Consolidated Kansas

[sharol]

That is so me. I leave the curtains open and spend as much time as I can outside but I so need the warmth and the sun. I get really depressed in winter. I normally take D3 which helps combat that SADD, but I'm all out.
I put the flower pot bases inside the metal canister under the light and socket. It really works well. I had several of those bases from old pots and they seem to fit right in most of the cookie tins. The ones I used were ceramic but you could use the clay pot ones and get the same effect.
I think you'll really like the sweeter heaters. The birds seem to really enjoy them as well. I've even used a sweeter heater for a litter of pups and it worked really well. Those Pyrenees litters can be so big that it helped the Mom keep the babies warm.
Hawkeye I used to plant peas the first of January in OKC. Then after it snowed in January they usually came up about the first week in February. The thing I noticed about OKC was that fall was about 6 weeks later than here and spring was about 6 weeks earlier.
I would certainly entertain moving back to OK if I could afford to. I honestly don't remember ever getting as much snow as you have gotten this winter.

My daughter suffers (and I do mean suffers) from SADD. She lived on the nw coast for quite a while (dark, rainy, gloomy 11 months a year) and had a full spectrum light she would sit under for a while when she got depressed. She called it her "happy light."

 

[chicken danz]

I can understand your daughter perfectly Sharol. I used to stop at a tanning booth a couple days on my way home from work if it got really dreary out for days on end. It would do wonders for my attitude and it also made me feel better all over. I don't think people that don't have SADD can even begin to understand what an effect it can have on a person. I am sure if I lived in Alaska they'd have to institutionalize me.

 

[Hawkeye95]

That is so me. I leave the curtains open and spend as much time as I can outside but I so need the warmth and the sun. I get really depressed in winter. I normally take D3 which helps combat that SADD, but I'm all out.
I put the flower pot bases inside the metal canister under the light and socket. It really works well. I had several of those bases from old pots and they seem to fit right in most of the cookie tins. The ones I used were ceramic but you could use the clay pot ones and get the same effect.
I think you'll really like the sweeter heaters. The birds seem to really enjoy them as well. I've even used a sweeter heater for a litter of pups and it worked really well. Those Pyrenees litters can be so big that it helped the Mom keep the babies warm.
Hawkeye I used to plant peas the first of January in OKC. Then after it snowed in January they usually came up about the first week in February. The thing I noticed about OKC was that fall was about 6 weeks later than here and spring was about 6 weeks earlier.
I would certainly entertain moving back to OK if I could afford to. I honestly don't remember ever getting as much snow as you have gotten this winter.

We are speaking the same language here. I have thought about light therapy! As Sharol suggested, I have read it really works. And I have a friend who is doing it right now as she is fighting the winter depression too. I didn't actually think about a tanning booth... but why not? That's actually not a bad idea-- I could probably only go for like 5 mins, but I bet I would feel better. (I am like super powder pale)

 

[zigzag45]

As a bird newbie, I've looked for a good list that specifies general laying expectations for different breeds. It's always hard for me when I ask a breeder how one of their breeds lay and they say, "Really well." In fact, I don't think I've talked to a breeder yet that has told me one of their breeds lay poorly. Maybe I just always ask about the right kind of breeds.

Anyways, I came across this. I know each bird will vary, and the blood-lines I'm sure factor in as well. But, in general, does this look like a pretty good list:
http://theweekendprepper.com/raising-animals/top-10-egg-laying-chickens/

Do you think there are other breeds the author missed that are in that 200, even 250+ range?

 

[chicken danz]

Not sure that is a great list. There are so many other awesome layers. Orpingtons for instance can crank out eggs like clockwork as well as Brahmas. The sex link birds are really awesome for laying if you don't get attached to your birds and only want them for layers. But these girls only lay for about a 2 year max and then they are done. Sussex are great layers for off season because they tend to not lay when others do and lay more when the others slow down. The one up on the sex link is that they tend to lay year round, which is great if you don't mind replacing them every 18 months or so.

 

[Trish44]

As a bird newbie, I've looked for a good list that specifies general laying expectations for different breeds. It's always hard for me when I ask a breeder how one of their breeds lay and they say, "Really well." In fact, I don't think I've talked to a breeder yet that has told me one of their breeds lay poorly. Maybe I just always ask about the right kind of breeds.

Anyways, I came across this. I know each bird will vary, and the blood-lines I'm sure factor in as well. But, in general, does this look like a pretty good list:
http://theweekendprepper.com/raising-animals/top-10-egg-laying-chickens/

Do you think there are other breeds the author missed that are in that 200, even 250+ range?

Here is another site that shows a lot more breeds & info. If you look at the line with the breed it shows how many eggs per week by showing not a number but drawings of eggs so you can still see how many average per week. Here is the link: http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

There are other breeds besides what that site listed you mentioned. Those are great layers but not all of them.

Boy I hate this weather too & I know my birds are going to be glad when it warms up as well. There just isn't much for them to forage for out there right now. They keep trying, bless their hearts but there just isn't much to find. I have a pond up in my backyard, it used to have goldfish in it & I just pretty much ignore it any more. The goats destroyed my rock ledge when they were out & the GPs think it's their personal drinking place. Anyway, I guess one of the frogs from there went to hibernate under the windbreak we have on the north side & one day I was looking out the bathroom window & saw a hen with a huge frog in her mouth. She was running for all it was worth carrying that big thing with a bunch of other hens right after her, I just had to laugh at them.

 

[zigzag45]

@chicken danz -I had noticed my list didn't have Orpingtons on it. I've been really happy with mine.

@Trish44 - That table is great. Way better than mine. That's the kind of information I've been looking for.

 

[milomac]

As a bird newbie, I've looked for a good list that specifies general laying expectations for different breeds. It's always hard for me when I ask a breeder how one of their breeds lay and they say, "Really well." In fact, I don't think I've talked to a breeder yet that has told me one of their breeds lay poorly. Maybe I just always ask about the right kind of breeds.

Anyways, I came across this. I know each bird will vary, and the blood-lines I'm sure factor in as well. But, in general, does this look like a pretty good list:
http://theweekendprepper.com/raising-animals/top-10-egg-laying-chickens/

Do you think there are other breeds the author missed that are in that 200, even 250+ range?

I have no personal experience but am hearing that turkens are super layers, and the last several leghorns I have owned have not been fidgety birds but as calm as the rest of the flock. I now have a silky rooster with my girls and he seems to make the flock as a whole more flighty

 

[Hawkeye95]

My Wyandottes and Barred Rocks have always layed really well. My neighbors had Buff Orpingtons, and I swear they laid better than anything I had. ZigZag-- you mentioned you haven't heard anyone mention a breed that doesn't lay well. I call tell you quite honestly that Silkies are horrible layers. An egg every three days. And they often go on strike because they go broody at the drop of a hat. Which is why I hatch all year long, I have to gather and hatch everything I can collect! ha! So there you go! A really bad layer to add to your list.

Trish-- I sure wish they would eat mice as well as frogs. I am mouse-ridden in the barn. It's ridiculous. I have set traps and am now moving to the enclosed bait (where they have to walk inside of the bait house). I hope I can start to thin them down. The chickens just watch the mice eat right out of their feeders and do nothing about it. Sheesh!

MIlomac, why do you think the Silkie roo makes the flock more flighty? Is he predator watching and making calls for them to hide? Or is he just really rowdy? Depending on how well he can see, he might be pretty active. My Silkies boys really can't see worth a darn, so they are less active/reactive and would make horrible predator patrol.

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

@Hawkeye95 it must be a laid back silkie thing. My flock (very mixed at moment) will eat mice if they catch them. They needed some help this year though (the mice have been terrible) and I got some kittens to keep stritly in the coop. Although they like to hang out on the back porch, we have no sign of mice in the coop anymore!