforeally getting eggs to hatch. Do your think that if Willow is 7 months old and has been laying, and I know her eggs are fertilized, since she will be 7 months old in the end of January, so you think that is too early to collect her eggs for hatching in February or March? Should I wait until April of May? They were both Born on May 31stView attachment 1164626

 

[Ridgerunner]

I hatch pullet eggs all the time although the experts warn against it. Sometimes I do great, sometimes I do horrible. Most of the time I do pretty good.

I'm not worried about the age of the pullet, just how long she has been laying. An egg has to be about perfect to hatch a chick. When pullets start laying it can sometimes take a while to get all the bugs worked out of their internal egg making factory. It's not just the stuff you can see, double yolks, no yolks, soft or hard shells, stuff like that. The other parts have to be right. The chalaza need to work correctly, the yolk-white proportions/sizes need to be right, the white needs to have the right consistency (not too firm and not too watery). The eggs need to be fertilized and pullets are not always good at cooperating with the rooster. To me what's kind of amazing how many actually get it pretty right from the start.

I suggest you wait until the pullet has been laying about a month before you start collecting eggs to hatch. That gives her time to get all these issues taken care of. Plus her first eggs will probably be really small. They gradually get bigger so with month old eggs there are more nutrients to produce a healthy chick.

When I hatch pullet eggs where the pullet has been laying at least a month I generally get good hatches. My hatch rate is not quite as good as if I use eggs from older hens but it's usually not bad. I hardly ever have a chick die after it hatches, probably less than 1 in 50. When I do it's often one that hatched from a pullet egg. Those smaller eggs produce smaller chicks, maybe that's why they may not be quite as robust.

 

[Silkiesarefluffydinos]

Okay! Thank you!! My pullet is a little smaller than she should be, but she is still healthly, so I might wait a little longer if her eggs are still a little small after a month of laying. I'm really excited to hatch silkie chicks!

I hatch pullet eggs all the time although the experts warn against it. Sometimes I do great, sometimes I do horrible. Most of the time I do pretty good.

I'm not worried about the age of the pullet, just how long she has been laying. An egg has to be about perfect to hatch a chick. When pullets start laying it can sometimes take a while to get all the bugs worked out of their internal egg making factory. It's not just the stuff you can see, double yolks, no yolks, soft or hard shells, stuff like that. The other parts have to be right. The chalaza need to work correctly, the yolk-white proportions/sizes need to be right, the white needs to have the right consistency (not too firm and not too watery). The eggs need to be fertilized and pullets are not always good at cooperating with the rooster. To me what's kind of amazing how many actually get it pretty right from the start.

I suggest you wait until the pullet has been laying about a month before you start collecting eggs to hatch. That gives her time to get all these issues taken care of. Plus her first eggs will probably be really small. They gradually get bigger so with month old eggs there are more nutrients to produce a healthy chick.

When I hatch pullet eggs where the pullet has been laying at least a month I generally get good hatches. My hatch rate is not quite as good as if I use eggs from older hens but it's usually not bad. I hardly ever have a chick die after it hatches, probably less than 1 in 50. When I do it's often one that hatched from a pullet egg. Those smaller eggs produce smaller chicks, maybe that's why they may not be quite as robust.