Growing Pullets: Week 7 to Point of Lay

TL;DR: The grower phase is where a good layer is built. Feed a grower ration and keep pullets off layer feed — the calcium in layer feed is there for shells and it harms birds that are not laying. Increase space as they grow. Judge readiness by the bird, not the calendar: reddening comb and wattles, interest in nest boxes, squatting, widening pelvic bones. Do not push them into lay early with feed or light; early layers are more prone to problems and smaller eggs.

Everyone plans the brooder and everyone plans the laying flock. The months in between get neglected, and that is exactly where the hen you end up with is decided.

What the Grower Phase Is For

Building frame and body condition before the bird spends everything on eggs.

A pullet coming into lay is switching to producing an egg every day or two, drawing heavily on her body. If she reaches that point underweight, unevenly grown or short of skeletal reserve, she starts her laying life at a deficit she does not recover from.

So the grower phase has one job: grow her properly, and do not rush her.

Feed: The Rule That Matters Most

Grower ration until lay. Not layer ration.

Ration	For	Key point
Starter	Chicks	Highest protein; see chick feeding schedule
Grower	Pullets from end of brooding to lay	Lower calcium — this is the point
Layer	Birds in lay	High calcium for shells

Layer feed’s calcium exists to build eggshells. A pullet not yet laying has no use for it, and prolonged high calcium in a growing bird is harmful. This is the same rule as in the brooder, and it gets broken for the same reason: one sack of feed and a mixed-age flock.

If your flock is mixed ages: feed the grower ration to everyone and provide calcium separately, free-choice, for the birds actually laying. Hens in lay will take what they need. See oyster shell and grit and calcium for laying hens.

Feed the grower ration free-choice, and follow the bag for the switch ages — the manufacturer’s sequence is the instruction.

Space, and Why It Creeps Up on You

A brooder that was generous at four weeks is crowded at twelve, and crowding at this stage costs you in ways that are hard to reverse:

Uneven growth, as stronger birds monopolise feeders.
Feather pecking, which becomes a habit rather than an incident — see the pecking order.
Higher disease pressure in a smaller air volume.

Expand the space in steps rather than moving them once at the end, and use the figures in coop space per bird. Increase feeder and drinker space at the same time — more birds eating bigger meals need more room at the trough, not just more floor.

Reading Readiness, Not the Calendar

Breeds and strains differ, and management shifts the timing either way. The bird is a better guide than a number:

Comb and wattles enlarge and redden. The clearest early sign.
She investigates nest boxes, sitting in them, scratching about.
She squats when you approach or reach over her.
The pelvic bones widen — noticeable when you handle her.
Behaviour changes — more vocal, more settled around the nest area.

Our point of lay guide covers this in full. Once these signs appear, get nest boxes ready and prepare to switch to layer ration.

Do Not Rush Them

Feed and light can bring a pullet into lay before her body is ready, and the temptation is obvious — earlier eggs.

The costs of doing it:

Smaller eggs for longer at the start.
Higher risk of vent prolapse, which is associated with hens coming into lay too young or too heavy.
Poorer persistence through the laying year.
A bird carrying less reserve into a demanding period.

Let her arrive there on her own frame. The eggs you gain by rushing are not worth the hen you lose.

The Grower-Phase Checklist

Grower ration, free-choice, no layer feed.
Clean water always, in enough drinkers for the number of birds.
Space increasing as they grow.
Perches, so they learn to roost before they need to.
Parasite watch. Mites, lice and worms quietly suppress growth. Plan a programme with your agrivet rather than dosing reactively.
Vaccination programme completed as planned — see chick vaccination schedule.
Heat management. Growing birds in Philippine heat eat less and grow slower — see keeping chickens cool.
Handle them regularly. Birds used to being picked up are easier to inspect and treat for the rest of their lives.
Watch uniformity. A batch growing evenly is a batch being managed well; wide size variation points at feeder competition, parasites or disease.

Cockerels in a Straight-Run Batch

If you bought straight-run chicks, roughly half are male, and they will make themselves known during this phase.

Decide early what happens to them — meat, sale, or kept — because from this point they eat like grown birds, they start harassing pullets, and they fight each other. Leaving the decision until it is forced is how a grower pen becomes chaotic. See day-old chick prices for why price per pullet is the number that matters when buying.

The Honest Limits Here

The starter-grower-layer sequence, the harm of high-calcium layer ration fed to birds not in lay, and the physical signs of approaching point of lay are standard poultry husbandry. This guide gives no ages in weeks, no protein percentages and no body-weight targets, because those belong to the specific strain and the specific ration — breeders publish target weights for their own strains and the feed bag gives the switch ages. Ask your supplier for the strain’s management guide, and let the birds’ condition rather than the calendar drive the decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a pullet?

A young female chicken that has not yet started laying. The pullet phase runs from the end of brooding until she comes into lay, and it is where the physical foundation for her laying life is built.

What should pullets be fed?

A grower ration until they come into lay, then a layer ration. Grower has lower protein than starter and, critically, lower calcium than layer feed.

Why should pullets not get layer feed?

Layer feed carries high calcium for shell formation. A bird that is not yet laying has no use for it and no good way to handle the excess, and prolonged high calcium before lay is harmful to growing birds.

When should pullets switch to layer feed?

When they start laying, or as they visibly approach it. The feed bag gives the manufacturers recommendation, and the birds themselves tell you when they are close.

Is it bad if pullets start laying too early?

It can be. A pullet that comes into lay before she is physically ready is more prone to problems like prolapse and to smaller eggs, and she may not sustain production well.

How do I know a pullet is close to laying?

The comb and wattles enlarge and redden, she starts investigating nest boxes, she squats when approached, and the pelvic bones widen. These signs are more reliable than the calendar.

Do pullets need more space than chicks?

Yes, progressively. Space that was generous at four weeks is crowded at twelve, and crowding at this stage costs uniformity and feather condition.