egg count down

[lumpster1961]

Hello all we have 18 hens. Different breeds. up until last week we were getting 12 to 17 eggs a day. We live in new hampshire the temps have dropped. They eat store bought food 16 percent protein they have water there is light in the coop 16 hrs. we have gone down to 3 0r 4 eggs a day. why? thank yall

 

[Hei 20]

Hello all we have 18 hens. Different breeds. up until last week we were getting 12 to 17 eggs a day. We live in new hampshire the temps have dropped. They eat store bought food 16 percent protein they have water there is light in the coop 16 hrs. we have gone down to 3 0r 4 eggs a day. why? thank yall

 

[aart]

Hello all we have 18 hens. Different breeds. up until last week we were getting 12 to 17 eggs a day. We live in new hampshire the temps have dropped. They eat store bought food 16 percent protein they have water there is light in the coop 16 hrs. we have gone down to 3 0r 4 eggs a day. why? thank yall

How old are your birds, in weeks or months?

How long have you had the light on for 16 hours a day?
Is it controlled by a timer, when does it come on and go off?

Do you free range?

 

[lumpster1961]

They are 8 months old. Light comes on by timer at 5am off 9 pm no free range. A fenced run.

 

[aart]

They are 8 months old. Light comes on by timer at 5am off 9 pm no free range. A fenced run.

Have they always had this lighting.....or did you start using recently?

 

[Studabird]

IMHO you can do all the tricks but you can’t trick temp and they know it is cold and they also know the sun is setting when you coop them. And that is why egg production drops until the temp kinda stabilizes as cold as crap then the artificial light might kick the product back up.

 

[lumpster1961]

They have always had it since they have been in coop

 

[aart]

They have always had it since they have been in coop

That could be part of the problem....not only is length of day important, but whether it is increasing or decreasing is part of the rhythm.
Supplemental lighting can be tricky to manage.
You'll want to let your birds molt next fall,
so turn off or reduce the duration of lighting on summer solstice(~June 22).
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.