Maintaining egg production in cold weather

[kercel]

I live a couple hours northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and yes it does get quite cold here in the winter. I just finished my coop build and it is insulated and can be heated if need be. I made sure to put in some ventilation to remove humidity from the coop and I'm pleased with how it has been working. Temperatures for the past week or so have been hovering around 0C or 32F and cooler at night. The chicks have still been wanting to go outside and scratch around. There has been no heat in the coop and the birds are fine, except that their egg production has fallen off the last few days.

Without rehashing all the heated coop debates, how does one maintain egg production during colder temps?

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Supplement bright light so they have 14-16 hours of total light.

 

[donrae]

It's not the temp that causes them to slow or quit laying, it's the amount of light they get a day. Supplement a little light and they'll usually keep laying, depending of course on the breed and each bird. If they're first year birds, mine usually lay right through the winter with no lighting. I give my second year and older birds a break and let them quit laying over the winter, so I don't light at all.

 

[kercel]

Will any light bulb do or are there special lights that are required?

Also, i have an assortment of white leghorns and brown ISA's and a couple of Delaware's all about 10 months old.

 

[PGRanch]

I want to supplement light but I am so afraid of a fire in my barn. Its 30 years old and very dry.

 

[JackE]

Some people recommend a light to extend the daylight hrs a bit. What I did, to make up for lower egg production in the winter months, was to get more chickens. That way, I get enough eggs for the winter, and the chickens can take it easy and lay eggs as they want.
Jack

 

[Cierra]

Yes, you have to use a certain bulb! Mother Earth news covered this story, but I also found it here: http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/i...t_bulbs_toxic_to_chickens_the_full_story.html

 

[kercel]

Thank you very much for posting about the rough service light bulbs!

It was only this afternoon that I finished wiring in some lighting in my new coop. On my trip to the hardware store this morning I picked up some 75w Sylvania Rough Service bulbs and had placed them in the sockets. I programmed the timer for the lights to come on at 5:30am tomorrow morning. Now, thanks to your post the bulbs have been changed out with a clear glass bulbs. I took a look at the packaging for the bulbs and there was no mention of them being harmful to birds and no mention of being Teflon coated.

The girls thank you, and so do I.

 

[Cindy in PA]

You don't have to use a certain bulb. Just a normal 40 watt bulb will be enough light in an 8 by 8 coop. You have already been advised not to use the coated bulbs. I understand one brand of bulb has a warning & the GE I think does not.

 

[Cierra]

Whew, I'm glad you went with the standard bulbs. There was a story in Mother Earth News, I guess there was a woman who lost her flock to these bulbs, and she contacted GE. GE offered to pay for the cost of her hens when they were chicks, but that's not worth much. Especially considering the time and emotional energy needed to raise a flock! But after that they started putting warning labels on some of them.