Decreased Egg Production Even WITH Supplemental Lighting??

[jshreck]

My egg production is down also. I do not supplement their light except for a couple hours in the morning. Out of the last 4 days I've gotten 3 days of 5 eggs and 1 day of 8 eggs. I have 17 hens. I'm thinking some are moulting as there are lots of feathers in the coop. At least 5 EE's are not laying at all and I have 7 of them. My girls were born in March and April.

So odd you said that about your EE's-- I have 3× 1.5yos and 5x Hatched this past spring and in 2+weeks have seen no EE eggs... My 10 brown layers are laying albeit not well but 4-6 a day from the 2x 1.5yos and 8 spring hatches. I wonder why there is a difference? We also supplement a few hours of light in the morning but I let them out of the coop before I leave for work when it is still dark-- I wonder if most of them are spending those 2 hours or so in the run not getting the benefits of the light in the coop?

 

[aart]

I've always thought artificial light just isn't up to sunlight. There are no UV's for example.

What I do know is CFL's are disturbing to chickens. We can't see the flicker, but they can.

I only use incandescent bulbs. Full spectrum is probably the way to go if I really wanted to mimic sunlight,
but I prefer my hens to slow down when it gets cold. It gives their reproductive organs time to heal.

The much faster flicker rates on the newer ballasts supposedly do not bother birds like the older ballasts with slower flicker rates.

 

[cluckcluckhens]

You might as well add me to the mix. Our Hens isn't laying either. The last egg we got was on November 30th, it's been 8 days now and yes they are molting right now but they have been laying. We started turning the indoor light on in their palace (coop) from 4-7 in the afternoon to evening hours. So, far it has not helped. For the last two days they have been staying in the palace because of high winds. We are in the PNW. We have only 7 Hens and we have been getting one or two a day now it's zero in 8 days. Last few days it's been 60 degrees. Not sure what the problem is either. Have to wait until spring to see if they lay if they don't start laying again. We have rainy and cloudy days here so it is dark in the palace during the day. Four of them just came out even though it is windy!

 

[Bridebeliever]

Yes, I'm in PNW too. I'm so glad I have electricity in my coop! I can see needing to use supplimental light year round. Our coop is in a forest area and never gets much light.

 

[dolfi]

Hey all. My girls have stopped laying for about two months now. I have 4 hen, which are awesome layers, but seems to be taking their time to give me some eggs. Lol. I will add some light in.

 

[DigMyChicks]

I got 5 again today...all brown. I get a pretty blue egg from my EE about every other day right now. She was laying every day so I'm thinking it's still the shorter days. We will see what happens...

So odd you said that about your EE's-- I have 3× 1.5yos and 5x Hatched this past spring and in 2+weeks have seen no EE eggs... My 10 brown layers are laying albeit not well but 4-6 a day from the 2x 1.5yos and 8 spring hatches. I wonder why there is a difference? We also supplement a few hours of light in the morning but I let them out of the coop before I leave for work when it is still dark-- I wonder if most of them are spending those 2 hours or so in the run not getting the benefits of the light in the coop?

 

[Betsy57]

My main question: Does egg production dramatically decrease in winter even WITH supplemental lighting?

I'm a first time flock owner of 13 laying hens which include golden comets, easter eggers, barred rocks, black australorps and a welsummer. They were born on 2/9/15 and have been laying like champions since they started laying in June of this year. Throughout the summer we were averaging 10-12 eggs a day. A low production day was considered 7-8 eggs and that happened maybe once a week at the most.

We added supplemental lighting to our 8x10 coop and 8x12 adjoining fenced run about 8 weeks ago and egg production remained high. This supplemental lighting comes on at 3am and goes off about an hour after sunrise. Sunset is around 5:30 pm so this provides the hens 14 hours of daylight.

About 2 weeks ago we had a STEEP drop in egg production resulting in only 4-6 eggs per day. I know reduced light in the winter causes a decrease in production, but I thought adding the supplemental light would head this off. Given the age of the hens, I don't believe this could be the start of molting. The drop in production does coincides with our weather turning cold enough for coat and gloves (high 20's at night, 40's during the day) but I didn't think weather had an effect, only the decreased hours of light that accompany winter. Does anyone know what else could be causing the drop off in production? I sell egg subscriptions and I am going to have to refund customers' money since this reduced level of egg production is too low to provide my promised quota of eggs.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with a newbie. Tricia

I've never had a drop in production with hens that haven't been laying for a year yet when winter hits. I have some that are 1 year 8 months and their laying has cut in half even with the lighting. I just use a 60 watt bulb and that has always worked for me. Mine are slacking because they've been laying for over a year and so it is time for a bit of rest for them. Some are molting. None have stopped completely; they just lay 2-3 eggs a week instead of 4-5 a week.

 

[Lady Viola]

I keep a light on 24 hours around the clock, and don't turn it off, on cold night I put a heat lamp out there and turn it on, keep it just about 3 feet from my hens. If they get to warm they can move away, if they get chilly they can move closer to it. I have nine hens, and get 8 to 9 eggs a day.
Mrs.Porter

 

[AmericanMom]

Hey all. My girls have stopped laying for about two months now. I have 4 hen, which are awesome layers, but seems to be taking their time to give me some eggs. Lol. I will add some light in.

Personally, I think it wouldn't matter.. Do a search of Winter Solstice laying within the BYC website.. Its amazing how many people's hens restart production around that time.. I thought it was bunk then 2 years ago mine started laying and then last year the same thing happened.. Winter Solstice happens around the 20th of December (not exactly sure on the date) But when giving light to the hens it should be done in late summer. It would take about 3 weeks for you to see any difference so its to late at this point if they haven't been laying for two months...

 

[pfields]

I'm having the same problem. I have 45 hens and I'm getting between 24 and 26 eggs a day. I have a florescent light fixture with daylight bulbs that comes on at 6 am and goes off at 8 pm. Last winter this time with only 24 hens I was getting 14-16 eggs a day. I changed to florescent because the bulbs last so much longer and it's really hot here in the summer and they burn cool.