When do they reach full size?

[brooster]

I have 6 week old chickens and cant see them laying in 18 to 22 weeks, are they full size when they start laying?
When do they get full size?

 

[aran]

im curious about this also...i have 8 week old chickens and I cant imagine they could possibly get any bigger! They look like full grown chickens now!

 

[4H kids and mom]

You will see them grow before your very eyes within the next 4 weeks or so. My oldest are just coming up on laying at 16 weeks old (YAY!) and they are about full size, but I still expect them to grow a wee bit more yet. After the first 6-8 weeks, they all of a sudden grow big very quickly. Its like overnight changes! Yours have quite sometime to go yet, but your in for a ride along the way!

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

To be honest I look at my young ladies (6wks) and I think they look like mini-chickens! They are fully feathered, and LOOK like chickens, but they are bantam sized. Can't wait to watch them grow bigger!

-Meghan

 

[michellerene]

My girls are about 12 weeks & about 1/2 to 1/3 the size they will be full grown. They look like fully formed hens, only smaller & their wattles aren't completely grown out or colored in yet.

 

[aran]

wow maybe im feeding too much! Mine seriously look to be around 3-4lbs each already, fully feathered, the roo with full colour to his comb and wattles ( still smallish though). Its hard to imagine they will get bigger still!

 

[michellerene]

Austalorps & Orpingtons get very larg-- 6-8 lbs for the hens!

 

[allen wranch]

If you have adult chickens already, the young hens will not quite be the same breadth when they start laying. Just like some middle age ladies, they will fill out more and become rounder as they get older. Some breeds are naturally lean, and it will not show up as much except in the roosters.

 

[FarmerJones]

Is there a way to tell the young roosters from the hens without getting too personal with them?

I have 4 little chickens about 6 weeks old, all from the same place, and all were the same size. They were also all marked Barred Rock pullets. The thing that has me wondering is one is bigger and scrappier than the rest. Three have tail feathers that come to a nice flat point. The big one's tail doesn't make a point. The feathers kinda stick straight out. I do not think it is feather pulling. This one little bird has the barn cats running scared! If I can get a picture uploaded, I will.

 

[Cheri]

Are RIR's bigger than Leghorns? Rocky (started Honking so we figure now he is a roo) looks like a cross between a RIR and Aracuana and Rowdy are both bigger than Foggy now.