How Big is a Full Grown Hen?

[WindingRoad]

Not yet but they should soon and I thought that I could tell if they were about to lay by their size. And can hens or pullets grow after they have started laying?

Pullets are less than a year old. Hens are over a year old. I got my SLW back around T-day they were 16 weeks. I don't think they have grown much in the last 7-8 weeks they are laying. Some breeds are bigger than others just like human beings. Pullets can start laying from 4 months ( again depends on the breed) on. If they start squatting and singing the egg song ( you'll know it when you hear it) they are close to laying. You can check their bones "down there" to see how wide apart they are. I'm not into that so you'll have to wait for someone else to explain it to you. I will tell you that some chickens lay off laying in the winter due to shorter daylight. So even if they are at an age to lay they still might not until we have longer daylight.

 

[Acre4Me]

Look up breed articles on BYC here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/chicken-breeds.16/


Use Google Images for more pics of the breeds.

Look them up on hatchery website (Meyer Hatchery, My Pet Chicken, many others) and the hatcheries will also have breed specifics.

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

I have found that my chickens grow really fast in the first four months then growth slows down a bit and they are usually around 90% grown by 5 months old. They grow the last 10% in the next four or five months and after that only their wattles and combs still grow slowly. So yes they can and do grow more after starting to lay. However they usually start to lay when they are near fully grown.

 

[Ribh]

This is one of my BAs @ 9 months roughly. They are about the size of my ragdollX but weigh heaps lighter. Remember chickens have hollow bones so don't weigh as heavily as animals of a similar size. BAs are a larger sized chicken. Bantams or smaller breeds won't get anywhere near as big.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Most chickens take 2 years to fully grow and fill out. The first year they grow the height, the second year they fill out more and finally look like mature birds.

 

[mimipeaches]

I have found that my chickens grow really fast in the first four months then growth slows down a bit and they are usually around 90% grown by 5 months old. They grow the last 10% in the next four or five months and after that only their wattles and combs still grow slowly. So yes they can and do grow more after starting to lay. However they usually start to lay when they are near fully grown.

Thank you this was very helpful!

 

[mimipeaches]

View attachment 1648820

This is one of my BAs @ 9 months roughly. They are about the size of my ragdollX but weigh heaps lighter. Remember chickens have hollow bones so don't weigh as heavily as animals of a similar size. BAs are a larger sized chicken. Bantams or smaller breeds won't get anywhere near as big.

Thank you I love the picture!!!

 

[ChickenFlamingo]

Most chickens take 2 years to fully grow and fill out. The first year they grow the height, the second year they fill out more and finally look like mature birds.

Oh crikey! My Scottish Bluebell is huge and she's not yet a year old. After two years she'll be the size of an ostrich.

 

[Acre4Me]

Most chickens take 2 years to fully grow and fill out. The first year they grow the height, the second year they fill out more and finally look like mature birds.

We are gonna have one gigantic Black Jersey Giant Rooster then!

He is already pretty huge and tall and is only 10.5 months old. Oy!

 

[Fishkeeper]

Do you have a bathroom scale? You can weigh yourself, then weigh yourself holding a chicken, then subtract the initial weight, to figure out how much the chicken weighs.