when do new egg layers begin laying larger eggs?

[off-grid hen]

I am subscribing to this thread, as I have the same question. my hens were hatched out last April, and will be a year old on April 25th. They started laying beginning of october- end of november for the last foot-dragging PR. They are still laying medium sized eggs. I expect that from my dominiques but I thought my partridge rocks and rose comb brown leghorns would be laying bigger eggs by now. One of my "chicken friends" says that it'll be when they're a year old. :dunno

I will wait and see I guess! If this size eggs from these breeds isn't normal, what could be causing it? Since I'm new at this, I just want to make sure the girls are healthy or getting adequate feed. I'm not going to cull the flock if I'm not getting jumbos or anything.

 

[kari_dawn]

I think leghorns DO lay large eggs...but it doesn't seem like it would take an entire year...I mean, what would commercial egg layers do with all of those medium eggs from all the first year layers they rotate in every year? I certainly don't see nearly as many medium eggs in cartons at the store...I would think that two months would be more reasonable...I guess I will know by around the end of this month!

 

[Fred's Hens]

My wife has a small egg business, with perhaps 20 regular customers. Recently, one of the customers remarked that they appreciated the fact that we sorted/sized the eggs. I hadn't given it much thought and have always sized the eggs. Goodness knows, we must have 300 egg cartons, of every imaginable size, and we price them accordingly.

 

[akjody]

My Wyandottes started laying this week, tiny eggs. The last chickens I had, who the TSC said were sex linked, laid large to jumbo eggs from the start.

 

[coupe-d-lux]

Wow, nice size eggs !

 

[silkwormlady]

Good to read all this. My Silver Laced Wyandottes started laying around 2-3 weeks ago, beautiful creamy brown but definitely on the small size. Ideas on how soon I might expect the large eggs they're "supposed" to have?

 

[Spartan22]

Good to read all this. My Silver Laced Wyandottes started laying around 2-3 weeks ago, beautiful creamy brown but definitely on the small size. Ideas on how soon I might expect the large eggs they're "supposed" to have?

Might be a month to 3 months, but depends on the layer. My new layers (EEs, New Hamps, Austrolorps, BSL) started laying in July and just seeing regular size eggs from them in the last few weeks whereas my leghorns have been the same large to extra large size eggs since the 3rd week of laying. Now my RIR and Wyandottes had been laying large size eggs for the whole year now.

 

[silkwormlady]

Well, they're pretty good size hens bigger than some of my good ol' Golden Comets (Red Star) who lay like champions. But, I guess unless I get a camera in there I won't know exactly who's doing what - though I know (warm egg when she was the only one out there) one of my SLW is laying a small egg ... I'm not patient but ... love my chickeez. And even have a truce that's holding up with the roo who was .... mean!