Problem with young chicken/small egg hatches?

[RM44]

I had some young chickens (just over 4 months old) that I didn't expect to start laying. I had them in a pen with no boxes. Well I started finding eggs on the cold wet ground around Dec. 16th, and didn't get an egg box in there until the 21st. So what did I do with all the muddy eggs that weren't "food grade"? I decided to try to hatch them of course!

Surprisingly, out of the 11, ten of them developed eyes and veins. Then one of them quit on me and melted away around day 6-7. However, 9 are still going strong at day 13. However, since the ladies were young, the eggs are very small and when I candled them today the smallest eggs are already completely filled. Will I have problems with the hatch since the shells are so small?

 

[PirocaKeeper]

No, they will just hatch smaller than usual, but just the same they can make it. Just keep an eye on them being nice and warm and on their weight. Good luck!

 

[RM44]

Thanks. Will they ultimately grow to full size, or will they be runts because they hatched small? I didn't think this through very well, as you can see! I just didn't want to waste the eggs, plus my husband was pressuring me to process the roosters, so I had to hurry if I wanted any mutts from these roosters!

 

[PirocaKeeper]

Yes, they will grow to their normal breed size. If they of mix breeds, then they will inherit as they would if they came from older hens (bigger eggs). think of it like premature babies, they are born small in size, but with care they grow to normal human sizes based on their inherit genes. I had this happen to me, Oh I thought no way they will make it, but in reality the only thing different was, they were smaller. They grew up to be beautiful hens and laying machines, just like the others.