[darcyhen]

Hi,

I have three Lavender Aracunas hatched from eggs. The eggs were big but the two hens and cockerel are small - perhaps even Bantams?
At the same time I hatched some speckled sussex's. They were small eggs but were big birds.
I can't see my Lavenders laying eggs that size. So why are they so small?

Michelle

[Roughlee Handled]

Please can we start over again.  I am confused by you question. I think its a question.

Are you asking if there is a link between the size of the chicken and the egg is hatched from?

[joyfull]

Did you see the parents of the lavender araucanas? Perhaps one of them was a bantam, also how old are they?

[darcyhen]

Sorry for being confusing Yes it's a question.

I didn't see the parents.  The eggs were large, bigger than my speckled sussex and maran hybrids. But the chickens are small. They are now nearly 20 weeks.

They do look like bantams to me. So perhaps they have a bantam father? I can't imagine them laying an egg as big as the ones they came from. Are bantam eggs smaller?

Are there other reasons for chickens being small? Someone did tell me that chicks raised later in the year dont always reach their potential size. They are also free range in the truest sense so spend a lot of time roaming around for food. Could they be expending lots of energy doing so rather than putting on growth?

Regards

michelle

[Roughlee Handled]

They may just have small genes.  I have know bantams to produce eggs as big if not bigger than the larger cousin.

[joyfull]

All of mine are free range (even to the point of where Geraldine my 19 week old bantam sleeps in an apple tree - about 7 to 8 feet up - rather than the shed with the others) and until any of the older ones reached one year old they were all smaller and lighter than hens that are kept in runs. Those that are now about 20 months old are now looking the normal size. Their eggs though have all been normal size once they got over the initial laying start up period. As you don't know the parentage of yours only time will tell, but hey ho eggs is eggs at the end of the day whether bantam or large fowl just so long as they have come from happy hens 

[Foxy]

Ideally hatching eggs should come from hens that are in their second season, these eggs will be considerably larger than the eggs laid in their first laying period.

Bantam eggs are smaller, however, if you compare say my pullet large favs with my older bantam favs then you will see the eggs are roughly the same size.

Hatching - hatching large fowl if you are breeding for meat or exhibition should be hatched as early in the year as possible as they require more time to grow so the longer days are better.  Bantams is not so critical when they are hatched.

[darcyhen]

thanks. As ever it's all fascinating!

michelle