Is it me, or are the eggs getting smaller?

[@~rosecityfarmgirl~@]

Hi all!
I've got an egg puzzle.... We have 2 white Leghorns, both a year old, in our little backyard flock, and I've had them for about 2 months. They lay extra large eggs almost everyday, but lately... the eggs seem smaller, like large or medium grade. What's up with this?

They eat plenty of grower (I bought it for my other chicken, a Polish pullet), and I add 3 Tbsp cayenne to deworm and roughly 3 Tbsp powdered eggshell for calcium. Are they short on calcium, making the eggs smaller? The shells are strong, and the contents are normal. They also free-range for a good part of the day, eating grass, weeds, flowers, slugs, centipedes, worms, and veggie scraps.
Thanks!

ETA - per one gallon of feed

 

[joebryant]

@~rosecityfarmgirl~@ :

Hi all!
I've got an egg puzzle.... We have 2 white Leghorns, both a year old, in our little backyard flock, and I've had them for about 2 months. They lay extra large eggs almost everyday, but lately... the eggs seem smaller, like large or medium grade. What's up with this?

They eat plenty of grower (I bought it for my other chicken, a Polish pullet), and I add 3 Tbsp cayenne to deworm and roughly 3 Tbsp powdered eggshell for calcium. Are they short on calcium, making the eggs smaller? The shells are strong, and the contents are normal. They also free-range for a good part of the day, eating grass, weeds, flowers, slugs, centipedes, worms, and veggie scraps.
Thanks!

ETA - per one gallon of feed

It's you; you're getting smaller.​

 

[Tala]

I believe more protein makes the eggs bigger, but grower should be sufficient, doesn't sound like that is the problem. Also eggs contain a lot of water. Any reason they might be drinking less??

 

[@~rosecityfarmgirl~@]

Quote:
Nope, whenever I give them a fresh bowl of water, or refill their waterer, they drink a bit then wander off to dig holes. They seem normal.

 

[Akane]

Eggs do get slightly smaller and for brown or colored layers lighter as the season goes on. Eventually they will molt and may stop laying for awhile. Then they'll go back to laying larger and for nonwhite layers darker eggs again which will steadily change until the next molt.