What size chick do you look for?

[everyday_farmlife]

Hey so I've been hatching light sussex and the variation in size is massive!
There are 3 main sizes hatching out (from the 4 hatches so far this year)
Very big, Middle (Average?), and Small (the very small ones don't normally make it only had 1 of those this year ) this is after the have fluffed out there is still a noticeable size difference
Anyways as a breeder (whoever incubates or allows broodies to hatch) do you rather shoot for a certain size?
I've culled(sold as layers) my hens that throw the small chicks but the big chicks I'm on the fence. Yea they look nice but they seem to have issues hatching not all but the few that get stuck halfway through zipping and die are very big chicks with full absorbed yolk.
Should I keep the big chicks for breeding or stick with the average ones?
The big chicks at hatch grow out much faster than both the average and small chicks (I can tell even just looking at them at 8 weeks old who was born a big, average, small chick just by size without looking at their bands.)
I'm really keen to hear others experiences and/or thoughts.

TIA

It's really hard getting photos that explain it, but these chicks were all hatched from the same hen and cockeral

 

[NatJ]

I have no personal experience with that, although I would be inclined to breed from the chicks who do not have problems. But I'm not sure about the big ones that DO hatch safely.

You could keep some of the medium chicks and some of the large chicks, then hatch eggs from each of them and see how they do.

Even if the big ones have a higher rate of trouble at hatch, it might still be worth selecting that size, if the healthy ones grow enough better to make up for the losses.

 

[everyday_farmlife]

Even if the big ones have a higher rate of trouble at hatch, it might still be worth selecting that size, if the healthy ones grow enough better to make up for the losses.

I didn't think of that! Thankyou for your reply.
I suppose the loss isn't terribly bad as I got 25/28 (1 of the 3 that didn't hatch was a big chick the rest quit early) last hatch and 7/12 (so far this hatch , 2 of the 5 that haven't hatched yet were big chicks that failed to completely unzip.)
When I open them up (it was overnight or I could of helped) it seems they run out of room to turn and fly unzip. Yolk is fully absorbed.
But yes they are ahead in growth by 2 or just over, weeks than the average chicks and 3 possibly 4 weeks than the small chicks which is crazy, but less feed is much better.
Now to see if they lay Earlier or later lol