Youngest a hen can raise chicks

Can my pullets have chicks or do they only lay eggs, like are they able to have the chicks hatch right when they start laying? We have roosters and we don’t know the age

coledabomb said:

Can my pullets have chicks or do they only lay eggs, like are they able to have the chicks hatch right when they start laying? We have roosters and we don’t know the age

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Are you asking if they could raise chicks? Or lay fertile eggs?

T P S said:

Are you asking if they could raise chicks? Or lay fertile eggs?

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Raise chicks

Hi. It's my understanding that even if the eggs are fertile, you probably don't want to hatch them for a couple of months. Pullets' eggs usually start out quite small and often have "glitches" that need to get worked out. For example, your pullets might lay double-yolked eggs, or eggs with no shell or a rubbery, soft shell. It's like, when a girl starts ovulating at age ten or twelve. Technically, she COULD get pregnant, but you don't want her to because she needs to mature more. Same with your chickens. Give them time to mature before hatching those immature eggs to have a successful hatch of healthy chicks. Good luck!

BigBlueHen53 said:

Hi. It's my understanding that even if the eggs are fertile, you probably don't want to hatch them for a couple of months. Pullets' eggs usually start out quite small and often have "glitches" that need to get worked out. For example, your pullets might lay double-yolked eggs, or eggs with no shell or a rubbery, soft shell. It's like, when a girl starts ovulating at age ten or twelve. Technically, she COULD get pregnant, but you don't want her to because she needs to mature more. Same with your chickens. Give them time to mature before hatching those immature eggs to have a successful hatch of healthy chicks. Good luck!

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x2

Can they develop and hatch? Yes.
Will they hatch? Possibly.
Will they be healthy? Possibly.
Will they be large and robust? Likely not.

Pullet eggs are small, which means less space and nutrition (smaller the yolk, the less there is to absorb).

JacinLarkwell said:

Can they develop and hatch? Yes.
Will they hatch? Possibly.
Will they be healthy? Possibly.
Will they be large and robust? Likely not.

Pullet eggs are small, which means less space and nutrition (smaller the yolk, the less there is to absorb).

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That being said, I hatched a very nice, large hen from an egg laid by a 6-7 month pullet, but she was a hybrid so she had already been laying a while and was through her glitch phase (she actually had 4 chicks hatch from her eggs but the broody caring for them was not the greatest and lost all but my remaining one)

I had a pullet (12-14 weeks old) who raised 8 chicks. They all got along well until one ended up being a boy (they were supposed to be sex linked chickens) and attempted to mount his "mom" at 9 weeks old. She kicked him out of the nest, so to speak.

Aquira said:

I had a pullet (12-14 weeks old) who raised 8 chicks. They all got along well until one ended up being a boy (they were supposed to be sex linked chickens) and attempted to mount his "mom" at 9 weeks old. She kicked him out of the nest, so to speak.

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Wow that was a crazy story

coledabomb said:

Can my pullets have chicks or do they only lay eggs, like are they able to have the chicks hatch right when they start laying? We have roosters and we don’t know the age

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Check the pullet out in the front of your picture.
Her rump is fairly pink and she has feather loss. Check her for mites, worms or perhaps she's molting or being pecked at pretty badly because she's low on the pecking order or perhaps Mr. Rooster is treating her poorly and needs to be removed.
Does she have any other feather loss areas? Check her neck and sides. Treat her per the condition.
When feathers are missing, you need to find out the reason because it's very stressful for the chicken whatever the cause is.
How many females do you have per your one male?
How old are your females?
How old is your male?
How long has she been missing her tail/rump feathers?
Need a better picture of her missing feather areas please.