Question about Pullet maturity and egg laying.

[South Dakota Guy]

We have three SL Wayandotte pullets at 18 weeks with different signs of maturity based on their comb and wattle development. One pullet has a comb that is about three quarters full and wattles about the same. Another is showing about 1/4 comb development and about 1/3 development of the wattles. The last one shows almost no development of the comb and wattles and the skin is still pink, not red. So my questions are:

1) Is there a correlation between comb and wattle development and when a pullet begins to lay?
2) Do pullets ever lay eggs before fully developing their comb and wattles?
3) If the first question is yes, can I expect the pullets to begin laying in order of the most developed combs and wattles?

 

[rosemarythyme]

1 & 3) Yes, and that'll be a good indicator of who is responsible for the first egg when you get it (and for subsequent eggs when they start appearing).

2) Not sure, but my guess is because the comb color and development is tied to hormone levels that they would not lay until the comb was fairly developed.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

1 & 3) Yes, and that'll be a good indicator of who is responsible for the first egg when you get it (and for subsequent eggs when they start appearing).

2) Not sure, but my guess is because the comb color and development is tied to hormone levels that they would not lay until the comb was fairly developed.

Thank you! You have confirmed what I suspected. My 2 oldest GL Wyandottes developed combs and wattles earlier and about the same time. Both started laying within a few days of each other right around 20 weeks. I think my SL Wyandotte chickens won’t start laying until a couple of weeks later than the GL Wyandotte chickens started.