7th Pullet Egg Hatched!

[aart]

I am amazed.....as I have read repeatedly that you should not attempt to hatch pullet eggs until they have been laying for at a least month.

A friend had a broody hen but no fertile eggs, so I gave her some from my senior flock just before Mr Rooster was rehomed and she really wanted some of the Wellsummer and EE pullet eggs I had.

I told her they may not develop, hatch or might be deformed, I was pretty sure they were fertile covered by my new Welsummer cockerel as I had seen him doing his duty well and checked the yolks for fertility out of curiosity.

2 of the EE eggs hatched, she'd been laying about 3 weeks.....and one of the Welsummer eggs hatched, she'd only been laying about 10 days/7 eggs so far.

Tiny little thing but appears to be hale and hearty running around with her hatch mates, markings indicate female too so double good news! Wellie chick is the smallest at the bottom of the pic.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I sometimes hatch pullet eggs, just playing with genetics. I have had some decent hatches from pretty small pullet eggs. I’ve also had some horrible hatches but I keep trying. I can sometimes save a season if I can get pullet eggs to hatch in the late/summer early fall.

Normally my hatch rate from those tiny pullet eggs is not as good as with eggs from older hens. Sometimes that difference is pretty dramatic, sometimes hardly noticeable. My last incubator hatch I had 25% with pullet eggs and 75% with regular eggs, all eggs incubated together. Not a good hatch with either. I had 7 out of 8 pullet eggs hatch another time. It can really vary. I’m talking about pullets that have been laying less than a month.

I have more trouble keeping the chicks that hatch from those pullet eggs alive, either with a broody or in a brooder. They are just smaller and I think weaker. Normally if you can get them past two weeks they do as well as other chicks.

You can hatch pullet eggs but the risks are higher. Like most things to do with chickens there are no hard and fast rules, just odds.

Glad your friend had some success.

 

[aart]

Yep, time will tell, the 3 little tinys from the pullet eggs seem to be doing well out of the gate....but we're having some weird weather, steaming hot the last two days then big storm this afternoon with a huge temp drop. Hopefully momma keeps them warm.