5 month old pullet looks 2 months old

Date sort Score sort
chickenshiha

chickenshiha

Songster
5 Years
Apr 19, 2014
412
26
106
palestine
5 months ago my hens hatched 3 chicks (2 died) and the one that lived grew and is healthy but she didn't grow much,she still looks 2 months old so small looking, she's a mixed breed with lots of breeds, I got the eggs from my friend that all his hens and rooster are large I saw her parents because I saw the hen lay the egg that she hatched from and she was a good size and the rooster was also pretty big so I don't think it's genetics or breed,i always feed my chicks starter feed 22% protein and 15% calcium and it has been great for my past hens and now I feed them (including the pullet) layer feed and sometimes scraps like breed with plain sheep yogurt which helps my hens laying in winter
 
Last edited:
chickenshiha said:
Please help me I want her to be a bit larger so she can lay eggs
Click to expand...
It is most likely genetics, sex-linked dwarfism is a recessive gene (dw). The father could carry one gene and still be a normal sized chicken. The mother would be normal because she does not carry the gene, The offspring that are males will be normal sized because they will only carry one of the dwarf genes but some of the female offspring will inherit a dwarf gene from the father and be dwarfs or smaller in size than normal chickens.

Females can only carry one sex-linked gene for a trait- males can carry two. Males inherit one sex chromosome from the mother and one sex chromosome from the father. Females only inherit one sex chromosome and that comes from the father.

There is a recessive autosomal dwarfism in chickens (not sex-linked). Both parents would have to carry one recessive adw ( autosomal dwarfism) allele and a normal allele. When the parents are crossed, some of the offspring will be noticeably smaller than the parents at maturity.

If it is not genetic, then it would have to be a medical case where something is affecting the growth factors in your chicken.

There are also other kinds of recessive sex-linked dwarfism, and these may be involved but they are all recessive like adw. Two others are bantam and McDonald, both are alleles to dw. There is also a dominant sex-linked dwarf gene but it is not involved in your situation.

Dwarf chickens can lay normal sized eggs, that is if over many generations the offspring have been selectively breed to produce larger eggs.

In my post, there is a difference in size between bantams and dwarfs. Dwarfs just have to be smaller than normal (for example 10-40%) while bantam size is different. Bantam size is due to a number of genes producing a very small bird.

I covered a lot of information; if you have questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer the question.
 
Last edited:
Wappoke said:
It is most likely genetics, sex-linked dwarfism is a recessive gene (dw). The father could carry one gene and still be a normal sized chicken. The mother would be normal because she does not carry the gene, The offspring that are males will be normal sized because they will only carry one of the dwarf genes but some of the female offspring will inherit a dwarf gene from the father and be dwarfs or smaller in size than normal chickens. 

Females can only carry one sex-linked gene for a trait- males can carry two. Males inherit one sex chromosome from the mother and one sex chromosome from the father. Females only inherit one sex chromosome and that comes from the father. 

There is a recessive autosomal dwarfism in chickens (not sex-linked). Both parents would have to carry one recessive adw ( autosomal dwarfism) allele and a normal allele. When the parents are crossed, some of the offspring will be noticeably smaller than the parents at maturity.

If it is not genetic, then it would have to be a medical case where something is affecting the growth factors in your chicken. 

There are also other kinds of recessive sex-linked dwarfism, and these may be involved but they are all recessive like adw. Two others are bantam and McDonald, both are alleles to dw. There is also a dominant sex-linked dwarf gene but it is not involved in your situation.

Dwarf chickens can lay normal sized eggs, that is if over many generations the offspring have been selectively breed to produce larger eggs.

In my post, there is a difference in size between bantams and dwarfs. Dwarfs just have to be smaller than normal (for example 10-40%) while bantam size is different. Bantam size is due to a number of genes producing a very small bird.

I covered a lot of information;  if you have questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer the question. 
Click to expand...

Thanks so she can lay eggs even if she's really small as I got serama pullets that are only 7 months and larger than her
 
chickenshiha said:
Thanks so she can lay eggs even if she's really small as I got serama pullets that are only 7 months and larger than her
Click to expand...
As long as she does not have a medical problem, she should be able to lay eggs. Smaller than a sarema is very small. If she does have medical issues she may not develop her sex organs and produce eggs. Have to wait and see. I had a jungle fowl/oegb cross that produced eggs then stopped laying. She started crowing- she had reproductive issues.
 

Similar threads

Reaperprincess
Weird behavior in my 5 month old chick
Replies
3
Views
288
azygous
azygous
C
14 months ISA hens
Replies
4
Views
359
nuthatched
nuthatched
B
3 months of absent and small eggs from year old hens
Replies
2
Views
286
Beckyxxx50000
B
V
3yo Wyandotte Hen no longer laying?
Replies
5
Views
326
VikingBird
V
Steinagarden
    • Like
Rooster 5 months old - no sign of being a rooster??
Replies
7
Views
1K
Mrs. K
Mrs. K

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom