Tiny eggs... why?

[garden_mom]

Ive got a bunch of silkies and 2 naked neck hens.(cooped separately). They were laying often and sized right since they started laying. Now recently most of the eggs theyre laying are substantially smaller. I havent changed their food or anything else. Why is this and what can i do to fix this?

 

[sourland]

They may be getting ready to take a break in their laying cycle.

 

[aart]

Ive got a bunch of silkies and 2 naked neck hens.(cooped separately). They were laying often and sized right since they started laying. Now recently most of the eggs theyre laying are substantially smaller. I havent changed their food or anything else. Why is this and what can i do to fix this?

Need more info:
How old are birds?
How long have they been laying?
Did they lay larger eggs before?
If so, when did the small eggs start?

....and....maybe most important...
Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, (laptop version shown), then it's always there!

 

[garden_mom]

Hi there. Our birds are about 8 months old and yes, they were laying normal sized eggs until now. I'm in Wisconsin but last winter we had one of our roosters get frostbite on his comb so this winter we brought them in until we can insulate the coop better so they are not outside in the cold. They started laying last fall and everything was normal even after we moved them in. the tiny eggs just started maybe a month ago.

 

[aart]

So they are living in your house?
Do they go outside at all?
How small are the eggs?
Weigh them or take pic with a quarter.
Eggs are normal inside?
What all and how exactly are you feeding?

 

[garden_mom]

We have a basement not attached to our living quarters, they arent in the house. As i said, we had a problem with frostbite last winter. So we built a coop inside, weve made sure theres good ventilation and we keep an eye on the humidity level. We make sure they spend time outside when its not too far below freezing. We feed them sprout brand layer crumble that we get from fleet farm. Im attaching a pic of one of the normal sized eggs next to one of the tiny ones theyve been laying. Let me know what you think.

 

[aart]

We have a basement not attached to our living quarters,

That's interesting.
Totally underground...no daylight?
Did smaller eggs start when birds were moved to this basement?

 

[garden_mom]

Not totally underground. There are windows and they do get daylight. We moved them in maybe mid to late october. They were laying fine just until recently.

 

[aart]

Do they have access to the outside if they want to go.
Got pics of this place?
New meaning to 'underground' chickens.

Not really sure why you are experiencing this,
but smaller eggs might be because of stress and/or lack of nutrition.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Agree with aart, thinking a result from new living conditions. Pictures of their basement living would help. Think they're not getting as much sunlight as being outside, regardless you having windows.

Not familiar with the feed, you could try feeding a higher protein feed or protein "treats" .... Scrambled eggs, tuna, mealworms, BOSS, salmon .... Grower, Multi Flock, All Flock, Flock Raiser with a separate dish of Oyster Shells on the side as well as an extra dish of Grit.