When will my eggs get bigger???

[aliciaford]

My hens have been laying for about 6-8 weeks now, and out of 16 eggs, about 12 are pretty small. When should I expect that they will get bigger? Its hard to charge someone for a dozen eggs when they seem so small to me...

 

[Chicabee19]

hi Alicia!

glad to see you here

Do you have standard chickens, or bantams?

Do you give them free-choice Oyster Shell?

What sort of feed are they on? Do you give them kitchen scraps, aka "treats"?

 

[aliciaford]

I give them free choice oyster shell and we give them tons of kitchen scraps, ect and we have not changed their feed recently or anything...

 

[ashyannehand]

Hi and Welcome -

I can only tell you my experience. My pullets are 8 months old. With mine they have gradually gotten bigger over time. I still get some small ones. But most are larger now and ocassionally I get a HUGE one. Those are always fun - double yolks. Anyway - the larger eggs will come!

 

[aliciaford]

Ya know, after reading all the other posts on different subjects, I swear the eggs were bigger before and maybe they are going into a molt???

 

[cackle]

Great question. My first RIR pullet started laying on the 15th of September. We occasionally get a average size egg then for several days all the eggs will be small again. I have no idea now that we are getting up to 6 a day which one is laying what size egg.

Today we got a small very dark brown egg. I am thinking maybe a BR? Yesterday was the first time we saw a BR in the nest box.

 

[Colored Egg Farmer]

at that age they should be laying a med-large-ex Large.

 

[Chicabee19]

Maybe you're right and they are going into a molt. Seems like everyone's chickens are molting right now. Are you seeing a lot of feathers?

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
That depends mostly on the breed, though feed and environment plays a role, as well. Some never lay large or extra large. The largest eggs will be during the 2nd and 3rd years of lay, in my experience. By the end of the 3rd, that's about as big as they'll get, they'll pretty much stay that way as long as that hen continues to lay, which will become less frequent as she ages. How long, will again depends mostly on the breed.

 

[feathersgalore]

My older hens (some around 3) are laying very large eggs.