Couple questions on deep litter and feathers

[MeepBeep]

Leave the feathers in there, they are a very, very slow release nitrogen fertilizer and won't do any harm...

As for not laying the above post hit the nail on the head, molting combined with lack of daylight hours combined with cooler weather causes many chickens to cease egg laying for weeks if not months...

 

[Thechickmama]

Leave the feathers in there, they are a very, very slow release nitrogen fertilizer and won't do any harm...

As for not laying the above post hit the nail on the head, molting combined with lack of daylight hours combined with cooler weather causes many chickens to cease egg laying for weeks if not months...

is their any solution to have them lay sooner?

 

[ak rain]

Add a light. I'm not sure of minimum light needed. I do know they need dark too for sleep.
Ak rain

 

[MeepBeep]

is their any solution to have them lay sooner?

Yes, supplemental lighting so they get 14-16 hours of light a day might help and is generally the easiest fix and the only one needed... If that alone doesn't work you might need to also raise the coop temp above freeing, but this needs to be done safely and won't have anywhere near the effect increasing light does, it's more like the cherry on top for birds that don't like laying in cooler weather...

Light should only be increased by 15-20 minutes a day until you get to the 14-16 hours, if you increase it too fast it can even further disrupt egg laying...

Also be aware that neither will be effective during the molting process, the molting process has to be completed for a few weeks or even a month before they start laying again...

 

[Thechickmama]

Ok thanks, I put on supplemental lighting the second the sun goes down, and turn it off about 15 min the sun comes up.

 

[mountainlover]

We haven't used a light before, but I will consider it. I didn't want to force them in to laying unnaturally, but I also can't afford to just feed chickens that don't lay. So I will let them finish molting and see where we are then. I do think we have had a lot more dreary cloudy weather than usual lately, and it gets dark super early. Thanks for the advice on the feathers too. I guess I'll just leave them. It sure looks like something got in there and ate a chicken! We have a black fox that likes to check out the area every now and then but he can't get in. Doesn't stop him from coming around to make sure!

 

[MeepBeep]

Ok thanks, I put on supplemental lighting the second the sun goes down, and turn it off about 15 min the sun comes up.

24 hour lighting is no good, they need dark down time...

Start adding 15-20 minutes onto the day, and adjust the lighting every two weeks as the normal lighting hours change...

It's generally a good idea to add the time before sunrise, that way the natural sunset returns them to the coop to sleep...

Look at your sunset and sunrise in my area for example today is 6:56 AM Sunrise and 4:21 PM Sunset...

So if you were in my area the lights would come on at about 1:30 AM - 2:00 AM, and stay on until about 8:00 AM, coop door would be opened about 7:30 AM (make sure the light is left on in excess of coop door opening, if you open the coop door at noon, you need to leave the supplemental lighting on until after noon) to let the natural light in, the birds would naturally return to roost in the coop about 4:30 PM when the sun goes down... As the days get longer and sunset gets later I would start turning on the light later and later to hold the daily light hours the same...

This away they always get about 14-16 hours of light... Just remember you don't want to jump to lights going on at 1:30 AM instantly, you want to gradually increase the daylight each day by 15-20 minutes...

 

[MeepBeep]

I didn't want to force them in to laying unnaturally

One must consider most production breeds of chicken (less heritage) have been bred to lay all year, it's not really that unnatural to them anymore... But, there are still pros and cons the biggest one is that chickens only have so many eggs (about 900) inside them at birth, so the more they lay each year lessens the years they will lay...

 

[Thechickmama]

Ok thanks!!!!

 

[mountainlover]

That's all very good advice and thank you for the clear explanations. Do you yourself use a timer for the light? I don't think I would want to be going out there to turn it on that early in the morning! Lol. And what kind of light do you use? Once they stop laying, I will have to deal with what I'm going to do with them. I know it's stupid, but I don't know if I could kill and eat them. But I also can't just feed them forever. What do you all do?