can you wear out your chickens early?

[missychicky]

I have a light in my chicken coop so my girls are laying like crazy. I was wondering, do chickens run out of eggs or do they just stop producing? does leaving the light on make it more likely that my chickens will stop laying early? I dont want to wear them out so i need to know, is this bad for them?

 

[HEChicken]

Hens are born with all the eggs they'll ever lay. Once they've laid them all, that's it. Sexlinks, described as "egg laying machines" lay almost daily but burn out much more quickly than a hen who only lays 3-4 times a week. Adding light to encourage laying in the winter will not mean you get more eggs - the hen will simply "retire" sooner than she would have otherwise.

 

[Mahonri]

You will hear arguments on both sides.

If you lived in Ecuador, on the equator, a place where there is ALWAYS 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness, and if you didn't light the coop, the chickens would always have 12 hours of light a day. Didn't chickens originate in Indonesia? near the Equator?

I'm on the side that says 14 hours of light every day, year round isn't going to hurt them.

 

[mamaKate]

Lots of people do it. I like letting them keep a natural cycle. Yes, I believe it will shorten their laying career.

 

[missychicky]

ok i'll think about that, and mamakate- PLEASE answer my other post!!

 

[chickenshagg]

I'm not selling eggs so I'm not worried about how many eggs I get. I just let my girls lay as they will. I do try to insure that they have good food and fresh water available to them all the time.