Factors that Influence & Affect Egg Laying

Yes, good article. Our girls have the run of the yard during the day; placed in the hutch at night. NO ARTIFICIAL LIGHT!! Still have access to the run below. I recycle the egg shells for calcium. I've discussed protocol elsewhere. I hang ears of corn for them to play "tether corn," which they like. Also homemade sourdough bread on occasion. Happy, healthy, good layers, and endlessly entertaining. My BP goes down when I spend time with our girls.

One of my girls stopped laying last August till spring. This year, as soon as fireworks started end of June she stopped and started molting. She has not stopped losing her feathers since. Her feathers have grown back in but she cont. to lose feathers. They are fed a good feed forayers with lots of vitamins and also get calcium and dried worms and veggies some times. Both my girls are brown layers. Thanks for the good article!

Good article with good information.
We choose to allow the hens to rest when the daylight hours shorten. It's nice to give them time to rejuvenate their bodies, especially the older hens
after months of laying.
Typically, here most pullets will continue to lay through their first winter without additional lighting.

Thanks for the great article. I feed my hens layer pellets southern states brand. But if I don’t put calcium in with their food three nights a week their eggshells start to get very thin shells and break. Why isn’t there sufficient calcium in the food to keep the egg shells sturdy?

A well organized article with some interesting information.

I was a little surprised by the suggestion that regarding laying, today’s birds don’t need to rely on the sun... may be true but doesn’t feel in keeping with the spirit of BYC. Also, the effects of free ranging on egg quality would have been good to see.

Nice photos of some lovely hens. And that tall grass stash was most impressive! ???

Good laying is all well and good, but; I have always been of the thought, the more used anything is, the faster it wears out. My ?, can someone tell me if the standard breeds last/live longer producing, than the sexlinks. I would think that a RIR would live/produce longer than an ISA or sexlink.

Lots of good information on several good to know subjects. Thanks.

This article has some good facts about chicken behavior. Learned that some chickens will guard the nesting box so other chickens will have to lay their eggs somewhere else.

This article has some very basic information about things that affect egg production. More detail about diet and nutrition would be good.

All key points to be aware of. The best part is that there are more detailed articles on each of these individual point if you want more info. With regard to the lighting, and this is NOT my idea, I plan to utilize natural lighting into the fall and then augment when they are done molting. Give 'em an annual rest but not too much

thank you for sharing. Just what I needed to read!!

Well written, informative and to the point. Thank you.

Very informational!

Nice presentation of facts without opinions!

Some good points and tips. Encouraging egg laying during winter months with additional lighting may not be so good. I like to let them have the break in laying so there bodies can replenish minerals like calcium. If they lay constantly they are likely to stop laying completely sooner and can also be susceptible to laying issues like EYP, prolapses and brittle bones.

Good article that’s not too complicated. Easy reading that’s not overwhelming.