Chicken Eggs

[Chasey]

ello everyone,
I have two RIR?? hens at my work. They are both around 6 years old.
Only one of the girls lays eggs, she is the smaller of the two and lays between 3 and 4 eggs a week now that it's Summer.

Wondering when it's normal for them to stop laying, the one that doesn't lay anymore is the pic below.

Here's a pic of the eggs the small chicken lays, they're all between 51 and 54 grams. Wondering if this is a normal size egg? Also the eggs seem quite thin and pointy and they're always a very pale shade.
The eggs do taste fine, the yolks are quite yellow. Is this to do with her diet maybe? She eats mostly seed mix and pellets and always has fresh fruit and veg.

Here's a pic below of one of her eggs next to a shop bought egg (left)

Thankyou

 

[Chasey]

Colour seems a bit off in the last pic but the shop bought eggs are quite a lot darker in shell colour.

 

[DaviJones]

Maybe her diet? Does she get laying feed (the pellets?) or oyster shell, as a calcium source? Also be careful on feeding too many treats, the seeds sound like scratch which is the chicken equivalent of junk food and the fruit and vegetables are only good in small amounts as well as they fill the crop so they eat less possibly affecting egg production.

Although 6 years is a bit old for a laying hen(I think) could just be that time. Or maybe a molt? The colder weather?

 

[DaviJones]

Oh and sorry I forgot to say the eggs look fine to me, but I haven't gotten my first egg so maybe take it with a grain of salt
I also say your post said Summer, are you in the southern hemisphere? I suppose that probably rules out molt, right?

 

[Chasey]

Yeah I feed her layer pellets, I didn't realise a seed mix is so bad , i'll cut that down and see if it helps.
I'm in Australia so it's Summer here from tomorrow although the weather is already so warm.
Thanks for your input.

 

[DaviJones]

Oh no I wouldnt worry too much, the seed mix isn't objectively bad, it doesn't harm the chicken really, just more like eating candy. Roughly how much of her diet consists of seeds?

OK thanks! Then it's probably not a molt, I'm guessing. I have a feeling it might just be her age

Oh, and I forgot to say, beautiful birds! And pretty eggs too, I'm not sure but I think I heard somewhere that eggs from chickens that dont live in factory can be a bit pointy.

 

[Chasey]

Most of their diet is seed, because that's what they like best. They hardly eat their pellets. Every Friday they get 1 quarter watermelon, some leafy greens, sometimes some berries and a whole bowl of seeds. Also a heap of pellets.
My work is open Monday to Friday so Saturday and Sunday the girls are alone so I top up all their food heaps on Friday. There's always lots of pellets left and never any of the other stuff when I see them Monday morning.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Try cutting out the snacks (anything that isn't their actual feed) and see how they're doing after that. Chickens, like humans, will always choose to eat what is tastiest first. My hens didn't like their pellets at first so I made that their only food option until they accepted it, after that I worked treats and mash back into their diet.

Actually on second thought, if one isn't laying at all (and you have any say over what feed is available to them) you can switch to an all-flock/grower type feed (one without calcium) and leave calcium on the side for the hen that's laying. Hopefully that'll help with the thin shells a little bit.

And darker yellow yolks are usually the result of more greens in the diet, so it's not surprising that your work chickens would have better looking yolks than a store egg.

 

[Chasey]

Thanks rosemarythyme