17 week pullets

[ndenief]

I have 18 chicks that I picked up in March; silver laced Wyandottes, black sex-links, buff Orpingtons, and Easter edgers. I also have 12 girls from last year; black australorps, Rhode Island reds, and barred rocks. Today I walked in to the coop to lock them up for the night and I found a tiny egg, similar to the one I found last fall when the girls started to lay. At roughly 17 weeks old, isn't that too young for the little girls to start laying? Is it possible one of the big girls layed a tiny egg? The egg was on the floor, not in the nesting boxes.
Thanks in advance!

 

[GitaBooks]

Adult hens can lay tiny eggs, but Black-stars will start laying as early as 16 weeks of age.

 

[aart]

Yep, Black Stars can lay that early......
....and as you probably already know, it can take up to a month or so for them to figure out where to lay and do so consistently.

 

[ndenief]

I found one of the black sex-link girls sharing a large nesting box this morning with two of the bigger girls. No small egg, but I think you are right that they are ready to lay. Thanks for the information!