is there a reason to select for or against precocious development or early maturity? Seems like some of my chicks are QUICK developers. One pullet can't be two months old and already she is looking like she is getting small wattles. She has feathering that makes her look like a pullet, and her comb is smallish and was darker pigmented for quite a while. One of my roos that is most likely her father did his first crowing when he still had downy bits hanging off his feathers. One of the roo chicks I SWEAR i picked him up and pet his back just to be nice to him and he squatted and I swear I saw semen. I culled him due to his unpleasant disposition, but I think he had semen at six weeks! YIKES!!! He was already jumping on the pullets backs too... I'm not as concerned with precocious development in roos, but I think maybe it would be a bad trait in hens, what with their egg layers have to get developed well before the actual egg laying starts, also finish growing their bones. Not sure what nutritional support I could give if my "line" ends up being early bloomers...
