My hen is too young to lay eggs but lays them anyway!

[bantamlover69]

I have a bantam hen who is only four months old. She's already laid two eggs. She has never been broody and she completely pays no mind to either of the eggs! The first egg was infertile, but her second one (which she laid yesterday) we did not check yet. If she is too young (like 16 and pregnant, lol) but still mates with the rooster AND lays eggs, can that harm her? Will she ever has a fertile egg? How old should she be to be able to hatch a chick?





I'd really appreciate an answer ASAP to any of my questions or if you have any other websites or information!



Thanks for your time!

 

[sumi]

Welcome to BYC! What breed is your hen? 16 weeks is young, but some breeds can start laying at that age and I remember my MIL's bantams starting a very young age also. But they were tiny... If she's laying chances are she can go broody, but let her get into laying "properly" first. I had a hen once who laid a few eggs and went off, laying in a secret nest and hatching out 12 chicks for us. She was around 5-6 months old at the time and went broody within a month of laying her first egg.

 

[teach1rusl]

I think the smaller breeds begin laying sooner than the larger breeds...at least most of mine have. What breed is your bantam?

 

[bantamlover69]

Thanks for the info! Honestly, the place we got her just said she is a bantam. I'm not quite sure what breed though. As a chick, she was very small and brown. She also had 2 dark brown stripes going down her back. Now, she is grey with small brown speckles. That all I know!