will eggs get larger?? and a few other questions...

[scooby]

I GOT MY FIRST EGG!!!! i am so excited! but i have some questions. the egg was very small, alot smaller then i expected, so do they get bigger with practice? and when i found it this morning it was already cracked, and it looked frozen,( we are in the middle of winter and temps latey have been freezing here)so i figured it had froze, expanded,and cracked. but should i start giving them oyster shell?

but then that left me wondering, do they usually lay at night or during the day, or just whenever they feel like?

I'm also wondering once they start laying is it pretty continuous,they arn't gona like stop for a couple weeks then start again?

and lastly im trying to figure out if it was my rir or my jerseys,
they both lay brown, i'm wondering if any of you rir or jersey owners can tell me how big the eggs get compared to grocery store eggs? or what they look like, ect ect.... this egg was very light brown( i thought it was a pink/biege rock at first) and when i brang it in and washed it off i noticed it had speckels all over it.

 

[congdon476]

Generally- yes they will get larger. Their systems have to rev up as it were.

Yes, they lay around the clock. Do women birth babies only at 9am and 3pm?

Don't wash your eggs! It takes off the protective coating and they will head south faster... unless you use them right away, then you're good.

The size will vary depending on their feed and outdoor time. A happy healthy bird lays bigger eggs- to an extent. They should get around store size. But remember, store eggs are bred to be bigger and stronger.

Calcium is always a good idea for laying hens, as well as laying feed.

Good luck and congratulations!

WOW- edited for a massive typo that the bad word filter didn't catch there. Sorry!

 

[Southernbelle]

This is the link to Henderson's chicken chart and it details egg size and efficiency for a lot of breeds. RIRs lay large eggs, but Jersey Giants lay med. Some of my Easter Eggers lay large-size eggs and some lay med-size, so it really depends on the individual hen, so don't get discouraged.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html

The vast majority of chickens lay during daylight hours. I usually collect my eggs at 5:00pm because everyone who's going to lay today has probably done so.

Most chickens lay year round, but will have periods of time when their laying slows or stops, like in the hottest part of summer, when they moult or in the wintertime.

Yes, start oyster shell, now that they've started laying.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
my rirs have speckles on their eggs and i have one that lays a medium or darker brown egg and one that lays a very light, almost pinkish brown egg and i can see the speckles on the darker one better tho....i also have jerseys, but just got them today and have not seen their eggs yet