Speckled Sussex- will their eggs get any larger?

[SparrowSong]

My 2 Speckled Sussex hens are 7 months old. They are laying almost everyday, and their eggs are fertilized by our rooster, but they (the eggs) are still quite small, about half the size of our Barred Rock and Easter Egger eggs. Will they get larger as the hens age? The hens are normal size.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

All pullets (almost all...except the commercial hybrids) lay smaller size eggs during their first laying year. Their first few months can be quite small, but that will increase a bit that first year. Then they molt and their egg size increases for their second laying year while the quantity tends to drop (sometimes as much as 25%).

Speckled Sussex are not generally known for laying large size eggs but many report more of a medium egg.

Commerical layers bred to produce a lot of large eggs early and abundantly for their first 2 years tend to produce very large eggs right off...Leghorns, RSL, Production Reds, and commercial BR fit that category...but they still start off smaller when they first lay. EE's are a mixed bunch as they are hybrids...some lay really nice large eggs.

LofMc

 

[SparrowSong]

Thanks! I was hoping their egg size might grow, but they're such sweet girls, it really doesn't matter.

 

[azygous]

That was the question I had after my four speckled Sussex had been laying for several months - "Is this all there is?"

Well, now that they're four and are still laying small eggs, yes, that's all you're getting. Unless Sussex have genes in them for another large-egg breed, they lay small eggs.

But they more than make up for it in personality. Wow! Do they ever have personality!

 

[SparrowSong]

 

[Spangled]

My 2 Speckled Sussex hens are 7 months old. They are laying almost everyday ... but they (the eggs) are still quite small, about half the size of our Barred Rock and Easter Egger eggs.

Sometimes, somehow, chickens get too much light too early and their egg-laying apparatus matures before their body size. If the hens start laying before the hens reach full size, then the egg size will be smaller than what is expected for that breed for the entire life of the hen.

This happened to me one year. I had some chicks that started pecking each other at around 8 or 10 weeks. Thinking that maybe the hens that were losing feathers to being pecked would be able to avoid the pecking chicks, I left the lights on all night long clear until I finally moved them to another pen and got them out on pasture. Their eggs were always smaller than they should have been. I had some Barred Rocks in there and their eggs were smaller than the eggs from my previous group of Barred Rocks.

Early and prolonged light stimulation is directly related to the pullet's weight at maturity. The egg weight is directly related to the pullet's weight at "first egg." At least that's my understanding from reading management guides for layers when I was trying to figure out why my new Barred Rocks were laying such small eggs.

Of course, this probably doesn't apply to your hens.

When I had Speckled Sussex, yes, the eggs were smaller. They weighed in as being "medium" according to the scale where a medium egg is at least 1.75 oz up to 1.99 oz. They also looked noticeably smaller next to eggs laid by New Hampshires which were their brooding mates. I too was surprised because a few sources back then suggested that my Speckled Sussex would be laying large eggs. But they're a pretty hen, so it's all good (as you mentioned in your second posting). Usually a hen will eat in proportion to the size of its egg, so it's not really that big of a deal.

 

[donrae]

My speckled Sussex were from Ideal and I was never impressed with their egg size. Agree it was more of a medium, but honestly I never weighed them. I bought them cause they're such eye candy, but IMO they eat too much to lay such a small egg. I won't be getting any more.

 

[SparrowSong]

Thank you, Spangled; that's really interesting. My hens didn't lay early; in fact, we kept waiting and waiting for that first egg after the time came and went that they should have been laying by. I'd definitely say my own hens' eggs are small. If they ever get bigger, that'd be great, but I do love this breed.

 

[NorthChicken]

I had 2 speckled sussex (down to one now), and while both absolutely lovely ladies, they laid small-medium sized eggs. I was not impressed with the egg size for sure. But they sure are pretty and personable chickens!

 

[SparrowSong]

She's a beauty! Looks very much like my Zuzu.