Egg production dropped even with supplemental lighting-why?

[tweetzone86]

T

You can sprinkle a bit on the feed in the feeder, you don't have to dose whole 50# bag.

If light is bright enough where the birds are, it doesn't matter how dark it is outside. But I do think that maybe the cloudy days may have an effect (we have a lot of cloudy days here) as may the decrease of day length before Solstice. Unless you can control the light timer by minutes, they can sense that decrease.
Solstice is only one day, when the earth tilts and days begin to grow longer.
A month before and after Solstice days are still pretty short tho.
By end of January here, we'll have gained a good 30+ minutes.
Look at dateandtime.info to see the daily changes of sunrise and sunset times in your area.

Their timer is by minutes/half hour increments and goes on at 2 am and off at 4 pm.

 

[tweetzone86]

Flock raiser is great! Though it is better to let them self regulate how much calcium they want. I just use tiny containers attached to the hardware cloth with little s-hooks (hardly takes any space at all) filled with free choice OS and grit.
View attachment 1631858

The additional scratch could be a factor... it has very little nutritional content. and should be limited to only 10% or less of regular feed. You might already be know this, but chickens only eat approximately ¼ lb per day. So with 12 birds eating 4 lbs daily, they should only be getting about A HALF CUP of scratch and treats total for everyone. It's really easy to overfeed because scratch is irresistible and they would much prefer to fill their crops with it... possibly at the cost of producing eggs.

But in actuality, I think the real reason is because chickens are not machines... and they just do what they want, no matter how much we wish otherwise. My first batch of assorted breed girls all started laying at 18 weeks old... so why wouldn't all other chickens of the same breeds start laying at exactly that same age?
Well, of my (3) 34 week old pullets, only 1 has started laying... ONE!! Go figure.

I agree. Chickens can be persnickety sometimes

 

[tweetzone86]

You can sprinkle a bit on the feed in the feeder, you don't have to dose whole 50# bag.

If light is bright enough where the birds are, it doesn't matter how dark it is outside. But I do think that maybe the cloudy days may have an effect (we have a lot of cloudy days here) as may the decrease of day length before Solstice. Unless you can control the light timer by minutes, they can sense that decrease.
Solstice is only one day, when the earth tilts and days begin to grow longer.
A month before and after Solstice days are still pretty short tho.
By end of January here, we'll have gained a good 30+ minutes.
Look at dateandtime.info to see the daily changes of sunrise and sunset times in your area.

Also a note- my feeder is a sterilite tote that holds a 50# bag of feed (I made it with 4 pvc elbows so the chickens would stop wasting it) which is why I dosed the whole 50# with the OS.

 

[tweetzone86]

What time of day do you turn on the lights? I noticed that my girls work better with early morning light. That seems to get them jump started on the eggs. I use a battery operated LED lantern that I turn on at 5:30 am. I usually get an egg or two, sometimes 3 by 7 am when daylight breaks.

It turns on at 2 am and off at 4 (which is close to sunset).

 

[tweetzone86]

I'm sorry if you thought I was being rude. I was just giving my opinion and sometimes I can go overboard. I will try harder the next time not to be rude. Hope your hens start laying better soon. We are getting more daylight now. I hate that other "time" Wish we could stay on this "time" all the time. KWIM

All is forgiven

 

[tweetzone86]

I'm not an expert on chickens, just learning myself. But I do know animal behavior. Perhaps something is stressing them out?

The snow maybe? They aren't fans at all...

 

[Aceoky]

I agree it's likely stress and snow is the likely cause. Your chickens your choice to add light or not, it is all good we do what WE believe is best, all anyone can do really. Hope it goes back to peak production for you ASAP

 

[aart]

Their timer is by minutes/half hour increments and goes on at 2 am and off at 4 pm.

So 30 minute increments?
Same here.
I do believe they sense the natural decrease, despite the timed lights.
Timer would have to be changed daily to stay ahead of the natural light....
....hard to do without the right equipment and a programming affinity.

I think they'll pick up here soon....my pullets already have been.
But there's just no telling with live animals.

Also a note- my feeder is a sterilite tote that holds a 50# bag of feed (I made it with 4 pvc elbows so the chickens would stop wasting it) which is why I dosed the whole 50# with the OS.

Ah, I see.

 

[WindingRoad]

All is forgiven

Thank you.

 

[feathermaid]

So 30 minute increments?
Same here.
I do believe they sense the natural decrease, despite the timed lights.

I think she means the light goes on at 2am and stays on for 14 hours straight until 4pm in the afternoon, thus giving 14 hours of light. No changes in increments.