Are our girls worn out already?

[aart]

Do the people who add supplemental lighting have food and water inside the coop? Assuming that the chickens wake up and get active when the lights come on at 4 am, do they need food and water before they are let out of the coop at 7 or 8 am?

Yes, they need feed and water every hour they are awake.
I keep my feed and water in the coop anyway.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm not sure. I start 4am to 8am sooner, as in mid September.
Mary

 

[TexasTurkeyMama]

We were seeing fewer eggs when the TX blast furnace started up this summer. Is this because the hens expend their body energy cooling themselves?

 

[BullChick]

The downside to supplementing light is that you’re messing with nature. Molting allows the body to rest, and heal. Also, once they begin laying again after the first molt, the eggs are bigger.
A hen’s comb pales as the year goes on. After a rest, it’s a healthy red again. The rejuvenation is more apparent in ducks. Their bills and feet get pale.

 

[slordaz]

Mine produce without adding light even in the frigid northern winters, see a small reduction in eggs, but they sure get demanding for meal worms when there aren't any bugs to be found. 7 hens winter time production is still usually 3-4 a day and they are 2.75 years old Spring through fall molt they are 6-7 a day

 

[slordaz]

I don't supplement light anymore. I have when I had no choice but not because of wanting eggs. Instead, I now have chickens who will lay throughout the winter and those who will start in the spring. I'm all for giving them a rest.

My hens are pretty good, they stay with the eggs until another one comes to lay and that one stays with eggs in the winter until I get out to gather them, I've only lost 1 days laid eggs in almost 2 years with the way they do that, so hoping they teach the new pullets too

 

[Flashpoint]

My hens are pretty good, they stay with the eggs until another one comes to lay and that one stays with eggs in the winter until I get out to gather them, I've only lost 1 days laid eggs in almost 2 years with the way they do that, so hoping they teach the new pullets too

Right now I have several different breeds. Light Brahmas, Black Jersey Giants, Speckled Sussex, Dominiques, Columbian Wyandottes, Buff Orpington, the Silkie, California Whites, some Australorp/Wyandotte crosses, along with 3 ducks and 8 turkeys. I don't think I will run out of eggs anytime soon.


Altogether, about 40 birds. That's just the birds.

 

[Folly's place]

Heat really isn't the story here. Hens eat more to stay warm in winter, especially if there's nothing wonderful out there in the snow. BUT it's hours of light per day that actually impacts egg production most. Sixteen hours of light (can be dim) per day is what maximizes winter egg production.
Mary

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

OK, we got some new hens today and I set up lighting in the coop on a timer. I have it set for 6 - 8 AM. That would be about 13 hours of light. The CEO, my wife, says I should taper back up to 16 hours a day. Personally, I think it would be good to go right to 16 now.

What do y'all think? Should I taper back up to 16 hrs of light?

 

[RenoHuskerDu]

We saw that too. But I figured out that ice cubes melted over pellets makes a cold slurry that our girls just love. Egg production went back up.

Downside is adding new ice cubes every hour or so, all day long!