Are little eggs normal first few weeks or forever?

[David61]

I got eight eggs today for the first time. Over a month between the time of my first egg. You can see which ones are which by the size. They all have been small at first but gotten bigger just a few days.. By two weeks as big as the others. Three of these eight are in the first week of production.

 

[bmurphy349]

I’m so glad someone else doesn’t know the kind of chickens they have. I know my leghorns, would like more of my “furry face” girl. We have 18 (chicken math??) and after the first couple of little bitty eggs, most of the girls lay lg or xlg eggs. And 6 are new layers. And they lay in the strangest places in the coop and not always in the nesting boxes. I rock with it.

 

[Mobleymoon]

Scratch and cracked corn should be a "treat" as it's hard for them to digest, it causes their bodies to heat up and if given during the summer ( I'm guilty of it) it could cause issues, feeding layer crumbles or pellets is the best for them as it's a proper diet. Meal Worms while great for adding protein is a treat as well. My hens tend to be a heinz 57 as well, when some of them first started laying, I've gotten eggs as small as a dime and then they worked their way up in size. it takes a while for them to get up in size. The size of the hen also indicate size of the egg, I'm getting eggs about the size of what you have, maybe a little bigger and then out of the ones I think are leghorn's, they are the size of a plum some times. I cringe at the thought of laying that thing.

I am reading back over all the responses, so much good insight. Okay, the small eggs are normal, for now. I think when the sun comes back we'll all feel better. Their eggs, my bones. Thanks again! Now I need to talk about spoiled Brats, no treats, and name-calling.

 

[Lori J]

All 4 of our baby girls are laying eggs. From broody hen mom to big girls showing off their "girly-ness". I thought being first eggs they should be small, these are too small and just too cute to cook. Will my girls ever lay eggs that are closer to normal size eggs. In the picture they are 4 days old. The 2 i got today are the same size. The white egg is store bought. The large brown egg is from mom hen. She is 1.5 yrs. My kids are 20 wks this wk. Is there something wrong here? They eat well, I think. Crumble all they want. Scratch, only a cup a day, across the trough. Cracked corm in a metal fed thing...(like a self feeder can), grit with oister shell and meal worms in a (hard to explain this) 18x18x18" plastic, mirrored cube, like a come/go tunnel. With 2-hanging cabbages (1 at a time of course). Is there anything else i can possable do for these kids?

My Orpingtonslaid tiny eggs at first and it took months for them to get bigger, it was strange! The eggs are still small, just not so ridiculously so. But that never happened with my leghorns. Their eggs have always been normal-sized.

 

[BarredRockMom]

I agree with @aart about the food. And while you may think that packing on a bit of extra weight here or there from this treat or that treat, fatty liver disease and all of the potential for organ damage that could catch up to 'em & break your heart will tell ya differently....

Commercial hatchery operations breed & hatch (generally speaking) to furnish chickens of many breeds to farms, backyard or otherwise. They don't always breed for genetic longevity and frequently there are genetic issues that arise after a few years. It doesn't happen all of the time and it doesn't happen to everyone and I am not saying that hatcheries (all, some or any specific one) are bad. Many, many folks only keep their flocks for short periods of time, so for them, such issues may not show up or be an actual problem. If you land at my place, ya stay for life so I'm looking for long term health.

I am saying that it has been my experience that such breeding has led to a lot of premature death in my flocks, in my opinion. Feeding a lot of treats seemed to make issues show up fast... like after a year or two. (Respiratory issues, sour crop, bloated belly...bad things that sometimes I could fix & sometimes I couldn't.)

Consequently, we feed minimal treats, stick to the layer pellets as their primary nutrition & have free choice calcium & oyster she'll available all of the time. They get heads of lettuce, occasional raw sunflower seeds, sometimes fresh meat scraps (we hunt & process our game, so they get the same lean quality meat as I would eat) & when they free range (supervised only) they eat grass, clover, crickets, cherry tomatoes & squash from our garden plus their regular food. I must say that I have noticed fewer issues. Is it foolproof or a guarantee that all will go smoothly? Can I say for sure that one breed is healthier than another? Absolutely not, but I do believe that it helps a great deal to go easy on the treats. Since I love them as much as I do, I'll take any ounce of prevention that I can get!!

 

[BarredRockMom]

Oh and as for the egg size, they'll get bigger. You probably know this but just in case you don't:. The egg size increases with age and usually after each moult (when they lose feathers & re- grow 'em.). While your young girls will lay about every day, at about a year old they'll hit their first moult. After each moult, a hen will take a little longer in between laying each egg, maybe a day, maybe a day & a half, it just depends on each hen.

Something delightful to watch for are very, very small eggs, like maybe the size of a quarter. There's nothing wrong with a hen who lays an egg like that, in fact many people consider them lucky. I've gotten a few from my girls over the years & while I don't consider them lucky or anything, I still have each one, kept in a special place. Just because.

 

[aart]

So no cracked corn, no scratch until they can go outside, and the crumble, Dumor, grower/ finisher 17%. I just noticed I'm down to less then gallon, should i get something different like layers crumble next? Thanks for your input.

Lots of ways to feed your birds.....look at overall diet components.
I don't know enough about nutritive levels to toss out hard numbers,
so just try to keep protein around 18% and keep things simple and moderate.

I feed an 'all flock' type feed for all ages and genders, 20% protein and 1-2% calcium.
Have never fed anything else and it's worked well here.
I have OS, sometimes mixed with crushed chicken egg shells, in a separate container for the layers who need that extra calcium.
I toss out a bit of scratch daily and other treats once in awhile.

 

[Lynn Woehrle]

All 4 of our baby girls are laying eggs. From broody hen mom to big girls showing off their "girly-ness". I thought being first eggs they should be small, these are too small and just too cute to cook. Will my girls ever lay eggs that are closer to normal size eggs. In the picture they are 4 days old. The 2 i got today are the same size. The white egg is store bought. The large brown egg is from mom hen. She is 1.5 yrs. My kids are 20 wks this wk. Is there something wrong here? They eat well, I think. Crumble all they want. Scratch, only a cup a day, across the trough. Cracked corm in a metal fed thing...(like a self feeder can), grit with oister shell and meal worms in a (hard to explain this) 18x18x18" plastic, mirrored cube, like a come/go tunnel. With 2-hanging cabbages (1 at a time of course). Is there anything else i can possable do for these kids?

Whenever we have young chickens, their first eggs are exactly like that---almost as small as Bantam eggs. After a few small eggs they get larger. They will lay eggs as big as your hen's large egg or even larger. Not to worry.

 

[Jedstar]

Yeah been in your shoes. They will get bigger in the next couple weeks to a month. But yeah make sure there feed is all good you will even get some really big eggs from time to time.

 

[Chickassan]

What pretty girls, they look very well loved!
Agree with watching their diet "owner of way,way,waaaay too fat chickens myself lol!"
They get chubby really easy, almost as easy as alot of people which is weird because they move so much but chickens are weird.
I did get a giggle out of the bicycle seat in the photo, these chunks broke a plastic sawhorse by perching in mass on it.....wondered if the rest of that bicycle had the same run of luck.

Thank you for your reply. You asked what "breed", I do not know. Heinz-57 I guess.
I know they are chickens. View attachment 2023961
(The bike seat is for reference and a good doorstop) 2 boys, Chancy (white w/ a black shaw) and Zipper @ 12:00, his tweed girls @11 and 5 and the twin buffy butts @ 6 and 9. I have read the other replies. They say don't do this, don't do that and don't tell you why. I am the first to tell you everything I know about Chickens I learned here. I started with just babysitting a flock for a few wks. last winter. {1 Roo, red, orange and brown- 6 hens, 5 blk. and white (barrels ?) 1, beautiful "hawk-shaped", brown-tweedy looking, (like above,11:00). Turned into a few months. One of his hens (metallic black) was exceptionally broody. I felt so bad for her we (husband & I) let this evolve. He took his flock back and left us with mom hen and these sweeties. Our excuss for their Run is under 2" of pack ice and 5" of snow is due in 24-36 hr. So scratch on top of the snow on the ground is out of the question. They come out of the coop touch the snow and run back in like it is hot. So funny! I love these kids. They came late in the year, so a new roof and windows were the priority. Come spring I have been promised a she-she-er girly coop. Right now I have Red Flags to ponder. Thanks for letting me ramble, I think my kids are happy, they talk to me like they're happy. They are calm and seem to be well intergraded. Mom hen is back to her pre-broody state of mind and showing the girls how to be prissy and not so roo-boy like. Enough talk'en I'm headed to the coop. Scrambled eggs and oatmeal! ps. I don't eat eggs or chicken meat. Got a Red flag for that?