Hen's not Laying? Chickens Require 14+ hours of light to keep laying

[Village Farm]

Quote:
Not really. We get 10 hours 13 minutes today and 9 hours 55 1/2 minutes next Sunday. That's about 18 minutes less, not an hour less.

You're probably thinking of a _month_ from now, when it really will be an hour less daylight, rather than a week from now.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Chirpy is absolutely right. It is perfectly ok to not suppliment their light and probably desireable for the chicken really. It's good for their systems to have the break. However, I have 50+ chickens and I need the eggs to pay for the feed,

so I suppliment the light.

The main purpose of this post is for everybody to realize that chickens naturally take a break in the winter. There have been dozens of posts lately, about people wondering why their chickens have stopped laying. Well, this is most likely your answer. Whether you add lighting or not is strickly a personal decision. I've actually thought about not lighting some of them and lighting others.

So really, I'm not casting a vote for either option, just trying to help you understand why it's happening. And if you really want those eggs all winter, what you need to do.

 

[Chirpy]

momofdrew asked:

Chirpy that is a neat coop but what's with the kitty cat on the fence?? is she chicken friendly?

He's our patriarch cat and always makes sure things we do around here check out to his satisfaction. He was checking our fencing stability in the picture. He was the first of our barn kitties to jump down into the chicken run to chase the chickens.... silly kitty. The chickens ran straight at him from all directions and you should have seen the kitty fly!! Well, he looked like he was flying as he high tailed it up and out of that run as fast as possible. It was very funny, I wish I'd have had a camcorder running. Anyway, all of our barn cats have met and run away from our chickens. We've had the chickens for a year and a half now. They completely leave them alone although I have a couple of chickens that literally look for the cats to chase them around!

 

[jonbanks]

shoot my chickens havent even started laying and its begining to really piss me off . lol joking but i am frustrated. they are rirs so i was hoping they would be laying like crazy they well over 22 weeks maybe 25 i cant remember when i got them exactly . but dang, lol i wish they do something i wonder if they chicken rejects, lol i really dont care bout the eggs but wife is consantly on my but about paying for feed and they are not giving us anything. she doesnt like the chickens, lol we ae city people who moved to backwoods georgia. so i want them to lay so she will stop griping

 

[Montana-Hens]

I do think breeds are significant factor in this as well.

My Welsummer stopped laying about 2 weeks ago. My PBR and Buff Brahama are still producing like clock work. My Chantecler is is 28 weeks isn't laying yet and I got her for unlighted winter production.

It has been chilly/cold here, we had our first snow a month ago and the days are less than 10 hours of light.

My coop is unlit and unheated, so these girls were picked to be hearty western stock.

I am somewhat please and somewhat disappointed. It is a learning curve for us all.

 

[All about the EGG]

Will the chickens go into a moult if they are not laying?

 

[tygab]

we are first timers, so we will see what happens through the really tough months, but we're going "au naturel" as well (on the MA/NH line).

As of now, we've had some very cold nights and daylight is definitely shortening, but today we had our first 5 egg day (of 12). They started back Our EEs are not laying nearly as much as the Black Stars.

Our coop isn't insulated. We plan to put some bales around the exterior back wall, which should cut down on wind from the paddock. Anyway, our hope is just that we get a few eggs a day through the winter. If we don't average this, oh well... we'll get some local eggs if needed.

Our neighbor seemed to have similar results (a few eggs per day for 7-8 hens) when we asked about it... his are Barred Rocks I believe.

That reminds me, look for a separate thread momentarily about our egg count... my husband's wanted me to post it...

 

[Grindlefamily]

Well, we have added a couple hours before and a couple of hours after, as soon as it starts getting dark outside, the chickens go to roost even with the light on inside the coop. So, they are still getting the light, just waiting on the roost to go dark.

We'll see how this goes - we have 7 hens and only 1 has laid an egg as of yet (actually 4 so far, since 10/30) so I feel fortunate anyway.

Good luck to all.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Now, I have to add a warning here. I've noticed that when the chickens have the extra light added and are locked up in their coops till I get up, the picking on each other increases. It makes me crazy. I might see what they'll do if I add light later rather than early. IF they will go to their roosts with the light on, then maybe they won't pick so much.

 

[katiek]

We're in the same boat...we've got 20-21 week olds that we got yesterday. Their previous owner never had the extra light at night.

Should we add the light? Extension chord is impossible, any other light suggestions?

Are there any battery operated lights on a timer?

Thanks!