Cold weather and egg production

[chanteclerflock]

I was looking around on here to find out if the cold weather was to blame for my reduced egg production. I have a mixed flock of 15, mostly chantecler. It is cold up here, and the days are short. I keep a light on a timer to make sure they have 14 hours of light every day, but the last few weeks have been cold, and the last week it has been bitter cold. Egg production is off. Even with the extra light, can the cold weather cause the hens to lay less? Maybe the extra stress of the cold slows/stops egg production? I am down to about 5 eggs per day from 15 birds, while in the winter I get closer to 8 per day.

 

[Nemo]

Yes, the cold can kill egg production. I live in northern Wisconsin, and we had a cold spell in December / early January, and our 16 Buff Orps were down to a couple eggs per day. It warmed up a couple weeks ago, and we're back up to six-eight per day. When it was cold, I did start mixing in some meat-bird feed, which has a higher protein content than layer feed. Extra protein is s'posed to help.

 

[Gonzo]

Oh yeah! The cold weather made my egg count drop from 18 eggs per day to about 4.