Small Eggs

[glainerussell]

How long before my eggs get to regular size. I have 8 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Coo Coo's and 2 Americaunas. They all started laying about a month ago but their eggs are just barely bigger than Bantam eggs.

 

[Nicole01]

They must of started young. My RIR and EE lays eggs the size of large store eggs. My SS is a little smaller. My brahma just started laying and her eggs are fairly big for starting out. My RIR was 23 weeks, EE 24 weeks, SS 22 weeks and brahma was 26 weeks before they started laying.

Give it time. They will get bigger. I'm only guessing, but I don't expect eggs to be full size until the chicken is about one year of age.

 

[Animalian]

my bantam RIR lays something similar to store bought eggs! That's hers on the left

And you want small eggs! How about my D'uccle's on the right! Now THAT's a small egg!

But yeah they'll get bigger eventually, for example that's my bantam plymouth rocks first egg in the middle, and the RIR's were that size when she started to. It'll just take a while

 

[Ridgerunner]

That kind of depends by whay you mean "regular". It is not a one day they are small and the next day they are huge thing. They eggs will gradually get larger as they age. You should notice some difference now in the ones that started laying a month ago. But they are not going to become really big for a while. The biggest increase in size is usually after their first adult molt.

Since yours have just started laying, their is a fair chance they will not have that first adult molt this fall/winter. Mine in those circumstances usually skip the molt the first year and keep laying all winter. Their eggs do get decent sized by spring but are not as big as they will eventually be.

How you feed them makes a difference too. The higher the protein in the feed, the larger eggs they lay. I have not noticed a huge jump in egg size when I feed my flock 22% protein Starter with oyster shell on the side when I have baby chicks being raised with the flock, but I free range mine so maybe they did not get that big a boost in total daily protein. The commercial operations have extensively studied the process and have determined that the 16% protein Layer works well for them to get the Grade A Large eggs they want without causing health problems. By health problems, I'm mainly referring to the added risk to a hen in the egg laying process if she is laying a larger egg than she should. It can lead to prolapse. Maybe that's why nature starts the pullets off laying smaller eggs, so their body can mature enough to handle the larger eggs.

Commercial operations have chickens that are as highly specialized in egg laying as the Cornish X is in meat production. They are specially bred to lay large eggs early. Yours are not. The commercial operations force their chickens to molt after they have aged a certain amount to increase egg size since they get more money for Grade A Large eggs.

That is an interesting question that I don't see on this forum that much. Good luck!

 

[glainerussell]

Thanks to you all. I had thought maybe they would get larger as they got older. I just got this flock in the spring and it had been a few years since I had raised chichens. Retired in Kansas with one old horse, one old wife and some new chickens.