Here are my eggs

[Saris]

I plan on incubating these guys tomorrow.

Here is a size reference, 2 Gold Sexlinks, 1 Blue Andalusian, 1 CL hybrid, 1 Wellsummer, and 1 Cuckoo Maran

What do you think? ( this photo is a couple weeks old too)



Is this egg too porous?



Here is my 24 eggs in their holding cell until tomorrow. I'm still a little worried the six on the left are too small, but they're all I have of that variety and they haven't been getting any bigger.



Do Bantam eggs, like silkie/serama eggs take less time to hatch if I were to add some on Friday after I set these guys on Wednesday?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't think bantam eggs take 2 days less to hatch.

I wouldn't hatch pullet eggs if you are breeding them. The resulting birds will lay smaller eggs.

I posted the following in another hatching thread.

Here's all I know about the subject.
It is true that many people hatch from pullet eggs all the time with no problems.
It's also true that the smaller chicks from small pullet eggs will usually catch up in size by a year or so.
So what are reasons not to do it?

A chicken deposits about 2 grams of calcium in an egg - regardless of age. So a pullet egg shell will be thicker than one from a mature hen and possibly more difficult to escape from.

There is clearly less albumen and a smaller yolk. That means less nutrition. Mammal babies can get all the nutrition they need from the mother and the abdomen can grow to accommodate. Once that egg is laid, that's all the nutrition and space there will ever be.

I've had old timers tell me that continuing to hatch from pullet eggs will decrease egg sizes in subsequent generations.

On the other hand, albumen quality is better with young birds than older hens.

IMHO it depends upon how big the egg is supposed to be based on the breed. Eggs from the breed I raise are supposed to be 65 grams or larger. I've always tried to set eggs that were 55 grams or larger.
Then I had a predator massacre and only 3 mature hens survived. The pullets had just started laying eggs so I decided to set every egg I could get reducing my low weight limit to 45 grams. Now that those birds have matured (they're almost a year old), I see the results. Unlike past generations that started laying larger eggs by about 8 or 9 months of age, the eggs are still in the small/medium/large range rather than the XL and jumbo they should be by now.
That probably wouldn't matter to most backyard chicken people or even noticeable to those with multiple breeds. But since I've eliminated all other breeds, it's very noticeable to me. And since I'm breeding to a standard, egg and bird size is an important part of that standard.
I'm now paying much closer attention to egg size when I set and track results through adulthood and generations to follow.
I group eggs by sire, egg color and egg size. I'm tracking eggs in the 50-55 gram, 55-60 gram, 60-70 gram and 70+ ranges. In those ranges I'm checking hatch rates, chick survivability and weights. I'm weighing every 10 days for a month then monthly. In adulthood these hens are supposed to be 4.4-5.3 lbs. and cocks 5-6.6 lbs. I had been shooting to be at the high end of that range so we'll see what the future holds.

 

[Saris]

When would you stop considering them pullet eggs? The size on them seems stabilized and they'very been laying about 6 weeks now, at least every other day, most of them are daily layers. Do you recommend only doing eggs above 50 grams?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

When would you stop considering them pullet eggs? The size on them seems stabilized and they'very been laying about 6 weeks now, at least every other day, most of them are daily layers. Do you recommend only doing eggs above 50 grams?

Technically a pullet is a female chicken less than a year old, so pullet is a term in reference to the age of the chicken, so they would be pullet eggs until they hit their first "birthday".

I agree it all depends on the size of the egg at time of collection. My last hatch this season was my first pullet hatch from my own hens. I set 21, had one early quitter day 4-5. All 20 made it to hatch and all 20 hatched healthy. My pullets had been laying between 4-6 weeks at time of collection. I had 2 or 3 that I was concerned about size, but they hatched great and one of them (a polish mix) happens to be the biggest now. They are now 20 weeks old and almost meet the size of my Easter hatched girls.

I can't compare egg size as to my knowledge none have laid yet. It's not actually a concern of mine as long as I get eggs and they eventually are bigger than small...lol

I personally w/o extreme circumstances would not incubate eggs from a hen that had not been laying at least 4 weeks so that I feel more assured their system has worked out any "bugs" and quality is consistant, but many do incubate fairly successfully during the first 4 weeks.

@ChickenCanoe that is interesting about the calcium.

 

[Saris]

Thanks for the info. All my girls have been laying at least 4 weeks and i've collected at least a dozen eggs from them. I was a little worried about my blues eggs, but I remember when I got her at 4 days old she was small enough to fit into the hole of the chick feeder and run along its length and pop out another hole.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMO, if you are breeding for better quality birds, you should check the size your breed is supposed to lay and if possible, only set eggs close to that size.

If you are a backyard keeper, it probably doesn't matter.

ETA
That, remembering that bantam eggs will be much smaller.

 

[Saris]

Right now I'm practicing for more important eggs. This is just a test run to get a little more experience before I try to hatch more important eggs in the spring. Thank you guys for your feedback. I think I will weigh the eggs I have and set the largest 24 I can get, I will probably put of setting them to wait for the bantam eggs.

 

[Saris]

One of my eggs after 24 hours incubation.



The same egg after 48 hours incubation.