Smaller eggs common in winter?

[afj6710]

Looking through old threads, it seems several people have experienced smaller eggs in the winter. I saw several people suggesting molting - there is no way that my girls would molt in this cold weather, would they?

Our eggs have gone from med-large to TINY. At first, it was just a few a week but now atleast half of our eggs are noticeably smaller. Any advice on helping my girls out? Seems like it would be due to less protein or something, right?

 

[Fred's Hens]

It is pretty normal. We often experience this in super cold weather. It seems difficult for the hens to consume all the energy they need to keep themselves warm while having enough to produce large eggs as well. Lighting is poor, nights are long and don't forget that cold makes everything "pucker up".

Old timers used to pour some warm milk from the dairy barn over the mash, in the morning, to get the birds to devour some feed and get 'em going.