Help! Eggs getting smaller!

[keyt1969]

Hi everyone!

I have many breeds of birds (about 40 in all) and I've noticed in the last couple of weeks their eggs have been getting smaller. Almost all of them are 2 yrs or younger and the eggs were medium in size but now a lot of them could be mistaken for bantam eggs!

They get layer, scratch and grit along with fruits and veggies and plenty of water so I don't think it's that. I read somewhere that I shouldn't be using artificial light now so could that be it? Sunrise is about 6:45 am and sunset about 8:30 pm. Our light comes on at 5:30am and goes off at 6:30 and comes on again at 8 and goes off at 9:30. Should we just not have the light at all or is that not the problem?

 

[Den in Penn]

Try upping the protein and cutting down on the veggies and scratch. Eggs are mostly protein.

 

[keyt1969]

Ok thank you. We will take out the scratch when it's all gone and I threw them some hot dogs and I'll find some other stuff.

 

[7L Farm]

I've never fed mine hot dogs for protein. I know boiled crushed up eggs are a great source for adding protein to your flock. Left over meat is good too. I was told from this site that to much protein can also be a problem. Best advice is give them the eggs as mentioned every couple of days for a short while then feed them laying pellets some greens & cut out the treats. If you do give treats give them alittle boss everday before they roost. A 20% laying pellet should provide them everything they need to lay eggs.