I have a young rooster who has made it his job this week to give each of my big girls Special together time....LOL (Girls who should be like a week away from laying their first eggs) Can first eggs from chickens be incubated successfully? The rooster is a Brahma/Seabright X Ameraucana Blend My girls are Partridge Plymouth Rocks, Buckeye, Silver Laced Wyandotte, and a AracaunaXRIR mix Just curious and I am probably just wanting to have something in the incubator as well, I think I have time for 1 more hatch before the nice fall weather will fade here in SC & just enough time to have one hatch off before our last TSC swap in November Just curious I've read different things and been told different thing so far, Just thought I'd hit up 1 last venue for opinions.
The minimum weight of an egg to be incubated or hatched is 55 Grams. (just to be sure the chick will make it)
the hens and rooster should be fully mature before hatching their eggs. at 1 year old they become hens and roosters; before that they are pullets and cockerels.
12 chicks Hatched from my 25 & 26 week old Hens & 7 1/2 month old Roo Here's a pic of 6 of the ones we are selling 6 clean legged 1 fully feathered leg 5 partial/scattered feathering on leg/toes 1 passed away due to taking 30 hours to hatch 4 different color patterns, 3 all individually different 5 muffs 2 of these with beards e 5 darker colorations out of all 4 males 7 females (1 male was the one who passed) Letting the ChickenMama pick what ever ones she'd like to keep, she's just about chosen one of each coloration. hoping for some Green egg layers, and from the blue/slightly green hatched a little bluer eggs .
I often hatch pullet eggs. I can sometimes save a season in my breeding program if I can get chicks from pullets’ eggs. I’ve had some pretty good hatches with pullet eggs. I’ve had some horrible hatches with pullet eggs. The same can be said for eggs from older hens too, but you are much more likely to not get good hatches from pullet eggs. For an egg to hatch a healthy chick, many things have to be right and pullets are known to lay some pretty funky eggs when they first start laying. All the parts inside the egg have to be in the right place and in the right proportions. The egg white needs to be thick enough but not too thick. The shell needs to be right, not to thick or too thin and with the right porosity. What is amazing is how many pullets get it right with their first eggs. But not all get it right. A pullet’s first eggs are small so the chicks that develop and hatch will be small. They tend to be more delicate and weaker than chicks from regular sized eggs. Some are too weak to hatch. Some are more likely to die if stressed than chicks from regular eggs. Usually if I can get them past the first two weeks they do OK but those first two weeks are a critical time. Can you hatch pullet eggs? Yes and you might be successful. But don’t expect a great hatch rate and expect mortality to be a little higher from those that do hatch. The longer you can let her lay before you incubate the eggs the better.
This hen came from a pullet egg, literally one of my girls first eggs. I put 7 eggs in the incubator that go round, and ended up with 2 chicks. I think she was worth the gamble. I figure, if I have room in the bator, why not? So, obviously, I also often put pullet eggs in. Sometimes I have good hatches from them, sometimes the effort is completely wasted. But, you won't know if you don't try! Good luck!
My Silkies are laying like crazy right now, so I have eggs to spare But, I see you're in NC, I'm in Tn, so that would require some shipping...I've never shipped eggs before, but I'd be willing to give it a try if you want to swap!
