A pullet is a young hen usually who has yet to lay an egg. Once they lay eggs, they usually are deemed hens. However, when young hens first start to lay eggs, sometimes they are not fully developed. In that case, they are called pullet eggs.

Our new 16-week old leghorn has already started laying eggs! Leghorns are often the commercial standard for hens because they are smaller than other hens (take up less room), they begin laying earlier and they lay longer than most other breeds. I can definitely say that the early laying is the case for Omeleto as the other two pullets have not.

Omeleto

Usually the last thing to mature is their comb and you know they are ready to lay. Omeleto’s comb is definitely more developed than the other pullets. However, her eggs still aren’t!

Pullet egg and regular sized egg

The pullet eggs look more like robin eggs! I was curious what the inside would look like, so I made a fried egg with one of each. Check out the tiny yolk in the pullet egg.

What a big difference between the full egg and the pullet egg! You can hardly notice the yolk in the pullet egg

So we still have a little time before we have full-sized eggs, but this is pretty good for only 16 weeks old! The other chickens should start laying at 20-24 weeks or in another 1-2 months.