How to get bigger eggs

[henboy]

hi all hope this isn't a daft question but ive had this for along time and I know my hens can lay a bigger egg as they have done previously , basically my eggs are all on the small side hens are approx a good year old now and there diet is layers pellets in feeders all time I throw a hand full of crushed maize in run every other day also greens and scraps but eggs are small ive tried different make layers all the same the only time ive noticed bigger eggs is when I put them in a smaller pen which was still 15m by 10m the eggs went huge do you have any tips on how I can at least get normal size eggs oh they have gallons of fresh water daily too .

 

[Hen-Gen]

I’d try worming them. Flubenvet is the wormer of choice. You can buy it online or from your agricultural supplier.

 

[henboy]

hi yes sorry I did this a month ago with hey gates flubenvet feed and thats always worked for me not that ive ever had worms

 

[Marigold]

What breed are they? are they egg laying hybrids or something else? I've always found that genetics and individual differences account for egg size. Dual purpose breeds such as Sussex sometimes lay comparatively small eggs in relation to their size as they are also bred to produce meat and their larger bodies take more of the nourishment that might go into egg size in some other lighter-weight breeds. It's not uncommon for pullets to lay very large eggs in the early stages, double yolkers at times, and then to settle down to normal. once in full lay.
What's the average weight of the eggs at the moment? Are they all mostly laying every day?

 

[chrismahon]

There are two problems I can think of with bigger eggs Henboy- thin shells and prolapses. So I guess it's not a trait that is going to be bred for and that's why 'large' eggs are generally the largest produced. We did have a hybrid that produced extremely large green eggs, typically over 80 grammes, but sadly she only lived a year.

 

[henboy]

when I say big eggs I just want a average sized egg mine are small , my hens are brown hybrids they did lay bigger eggs not sure what I did different but my eggs now are approx 50grams .

 

[Marigold]

Well, yes, that is strangely small! The size you would expect from a pullet laying her first few, not a brown hybrid bird over a year old. Are they all the same breed and from the same supplier? Could you contact the supplier and ask what might be going on?
Which make of layers pellets are you using?

 

[chrismahon]

50 grammes is almost bantam size. I can remember years back we had a problem with ours laying fewer eggs- turns out they were not eating the layers pellets, preferring to fill up with 'rubbish' they foraged in the orchard. We solved this by keeping them confined to a small run in the mornings and only let them out after lunchtime. We still do this.

 

[Marigold]

So how much free ranging are they doing, Henboy? I notice you said they laid OK in your 'smaller pen' which is 15 X 10 metres, quite large unless you have lots of birds. How many hens do you actually have, and what size pen are they in at the moment?

 

[henboy]

2 pens thats the smaller one with 6 hens in the other is double that size and 14 hens , im in process of trying different layers now but obviously giving it a good few weeks on the same feed

 

[Marigold]

So what brand of pellets were they on, and what have you now changed to?

 

[henboy]

I can't remember as they were from local farm shop and I empty into drums , do you recommend any

 

[henboy]

I was on bata own brand for a while

 

[Marigold]

There's a long thread here http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10525 from last year, where we discussed the merits of various brands. I do think you get out what you put in, by way of egg quality, but I'm not sure about the connection with size. Any bag of pellets will have a list of ingredients on it - the lower quality ones will include chemical colourants, soya, and other undesirable additives, but will be much cheaper, even as little as £7.50 per large bag. It might be worth changing to another brand - Allen and Page Smallholder, Marriages, or Garvo are all good., usually contain marigold petals instead of chemical colourants and are made from high quality ingredients. I feed Dodson and Horrell, largely because I can easily get them here, but they're very good and my hens lay well. How much have you got left of the present pellets?

 

[henboy]

not much I shall see what I can purchase tomorrow better quality

 

[henboy]

ive made a bigger dust bath a week ago which im pretty sure it will keep sand mix in but nothing is going in any tips on this

 

[henboy]

just got some new feed today is this one anygood for hens its called chix layers pellets

 

[Marigold]

I've not heard of that one. Can you do a screenshot or tell us the ingredients? How much was a bagful?

Eg, here re the ingredients for Dodson & Horrel, which I use.

Ingredients. Wheat, Extracted Sunflower, Limestone Flour, Wheatfeed, Dehulled Soya Bean Meal, Distiller's Wheat Grains, Vegetable Oil, Vitamin/Trace Mineral Premix, Diacalcium, Phosphate, Salt, L-Lysine, Sodium Bicarbonate, Pumpkin Squash, Broccoli, Spinach, Tomato, Marigold.

And this is the ingredients for Smallholder;
Composition: Wheat, Wheat Feed, Beans, Calcium Carbonate, Linseed, Maize Gluten, Maize, Grass Meal, Peas, Di-calcium Phosphate, Salt, Seaweed, Marigold flowers, Yeast, Fructo-oligosaccharides.

I can't find a complete list of ingredients online for Chix but it should be on the bag.

 

[henboy]

https://www.gardenfeathers.co.uk/layers-pellets-mash/deli-nature-chix-laying-pellet.html , hope this works its deli nature chic layers pellets I payed £12 a sack

 

[Tweetypie]

I must admit that after being out of regular Dodson pellets and the store not having any in stock, I bought some unbranded ones. After 2 weeks, egg colour was much paler than usual and production wasn't as good, so there is truth in you get what you pay for, as Marigold has stated.
I have also used Marriages and Allen and Page, it depends what the store has availability of.