How to get bigger eggs

The information in the link seems to be this;
"The laying pellet for your laying hens. The pellet ensures optimal and constant laying. The proportions of calcium/phosphorus ensures a sturdy eggshell and strong bones for your hens. In the ChiX Laying Pellet, the maize meal also gives the egg yolk a natural colour. The advantage of providing feed for laying poultry in pellet form is that there is less wastage of the product."
At £12.50 they seem quite expensive to me for a brand which does not accurately explain what is in them. Does the price include postage or did you pick them up yourself? Brands we know to be reliable all are keen to explain and promote the excellence of their ingredients. We know Chix has got maize meal but nothing else is stated. Isn't there a list of actual ingredients on the bag?
I expect they're OK and shall be interested to hear if there's any improvement as your hens work their way through them over the next week or two. Then you might consider trying another similarly-priced brand, perhaps a more mainstream one, to see what suits your hens best.
 
thats all I can buy locally really unless I get some posted , I will check the sack tomorrow for ingredients also ive purchased a small 12kg bag of garvo off the net to try on my 6 hens that are alone but I think this stuff is too expensive to feed the full farm as I have 21 hens in total .
 
I expect the ones you've got will be fine, just give them a trial and see if the eggs improve. I didn't mean to criticise the new pellets but it's obvious something funny is going on with the egg sizes, so it's worth trying to track down any nutritional problems. Of course it might be something else altogether.
i get Dodson & Horrell from Pets at Home because they do free online delivery for orders over £38, which is 3 bags or more, as I find it difficult to manage collecting those very heavy bags from the store and getting them out of the car the other end. Also because the pellets seem to keep my girls healthy and laying lovely eggs for a long time. See https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/bird-and-wildlife/chicken/chicken-food-and-treats/layer-pellets-for-chickens-20kg for online delivery. Sometimes they're on offer so then it's worth stocking up.
 
your not criticising marigold at all I like the feedback so I can get decent feed , the pets at home isn't to far for me im passing one at some point in the month so might try them , can I do damage changing feed often also do you feed anything else to your hens or just these layers as everyone loves golden yokes and ive found crushed maize now and then gives that but if you don't I can save on buying that
 
I don't think there's a problem changing feed, so long as you're happy about what you're changing to, and the hens like it. Mine don't have the free ranging that yours enjoy as i keep them in a large enclosed run, but i give them fresh leafy greens every day (big cabbage leaves hung ups on a string for them to pull to bits) also i keep a bowl in the kitchen for any suitable fruit or veg, peelings and i chop up apples for them especially at this time of year when there are windfalls. I also cut up crusts of my own home made, wholemeal bread and soak it before adding to the treats, as I know what's in it and it's basically what is in their pellets anyway. When the grass is growing nice and green I give them fresh short mowings (the moment they're cut, before they heat up.) In the Spring I feed wild greens, such as goosegrass and garlic mustard, which they love.
I think dark greens are helpful in getting good egg colour and do help a balanced diet. They love maize, but it's very fattening and can contribute to fat round their ovaries and egg laying problems, as most domestic hens don't really get much exercise to work it off. Mine have a handful of mixed corn in the afternoon which is largely wheat but also has some chopped maize in it, which may be better than feeding it on its own. The better kinds of pellets have marigold petals to help with egg colour, whereas the cheaper ones tend to have chemical additives to colour the eggs. I don't know whether the breed of hen makes a difference to egg colour, like it does to shell colour, but i do think greens are important to their health and have an effect on the yolks.

If you go to Pets at Home they sometimes have an offer where 3 bags is cheaper per bag than two. And so long as you buy a minimum of 3 bags delivery is free.
 
brilliant thanks for advice and help will try several pellets and see ive just received my 12kg bag of garvo to try on my 6 hens so ill be excited to see what the egg size and colour does and is it really worth £25 a small bag
 
You must be joking! You might as well feed them on gold dust at that price! That would work out at £45 for a standard 22 kilo sack!
Garvo is lovely feed, the girls will enjoy it, - I used to give it to mine when I had a local supplier and could collect to avoid delivery charges, but the price wasn't anything like that. Where did you buy it from?
Top quality stuff if you can afford it and think it's worth while, but honestly i think they would do just as well on a reputable brand at less than 1/3 of the price.
 
I agree but you know when your just curious how good these feeds are its just a one off to sample on few hens haha can't afford that every day
 
just a update on the garvo food to be honest im 6 days in and I notice no difference in egg size or quality up to now I think waste of money but its still early ill keep it going and see
 
If it's anything to do with the feed, I wouldn't expect an instant difference. If there was any deficiency in their previous diet, it would be a slow process to reverse this, and at this time of year, egg production usually slows down anyway. I don't think Garvo is a waste of money, it's undoubtedly top quality feed, but very expensive compared with other types which people on here have found very satisfactory when fed for extended periods of time.
Did you ever ask the person who sold them to you, about the hens' laying habits and whether any others in the batch had turned out to lay such tiny eggs?
 
I did but its hard to say as they turn out 100s of thousands a month so there not sure which type I have but there all bred for egg laying they go off to battery farms , everyone just says good quality layers but im trying this and eggs are small thought garvo would of started to increase size , once ive run out of my other food ill try Dodson and horrel
 
Hen boy, can you post a photo of one of the eggs your hens lay, at the side of a standard supermarket egg? It does seem very strange that they lay such small eggs. I have 2 ex battery hens, both lay different sized eggs. One laid large eggs 72g every other day or so and the other 52g every day. Mind you, they've stopped laying now. ?
 
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