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| Feeding in progress |
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With the right feed and proper management, all hens start egg production laying Pee Wee or Small eggs and gradually increase to a mature egg grade size of Medium, Large or bigger. In modern breeds, most hens are laying Large, Extra Large or Jumbo eggs by 40 weeks of age.
The three pillars of egg size;
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While you cannot alter the basic pattern of how egg size changes as hens age, the feeding and management of your hens can have a measurable impact on egg size. The way that you treat your hens will determine how quickly they will start to lay Large, Extra Large or Jumbo eggs.
Many consumers remain willing to pay more for large eggs. But, large eggs require an extra cost to be produced, a cost that is mostly associated with increased nutrient intake.
Egg weight remains a quality factor in certain markets, worldwide, and especially where eggs are sold and bought fresh. Controlling egg weight can be a difficult exercise as several factors are implicated. In fact, a large egg is not always a "good" egg, because with increasing egg size, eggshell thickness is reduced as a hen will deposit only 2 grams of calcium per egg, no matter its size! Nevertheless, when egg weight needs to be increased, the following 3steps can be taken:
1. Body weight
An important factor in egg weight is the pullet‘s body weight at maturity. Heavier hens tend to lay more eggs throughout the production period and will have greater flexibility in adapting different egg size profiles. Body weight is affected by many factors, including beak trimming, vaccination program, transfer, disease challenges, pullet lighting program, space allotment, and nutrition. Due to the direct effect of body weight on egg weight, the achievement of flock target body weight with good flock uniformity is important for egg size management.
4. Nutrition
Nutrition during the rearing and laying period has a critically important role in egg weight. Proper rearing nutrition allows the hen to achieve or exceed the standard body weights. Changing the rearing diets based on attaining body weight standards (and not bird age) will best match the diet to the actual nutritional needs of the pullet.
During the laying period, the specification of diets can be used to manage egg size. Energy, methionine/cystine, other digestible amino acids, linoleic acid, and total fat can directly affect the egg size. These components can be specified in layer diets to influence egg size downwards or upwards.
The protein content of the diet should be balanced to ensure the amino acids are utilised efficiently by the bird. Unbalanced protein can result in poor utilisation of amino acids and suboptimal egg size.estimated the "ideal amino acid profile" and determined that the ratio of methionine to lysine should be a minimum of 47:100 to support maximum egg mass. All other amino acids should be balanced relative to lysine to ensure egg size is optimised as efficiently as possible.
To avoid excessively large egg size and weak egg shells later in the laying period, these nutrients are gradually reduced after peak egg production (30 weeks of age). Pushing nutritionally for greater egg size could result in thinner shells and more cracked eggs if mineral requirements of the bird are not adequately provided for.
Management for larger egg size should include nutritional considerations in rear for subsequent shell quality and bone strength (i.e. pre-lay diet).
Egg weight can be regulated through use of a phase feeding regime. Optimal egg weight will be easier to achieve when formulating feed according to egg weight or egg mass and constantly updating the formulas according to these parameters. This tool can be very helpful either to increase egg weight on earlier production, or to control egg weight on late production.
Be aware that not only nutritional levels, but all aspects of nutrition management can affect egg size. Feed particle size, water intake, water temperature, and feeding schedule can affect daily feed intake and nutrient intake as a consequence.
Heat stress can depress egg weight. High environmental temperature above the thermoneutral zone (33°C) has a depressing effect on the bird’s feed intake. The result can be a shortfall in nutrients like protein (amino acids) and energy, which will decrease egg weight. It is common to see decreased egg size as a consequence of heat stress. Appropriate adjustments in feed formulation to match the actual bird feed intake and mitigation of heat stress conditions can minimise this depression of egg size. In environmentally controlled houses, lowering the environmental temperature will increase feed intake and support egg weight.
3. Lighting programs
Chickens are responsive to changes in day length, and this has a significant effect on egg production and egg size Slow step-down lighting programs during the rearing period provide the pullet with more light hours to eat and grow. At the same time, these slow step-down lighting programs can also delay maturity and increase egg size.
4. Linoleic acid
There is a growing body of data supporting the notion that supplementing layer diets with linoleic acid may increase egg weight. There is some obscurity on this issue as concentrated sources of linoleic acid are oils that increase dietary energy concentration. Nevertheless, formulating to a higher linoleic acid concentration even at similar dietary energy levels is something that many nutritionists focus on when attempting to increase egg weight without providing extra energy to layers.
Note: Use of egg boosters or promoters to increase egg size will only last for a while. Always seek for advice from your Animal nutritionist on the right vitamins to use
Watch laying birds in deep litter shttps://youtu.be/dpvVtYddv1g
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