Chickens laying less in the winter.

[Jajika]

My girls are still laying a few eggs every day in spite of the short days of light. An `old timer` chicken farmer told me the best way to keep them laying is to feed them fresh spinach every day. We tried it and it works !!!! Simple.

I've been giving my girls spinach for years. I get a big bag at Costco and throw out a bit most days. Sometimes I give them yogurt, which they also love, plus melon in the summer. This is in addition to their laying crumble and a small mix of scratch in it. Lots of variety but mostly their main diet. Like us, they like a variety.

 

[kubotafoot]

That’s a great idea, as long as you put the shells on the side and don’t mix them directly into the food. However; oyster shells will just contribute to strong, healthy eggshells. It does not cause the chicken to lay.

I have mixed the shells directly into the food....kind of a mush, especially liked in the winter for 21 years and never had any troubles of any type I could discern. What is the concern of mixing the dried and pulverized shells into the feed, please?

 

[Tashua]

My gals are 20 weeks old I'm waiting and waiting and waiting ........no eggs yet

 

[Solange73]

Mine have just started laying after the fall molt. I got the biggest egg I’ve ever seen yesterday, see photo. These are Bielefelder hens now 13 months old now, hatched here last winter. I wear XL gloves and my wedding ring is size 11 1/2. Thing is huge!

Usually when the start laying they are boosted with hormones and now and then you’ll get a huge egg ... it usually contains 2 yokes

 

[WindingRoad]

I have mixed the shells directly into the food....kind of a mush, especially liked in the winter for 21 years and never had any troubles of any type I could discern. What is the concern of mixing the dried and pulverized shells into the feed, please?

Some people believe that the chicken(s) might get too much. I think if you aren't putting out 10 lbs of fine grown up eggshells you're ok. JMHO. good luck.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I have mixed the shells directly into the food....kind of a mush, especially liked in the winter for 21 years and never had any troubles of any type I could discern. What is the concern of mixing the dried and pulverized shells into the feed, please?

Excess calcium can possibly cause kidney problems over a long period of time.

 

[kubotafoot]

Excess calcium can possibly cause kidney problems over a long period of time.

OK. I get it, but from a family of 2 that eat eggs maybe twice a week, I think we and the birds are pretty safe. Thanks for the head's up.

 

[briteday]

I'm a medical biochemist. The amount of oxalic acid in moderation found in spinach is not going to hurt the chickens. The oxalic acid in the spinach will also bind the calcium found in that same spinach, but nothing else. I wouldn't give them a diet of only spinach, but as long as the remainder of the diet is balanced, there would be no problem I know of to feed spinach or any other leafy green.
Perhaps the birds lacked some nutrients found in the leafy greens. I would be curious if you fed them kale or chard (similar nutrients to spinach) if you would get the same reaction.

 

[kubotafoot]

Thanks for the scientific analysis. It's always easier for me to have facts for a base to assimilate it better, but that's just me. Right now my hens are eating ground orange peels when they won't touch them in the summer....Do they, indeed, know what nutrients they need or is it just they are bored and the orange peel is different? I know with my goats, they will not eat citrus some days and then other days, they gobble it. I was told they know what they need (not want) and eat with that in mind. Chickens as well???

 

[willowbeam]

Good to know! We have an EE that we got as a laying hen and she hasn’t laid a single egg since October. Our BO and red sex link pullets started laying then, and my BO is laying daily. Hoping to get my EE back into the game.

I have always used a timer for a light in the winter. It comes on around 5 goes off around 8:30. Gives them the added light and really helps keep them laying through the winter.