Some of my eggs are a little smaller than the others

[mortie]

I know that pullet eggs have a lower chance of hatching than eggs from mature hens. A few of my ameracauna eggs are a bit smaller than the rest. I'm prepared for them to not hatch, obviously that is possible. Might it also be possible that they could hatch a little early because the baby just runs out of room? Or might they hatch on time but the chicks just be a bit smaller than their hatchmates? I just want to be prepared for that, in addition to the "they might not hatch" possibility which applies to all of my eggs anyway. I'll find out in a week either way, I was just wondering what others' experiences have been.

ETA I don't know that these are pullet eggs. They might just be smaller than average eggs from mature hens. I'm not super familiar with the egg size of ameracaunas. These are true ameracaunas from a breeder, not EE's if that makes any difference.

 

[lazy gardener]

I suspect that your Ameraucana eggs might be EE, but it depends on where you got them from. I only have one hatching experience to tell you about. Last spring, I set eggs from pullets (they had been laying for 4 months or so.) They were not very big, and 5/6 hatched with good strong chicks. #6 was a quitter at about 7 days.

 

[mortie]

I got them from an Ameracauna breeder. I am sure they are not ee's. Not that I don't like ee's. I do. I just know these aren't. Did your smaller eggs hatch early or on time? Thanks for the advice!

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Smaller eggs make smaller chicks but regardless of egg size they all typically hatch in 21 days.
What I do, which ever hen lays larger eggs, I hatch her eggs, because I don't want to breed hens that lay small eggs.
To go a step farther, of the big egg hen's eggs that I chose to set, I only hatch the mid to larger sizes of those eggs. i.e. if the same hen lays 3 eggs that weigh 54 grams, 54.5 grams and 55 grams, I discard the smallest egg and hatch the largest.

Pully eggs, I don't hatch them because you don't know what size they will be when the hen matures. I only hatch eggs from mature hens that have estalblished what size eggs they lay.

Hope all that made sense.

 

[mortie]

Makes total sense thanks!