Complete Shutdown

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't had an egg from my girls in months, I got them all last spring. My SS hasn't laid an egg ever, late bloomer? 2 out of the 3 did have a bit of a molt so I started feeding feather fixer from Nutrena.

In the meantime they are just hanging out.....I don't mind as I didn't necessarily get them for the eggs, more for entertainment, weed and bug control in the garden....

By February, you'll have an hour more light than you do today. Eggs will be forthcoming soon from birds that age.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

@ChickenCanoe - The breed chart you linked is very informative. One thing I misunderstood when I first got chickens 3 years ago is this average egg-laying per year. I assumed since a hen was going to lay for 3 - 5 years that these numbers would stay for all their laying years. (No chart I ever saw noted that this was "First Year of Lay". What I've seen is the 1st year is like the charts and each year after is way down from that. Is that expected? My first two years were Wyandottes, and so last year I got a variety pack to see how other breeds compared.

Personally, I think this chart is for an average year and includes molt/winter break. It is an ALBC chart of heritage breeds which should live and lay for several years. The numbers in the chart are low for the first laying cycle of pullets/hens.
For example, an Ancona may lay well over 200 eggs the first laying cycle but the chart says 120-180. The same goes for most of the other breeds.

 

[Mimi13]

Have always done well with Red sex-Links, reliable eggers for quite a while, have to say the most recent have lived the longest, did a grower formula for a while in the late fall and I think that helped, considering going back to it as ChickNanny13 suggested...

Just yesterday I noticed two of my nearly 3 yo hens “trying out” the nest boxes (they are both fully feathered now after molt) and I laughed and was a bit shocked, too. After all, our daylight hours here in East Central Alabama are a mere 10 hours. The days are lengthening, but still are short for a laying hen. Since I have plenty of pullets I have not used supplemental lighting, even though it would probably help because not all of my first year girls have continued to lay.

Anyway, I was suprised to see one of my first girls, an Amberlink, actually lay an egg. That just really shocked me. And of course it was her normal extra large egg. I don’t have egg scales, but you can see it (middle) is much larger than my others. My Amberlink is my most standoffish bird, but she has been my best layer by far. The egg in the bottom right is from my White Rock and is probably the largest of the eggs I get from the 9 month old pullets.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Just yesterday I noticed two of my nearly 3 yo hens “trying out” the nest boxes (they are both fully feathered now after molt) and I laughed and was a bit shocked, too. After all, our daylight hours here in East Central Alabama are a mere 10 hours. The days are lengthening, but still are short for a laying hen. ...View attachment 1636409

I'm firmly convinced, reproduction is less about the length of day but primarily whether days are lengthening in relation to decreasing darkness.
The pineal gland recognizes light period increasing vis a vis dark period. That reduces the amount of melatonin, the hormone that affects ovulation. Increasing light rejuvenates the gonads. It doesn't matter if day length is 7 hours or 14 hours.

 

[Mimi13]

I'm firmly convinced, reproduction is less about the length of day but primarily whether days are lengthening in relation to decreasing darkness.

Well that definitely makes sense. These past few days have been sunny and near 70*. The crickets and frogs were nearly deafening. I guess the girls were just “feeling” it.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well that definitely makes sense. These past few days have been sunny and near 70*. The crickets and frogs were nearly deafening. I guess the girls were just “feeling” it.

I edited my previous post to explain the cause. Temperature has very little effect. It could be 10F or 80F. If light period is increasing vs. dark period, the hormones will change and ovulation will be on the horizon.

 

[Mimi13]

I edited my previous post to explain the cause. Temperature doesn't have any effect either. It could be 10F or 80F. If light period is increasing, ovulation will be on the horizon.

Thank you, that makes perfect sense.

 

[wild chick]

Personally, I think this chart is for an average year and includes molt/winter break. It is an ALBC chart of heritage breeds which should live and lay for several years. The numbers in the chart are low for the first laying cycle of pullets/hens.
For example, an Ancona may lay well over 200 eggs the first laying cycle but the chart says 120-180. The same goes for most of the other breeds.

Well that's good news! I'm still learning and every step is more interesting all the time. I will have to double check, but I think year one with 9 pullets I had more eggs than year 2 with 5 pullets and 7 hens. I had no way of knowing who was doing all the laying, or not, since they all laid similar brown eggs. Also the first year of real molt they took about 4 - 6 weeks off. This year the older birds have taken almost 3 months off. No, I don't do lights, I let them take their break. Hope I'm not hyjacking the thread, I'm just trying to learn more about the older hens taking a longer vacation each winter! Thanks for the info!