Low egg count

[LuvmyLadies]

I have 12 hens total. 6 PR(2yr old) and 6 BJG(1yr old). I am only averaging 5-6 eggs per day. Sometimes as little as 4 to as much as 8 eggs per day. I feed Dumor 16% layer crumbles mixed with oyster shells(lightly) and scratch grain or cracked corn just as a treat/filler with the feed. Is there a feed that has more than 16% or something i can add to the dry feed to boost protein and gain more eggs? My BJG hens don't appear that they will be laying X-Large eggs. Instead the egg sizes are medium to barely large at best. Will their eggs ever get bigger? Thanks alot for any help i can get.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

My giant girls are not even a year yet but their eggs are getting bigger every week. I have a 2 year old giant hen that lays really really large eggs most of them are double yokers. I am hoping that as the hens get older the egg size will increase. There are alot of things you can add to increase protein some people add sunflower seeds,fish meal,soybeans The layer I use is 17 percent but my starter is unmedicated and 20 percent so I usually give my giants half and half to give them the extra protein. When I bought them from the breeder that was one of the things she suggested. WIth them growing so big and fast she advised that they needed more protein that most other breeds so I have done that.

 

[BettyR]

Quote:
I have heard that caged hens will lay more than free range but then you have to feed them more because they don't get any of the natural foods they get when running loose. So it's a toss up, more eggs will cost you more money in feed. As for the size it usually depends of the hens. PR usually will lay the biggest eggs.

I have 26 layers and 2 roos. I get on average between 9 and 12 eggs a day....but my girls run free on a 1+ acre fenced, wooded lot and 2 - 50 pound bags of laying pellets will last me almost a month. They have access to all the feed they can eat but they prefer to eat what they can catch. So I figure that my free range eggs cost me around $1.00 a dozen. Free range eggs in the grocery store here run around $3.50 a dozen so I feel I'm getting a pretty good deal.

 

[LuvmyLadies]

Thanks very much "Sugar Sand" & "BettyR"! I will take these suggestions that you use, and the experience and apply it to my flock, and see what happens. Those are some great ideas, and exactly what i was looking for. THANKS AGAIN!!