Hens Laying Smaller Eggs for Months

[chickengeorgeto]

I have about 15 hens and over the last two months or so, I've noticed that the hens are laying smaller and smaller eggs.... They used to lay eggs that ranged from large to extra large....now they're small to medium and a few large . . . and today I had an egg about the width and height of a quarter.... The only thing that is different is that they're probably getting more greens and more fruit than in winter and early spring months. Thanks for any suggestions!

I would cut back on the fruit and maybe on the greens as well.
Chickens have a need for protein and even that nutrient can be abused or overdone. Exactly what type, or breed do you have, and have you weighed any of your birds over time to help you determine how they are doing?

 

[Dan23]

You might want to read this:
http://articles.extension.org/pages/69065/feeding-chickens-for-egg-production
I would drop all the treats and see if things improve for you.

Having read the report listed here, my GUESS would be my switch to the cracked corn from the whole corn. I've been feeding my chickens the mixture for years, with the cracked corn being the only change . . . the weird thing is, the chickens have been "cleaning out" the feeder pretty much like they did before the switch to chopped corn... so, I'm not sure how chopped corn makes a difference if they still eating the same volume of food (if not a little bit more). But I'll try going with just layer and a little cat food mixed in and backing totally away from the scratch and corn, except for treats, and see what happens.

 

[Dan23]

I would cut back on the fruit and maybe on the greens as well.
Chickens have a need for protein and even that nutrient can be abused or overdone. Exactly what type, or breed do you have, and have you weighed any of your birds over time to help you determine how they are doing?

I have cinnamon queens and gold star hens. Haven't been weighing them, but they seem to be eating just as much as they always do, plus eating more bugs and clippings.

 

[Kiki]

Having read the report listed here, my GUESS would be my switch to the cracked corn from the whole corn. I've been feeding my chickens the mixture for years, with the cracked corn being the only change . . . the weird thing is, the chickens have been "cleaning out" the feeder pretty much like they did before the switch to chopped corn... so, I'm not sure how chopped corn makes a difference if they still eating the same volume of food (if not a little bit more). But I'll try going with just layer and a little cat food mixed in and backing totally away from the scratch and corn, except for treats, and see what happens.

Good idea...corn is the devil in my opinion.
But cat food usually is high in salt and that isn't good either.

 

[Dan23]

Good idea...corn is the devil in my opinion.
But cat food usually is high in salt and that isn't good either.

I add the cat food to increase the protein level in the food as I have chickens and peafowl in the same pens and the cat food has never been an issue over the last decade. The birds always have plenty of water. However, the chopped corn does seem to coincide with the reduced egg size. I'm not sure why it is any different than whole corn, but apparently so.

 

[Kiki]

Try it out and see if it makes a difference for you.
I'll check back in a few weeks to see.
I'm curious if it does.

 

[Dan23]

Okay, I made the change in feed. I changed to a mix of 6-parts layer pellets to .75 parts dry cat food, .5 part scratch, and .2 parts corn. Egg size jumped up dramatically. Also, just as a side note, I was using crumble instead of pellets . . . I switched to pellets by accident (I ordered the "wrong" stuff). However, I have found that there is a lot less waste when using pellets. If the chickens knock pellets out of the feed tray (which they do), they can still find it easily and eat it whereas crumble quickly is covered by dirt and lost. I think I've reduced my feed usage by about 25 percent by using pellets instead of crumble (full-sized chickens) and the egg size and shell thickness are still good.

 

[Kiki]

 

[Kiki]

How many chickens do you have?

 

[Dan23]

How many chickens do you have?

I have about 20 chickens.