Topic of the Week - Winter Egg Laying

[CoopWomack]

- Do or don't you supplement light to keep your hens in production over winter?
Yes, my coop has a place for an light bulb. Now that it has started getting cold I use a brooder bulb periodically depending on the weather. I have seven 8 month old pullets and get 2 or 3 eggs a day usually. They usually come from my 2 brown leghorns.

- Are there other ways to ensure your flock stays productive, for example by replenishing the layers with young hens yearly?
Again I an a newbie at this but I plan on purchasing 2 new chicks every year. I currently have two 6wk old silkies to add this spring. Regardless I'll keep them all.

- What do you do to prevent the eggs from freezing in the nest boxes, especially the folks that can't collect them in a timely manner.
I keep plenty of straw in my coop and nesting boxes. I check them when letting my girls out,when putting them up for the night, & at least once in between.

- Tips for keeping winter layers happy and healthy?
I give them plenty of attion, fresh water with braggs often, DE, high protein layer feed, BOSS, scratch, dried worms, & occasionally I pick up some crickets from the pet store.

 

[Werforpsu]

This is our first winter with chickens. After going back and forth we decided to supplement lighting this winter. Our girls (4 BSL and 1 RIR) JUST started laying in September so they don't really need the break yet AND I was worried about molting since our coop is unheated and a bit big for the number of chickens we have (5 pullets, 2 cockerels in an 8x12 shed style coop that is 5-6 feet tall). With added light we have been getting 4-5 eggs from 5 hens each day. I think we went down to 3 eggs one day this past week when the temps dipped into single digits. Our light goes on at 5am, off at 8am, on at 4:30pm and off at 9pm. It is set on a timer.
We don't have a run but instead have been letting them free range. We havent been letting them out much because of ice, snow and freezing rain. This was why I wanted such a large coop...I don't feel too bad about them staying in there all the time. I have noticed a color change in the egg yolks since confining them more AND our cockerels don't usually mate inside the coop so our eggs have not been fertilized.

We have not had any eggs freeze and crack. Our hens seemed to enjoy the cozyness of a nesting box when it got super cold and I believe them laying there helped.

I have beeen throwing corn and scratch in to the coop to combat the cold and boredom. We have a thick (8 inches or so) layer of organic matter on the floor (leaves, cut grass, cut tall weeds, wood shavings etc.) all on top of a layer of sand. The scratch goes down in the cracks of the bedding and the chickens scratch to find it.

We just had deer hunting season so we have a deer leg hanging in the coop right now. It froze in the cold weather so I am hoping it will thaw and they will enjoy it a bit before we take it down.

We are planning to buy more chicks in the spring. I eventually plan to cull older hens but we arent there yet.

 

[Mama Cluck]

My EE just started laying in Nov. 19 degree weather and I'm getting eggs daily. They just lay them later, around noon -2pm.

 

[SueT]

My Australorp hen just resumed laying after her first molt. She has laid 9 eggs in 12 days, including one today after two days of below zero nighttime temps. No supplemental light. No others are laying, nor are my 7 mo pullets. I have not experienced frozen eggs yet.
My girls love kale which still survives in the garden. I mix warm water and occasionally a little scrambled egg with their feed to encourage them to eat and to help them warm up.

 

[AzaleaParkFarm]

Luckily, I live in an area where it rarely frosts and never freezes. I let my hens have their winter rest every year and start hoarding their eggs, by not giving any away, in late November. I am not sure, but it's possible that little rest helps keep them healthy. I have 2 hens that are 8 years old and still laying the occasional egg. Good ol gals they are.

 

[Shezadandy]

- Do or don't you supplement light to keep your hens in production over winter?

Up here in the northwest it gets dark around "4:30" (daylight savings time). I keep the lights on until around 7pm because I've found the flock likes to come in, have a big dust bath party in the coop (ground is too muddy for this outside), fill up the crop for a good night's sleep and then go to the roost. The pop door opens around 7am and the coop doesn't get the lights turned on until 10 or 11am. The intent isn't to keep them laying, just to maintain their happy-place schedule.

- Are there other ways to ensure your flock stays productive, for example by replenishing the layers with young hens yearly?

The broody raised chicks tend to come of laying age just as the older girls start to molt- so far it's worked out well.



- What do you do to prevent the eggs from freezing in the nest boxes, especially the folks that can't collect them in a timely manner.

A couple of our hens are self-appointed volunteer egg-sitters, usually one of the Buff Orps. They're not broody, they just look for eggs unattended in the nest box and lay on them until I collect them. Since the weather turned cold, I noticed they're only using 2 of the 11 boxes available. Every day I give them a pet and thank them, and they step off and continue their nightly ritual.
I realize that isn't a helpful tip, but it is pretty darn adorable!

-Tips for keeping winter layers happy and healthy?

Clean and dry coop, flock blocks and pumpkin chunks to pick at and hay spread on the ground after snow keeps them willing to go outside.

 

[mich9510]

I have 14 twenty week old Jersey Giants. I was just wondering if I could expect them to lay this winter? They have a nest box that I have put two ceramic eggs in. I can tell that the girls have been in the nest box because sometimes the eggs are moved all around. I don't want to supplement with light as I feel that I should let them be natural. is there anything else I could do to get them laying?

 

[jerzeelove]

I am wondering the same thing. My red stars and black stars are about 22 weeks old, and still no eggs. Should I not expect them to lay now, since it's shorter days and up and down temps? If so, what can I do to encourage them to lay?

 

[drvertebrae]

I had four, at about three years old. One died this past summer. Unknown cause. They kept laying about two to three eggs per day. One molted a few weeks later and the eggs virtually stopped. I do have light that comes on early in the morning, as in the past two years. They continued to lay through those winters. They are well fed, clean coup, good water. I let them out into the yard periodicall and let them graze. I give scratch periodically, also and occasional greens. They get to scratch at my compost pile as well.

Any guess about laying? I'm at a loss. We have a dog but always have, although this one is an occasional chaser, but not a biter or even touches the chickens.

 

[seolari]

My six chickens haven't slowed down at all during the winter. I do have supplemental lighting for them, but the amazing thing is that they're all molting and are still laying at the same rate. That is absolutely amazing to me. I however do take very good care of them.