Pullet eggs. Can they hatch?

[bearz]

My mom was raised on a hatchery and has been answering some of my questions. One of the things I was confused about was that I have a hen/rooster in a pen, and sometimes the hen lays nice big eggs and sometimes smaller brown ones. My mom says those are pullet eggs. Just exactly what is that, and will it hatch? My mom is 80 with the start of Alzheimers so she can't remember if they hatched those pullet eggs.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Pullets are just chickens (female) less than a year old. I have a dozen "pullet eggs" in an incubator on day 15 developing beautifully.

as for unusually small eggs, I am pretty sure they will hatch but not necessarily with good results.

 

[bearz]

Thank you! That makes alot of sense because that hen was young last fall.

Tomorrow is day 24. If I don't get any pips by then I'm going to candle every last egg and start all over. Also, I'm going to put any fresh eggs laid after tomorrow under my broody hen. I can't get any worse results than I did with this bunch.

This is a great place to go for good, quick answers.

 

[Dawn419]

Hi bearz and Welcome to BYC!

I've been messing around with hatching our pullet eggs over the winter and although I didn't have great success, I already knew that it was "iffy" to begin with. At the same time, it was a great way to get myself familiar with incubating with an incubator and not a broody hen (our Silkies decided to go broody for their first time just as the weather was getting cold here).

My very first hatch with our pullet eggs was 64% and haven't even come close with that hatch rate by buying in shipped hatching eggs, so far. I have a dozen Silver Spangled Hamburg eggs that were shipped that I'm praying will prove me wrong!

Our girls just turned a year old on the 14th of May and I've noticed how their eggs have gotten bigger, for Bantams anyways, and will be hatching more of them this fall. I can't wait to see what the hatch rate differences will be now that our girls are a year old and are actually hens.


Dawn

 

[lsuphillier1]

I've hatched several pullet eggs. Got about 60%...a little less than my other eggs. Most of the pullet eggs were fertile...they just didn't make it but a good many of them did. I did cull out the smallest of my pullet eggs.

 

[arlee453]

Welcome!!

I'd just avoid the really really small ones or eggs from hens that are in their first couple weeks of laying.

Good luck wiht your hatches!

 

[seriousbill]

I agree with Arlee. You can hatch them fine if you just avoid the very smallest--I'd say the first month, though.