wierd growth?

[Sarasarasara222]

its been nearly 6 mounths since 4 chicks hatched, one of them started laying and there is a rooster who looks really mature but there are two hens who are not nearly big enough for their age and the one who’s laying is a bit larger than the other hen but her eggs are really small. But the other one looks like a rooster, is a good size but acts like a hen and doesn’t sing so I don’t know what went wrong but they are a mess.

 

[Fishkeeper]

What are you feeding them?
What breeds are they?
Pics?

 

[Sarasarasara222]

They are cross breeds, and I’ve been feeding them chick starter food then I started late in feeding them grower which I was meant to switch to earlier and then layer pellets I’ll attach photos as well of the difference in size of eggs

To me they still look like pullets

 

[Wyorp Rock]

its been nearly 6 mounths since 4 chicks hatched, one of them started laying and there is a rooster who looks really mature but there are two hens who are not nearly big enough for their age and the one who’s laying is a bit larger than the other hen but her eggs are really small. But the other one looks like a rooster, is a good size but acts like a hen and doesn’t sing so I don’t know what went wrong but they are a mess.

View attachment 1738938 View attachment 1738935 View attachment 1738936 View attachment 1738937 They are cross breeds, and I’ve been feeding them chick starter food then I started late in feeding them grower which I was meant to switch to earlier and then layer pellets I’ll attach photos as well of the difference in size of eggs

To me they still look like pullets

They are still pullets
A hen is a female chicken over 1 year old. These girls are young still. Eggs will be small in the beginning and will increase in size.

They are crossbreeds - do you know what the cross is? (what were the parents)

Both look healthy and bright eyed, combs are developing nicely and turning red. Patience when it comes to chickens, they mature and begin to lay on their own time schedule.

 

[Sarasarasara222]

They are still pullets
A hen is a female chicken over 1 year old. These girls are young still. Eggs will be small in the beginning and will increase in size.

They are crossbreeds - do you know what the cross is? (what were the parents)

Both look healthy and bright eyed, combs are developing nicely and turning red. Patience when it comes to chickens, they mature and begin to lay on their own time schedule.

Thanks for this, I assumed they should be fully grown by now but I understand now.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Chickens are kinda like biannual flowers. They do a lot of growing their first year, maybe open a bud or two but definitely don't go for the reproduction. Then, the second year, they finish growing and "flower" into their plumage and full sexual abilities.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Chickens are kinda like biannual flowers. They do a lot of growing their first year, maybe open a bud or two but definitely don't go for the reproduction. Then, the second year, they finish growing and "flower" into their plumage and full sexual abilities.

What is "growing into full sexual abilities?

 

[Fishkeeper]

Full fertility in both, full-sized eggs in hens, ideal display plumage in roos. Sometimes they don't do their best in the reproduction department their first year. Sorry, that wasn't terribly clear.
(to stick to the metaphor, in flowers, biannuals flower on their second year. They usually die after that. Fortunately, chickens are unlike biannuals in that regard.)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Full fertility in both, full-sized eggs in hens, ideal display plumage in roos. Sometimes they don't do their best in the reproduction department their first year. Sorry, that wasn't terribly clear.
(to stick to the metaphor, in flowers, biannuals flower on their second year. They usually die after that. Fortunately, chickens are unlike biannuals in that regard.)

Flowers are not chickens
But...you may be on to something there -- after the second year, high production breeds tend to burn out, have reproductive (egg laying) problems and sometimes die.

When you are saying "don't do their best in the reproduction department the first year" are you meaning in producing hatching eggs or just egg production in general?
Egg productivity is going to be "best" in that first year. After molt, guidelines would say expect around a 20% reduction in production each year thereafter. So....

A female chicken would be considered "sexually mature" when she starts laying eggs - meaning she is ovulating (laying eggs/has reproductive capabilities). IF she were being mated by a sexually mature cockerel (one old enough to produce sperm) - her eggs would be fertile. While not ideal to hatch out "pullet eggs" until the size of the eggs are bigger (say 1-2 months after onset of laying) - it's very possible that you can still hatch chicks.

 

[Sarasarasara222]

Flowers are not chickens
But...you may be on to something there -- after the second year, high production breeds tend to burn out, have reproductive (egg laying) problems and sometimes die.

When you are saying "don't do their best in the reproduction department the first year" are you meaning in producing hatching eggs or just egg production in general?
Egg productivity is going to be "best" in that first year. After molt, guidelines would say expect around a 20% reduction in production each year thereafter. So....

A female chicken would be considered "sexually mature" when she starts laying eggs - meaning she is ovulating (laying eggs/has reproductive capabilities). IF she were being mated by a sexually mature cockerel (one old enough to produce sperm) - her eggs would be fertile. While not ideal to hatch out "pullet eggs" until the size of the eggs are bigger (say 1-2 months after onset of laying) - it's very possible that you can still hatch chicks.

When are they old enough to produce sperm? I didn’t know there was a age to that