Hen's 1st eggs, any chances they'll hatch?

[JustPeachy]

My hen(s?) has just started laying, is it possible these first eggs will hatch ? I haven't cracked any to look for thr fertility bullseye because I really want to put the eggs in the incubator

... can I candle them before putting them in or will I need them to be in the bator for a week first? I have seen the rooster breeding the hens... but this is his first time too....

 

[Fred's Hens]

Our ladies always laid a bunch of pullet sized eggs early on. I never felt those small eggs were sufficient for hatching, fertile or not. I always preferred to wait a bit until the egg were closer to normal sized, giving the chick much more room to grow in a healthy way.

 

[Evelle]

go ahead and try.
usally they (pullet) hatch smaller weaker chicks. but not unheard of to servive. if your that excited to hatch i say put them in and try. worse thing that could happen is they dont hatch or they do and dont servive. (ive i had fully grown eggs not servive)

 

[chickensbythesea]

It's best not to hatch pullet eggs, let them lay for a while and the eggs will get bigger, so the chicks will have more room to grow. Especially if you're questioning the fertility, don't waste the power running the 'bator (and the heartache) with a less than optimal hatching chance.

 

[onthespot]

I have hatched PLENTY of pullet eggs. If they are long and skinny, they will develop if fertile, but don't usually hatch because the chick can't move around enough to develop healthy and to go through the maneuvers needed to hatch. If they are normal proportioned eggs, they can hatch fine. The chicks will be smaller but usually catch up to their breed size later on.

 

[Evelle]

Quote:
i got a white leg horn from the store she was soo small compared to the others.. do you think she was a pullets chick

 

[onthespot]

not likely. I don't think hatcheries would bother with pullet eggs. She just may have been smaller for some reason. No telling why.

 

[Cpntherfan]

should you or can you eat the smaller pullet eggs?

 

[onthespot]

absolutely. They are no different from regular eggs. I sometimes use my silkie eggs to boil up for the finches, because they have a higher yolk to whites ratio (even the split lavender ones, LOL)

because the finches do great on them, and hatch lots of babies. People ask me what is my secret. Can't tell them! LOL