Chicks Hatched From Pullet Eggs

[centrarchid]

Last year we hatched off two full-sibling broods where I kept come pullets from each. First brood hatched Easter Sunday 2019 and second hatched in late August. Pullets from the two broods came in to lay at about the same time in Early March. Egg size differed obviously between the two groups. Older group produced eggs that were nearly what outright hens produce when a year plus old which was close to 60 g each. The younger group produced eggs that where in the upper 30's to low 40's. The chicks produced by the younger pullets started off at best 2/3's the weight of their cousins by mothers and half-siblings by father. I am having a little trouble with some of the smaller hatched chicks that cannot take the cool weather like the larger chicks. The problem does not appear to be related to mothering ability of younger pullets post-hatch as they are rearing chicks from larger eggs just fine.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have always declared people shouldn't hatch pullet eggs. New chicken aficionados are too anxious to hatch their birds' progeny.
There isn't enough space or nutrition in pullet eggs to feed and house a vigorous embryo.
Also, chicks hatched from pullet eggs will always lay eggs smaller than the standard for the breed.

 

[centrarchid]

Technically, both groups producing the eggs are pullets as neither was yet a year old. If chicks hatch later in season, I doubt their would be a difference in vitality even if size remained. I can raise the pullets hatched as small chicks to see how they perform as adults. With some breeds, there may be capacity for compensation in growth.

The mother of both groups of pullets was a late season hatch herself in the previous year (later summer 2018) making her roughly one year older than the second group of pullets.