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[Mosey2003]

Up here in IL I've been getting between 0-5 from 12 pullets. Dismal lol.

 

[aart]

Up here in IL I've been getting between 0-5 from 12 pullets. Dismal lol.

Are you using lights?

 

[Mosey2003]

Are you using lights?

Not yet. Been so busy with Mom that I just haven't made it a priority. I'm going to start them on light soon.

 

[aart]

Not yet. Been so busy with Mom that I just haven't made it a priority. I'm going to start them on light soon.

I am using lights and the pullets are still slacking...but might be my breeds.
BCM and CCL make great Olive Eggers but neither are prolific layers, apparently and especially in winter.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

My hens are laying quite well with barely 10 - 11 hours of light (that includes 1 hour of LED lantern in the coop). I'm thinking of adding two hens in the Spring so I'll have some eggs when the older ones start their first molt next Fall. It's just me and currently with 5 hens I have a surplus of eggs. As far as adding extra light, I thought you should start this in early Autumn when the days start to get shorter? The solstice is tomorrow so the days will be getting longer. Correct me if I got this wrong.

 

[aart]

My hens are laying quite well with barely 10 - 11 hours of light (that includes 1 hour of LED lantern in the coop). I'm thinking of adding two hens in the Spring so I'll have some eggs when the older ones start their first molt next Fall. It's just me and currently with 5 hens I have a surplus of eggs. As far as adding extra light, I thought you should start this in early Autumn when the days start to get shorter? The solstice is tomorrow so the days will be getting longer. Correct me if I got this wrong.

Your pullets are laying quite well, they often do their first winter...can depend on breed, diet, and environment.

I've started adding lights later in year, like about now, so the olders can fully molt, some will start as early as mid august(when the light really starts decreasing), and just had the last one start last week. Even have the oldest pullet(hatched in march) doing a partial molt now.

Yes, Solstice is tomorrow, Yay!!
But...gain will be mere seconds for quite awhile, end of january will see about 30 minutes more than now. I use dateandtime.info to track the light in my area.



FYI.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Your pullets are laying quite well, they often do their first winter...can depend on breed, diet, and environment.

I've started adding lights later in year, like about now, so the olders can fully molt, some will start as early as mid august(when the light really starts decreasing), and just had the last one start last week. Even have the oldest pullet(hatched in march) doing a partial molt now.

Yes, Solstice is tomorrow, Yay!!
But...gain will be mere seconds for quite awhile, end of january will see about 30 minutes more than now. I use dateandtime.info to track the light in my area.



FYI.....semantics, maybe, but can be important communication terms when discussing chicken behavior.
Female chickens are called pullets until one year of age, then they are called hens.
Male chickens are called cockerels until one year of age, then they are called cocks(or cockbirds or roosters).
Age in weeks or months is always a good thing to note.

I'll try to keep that mind. All 6 of my chickens hatched on 18 April of this year.

 

[Old Philosopher]

My experience this winter:
I'm at 48.89 N latitude. I'm getting 9 1/2hrs of natural daylight right now. I have a photocell timer on my coop light to add 4 hrs of light after dark, and is located outside the coop. I don't have a lot of windows in the coop, so "daylight" outside doesn't light the coop up much before 10:30-11:00 am. Inside the coop, they were probably getting more like 8 hrs of light, including the artificial lighting.
My 7 bird flock molted around the last week of Oct, 1st week of November. In November I had no eggs. No eggs in December.
About a week ago I changed the single 60w light in the 250 sq foot coop to stay on 24 hrs/day. The light is about 12 feet from the roosts and nesting boxes.
I now have 12 eggs since changing the lighting.
The eggs are all being laid in the morning hours, supporting the idea that morning light is more important than evening light.
My entire flock is now over 6 years old, made up of Australorpes and Americanas. I thank them every day for giving me any eggs at all. LOL. I'll be adding some new birds in the Spring.

(Side note: I've raised chickens, off and on, for 40 years, but only had a rooster recently. He passed from old age (6 1/2yrs) in November. I struggled with what I thought was a mite infestation, and later determined was 'rooster damage' to the hens for months. When this last molt was past, and so was the rooster (my avatar), my hens now look like real chickens, instead of dog chew toys. My advice is that if you don't need a rooster to replenish your stock, do your girls a favor and put him in the stew pot!)

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

My experience this winter:
I'm at 48.89 N latitude. I'm getting 9 1/2hrs of natural daylight right now. I have a photocell timer on my coop light to add 4 hrs of light after dark, and is located outside the coop. I don't have a lot of windows in the coop, so "daylight" outside doesn't light the coop up much before 10:30-11:00 am. Inside the coop, they were probably getting more like 8 hrs of light, including the artificial lighting.
My 7 bird flock molted around the last week of Oct, 1st week of November. In November I had no eggs. No eggs in December.
About a week ago I changed the single 60w light in the 250 sq foot coop to stay on 24 hrs/day. The light is about 12 feet from the roosts and nesting boxes.
I now have 12 eggs since changing the lighting.
The eggs are all being laid in the morning hours, supporting the idea that morning light is more important than evening light.
My entire flock is now over 6 years old, made up of Australorpes and Americanas. I thank them every day for giving me any eggs at all. LOL. I'll be adding some new birds in the Spring.

(Side note: I've raised chickens, off and on, for 40 years, but only had a rooster recently. He passed from old age (6 1/2yrs) in November. I struggled with what I thought was a mite infestation, and later determined was 'rooster damage' to the hens for months. When this last molt was past, and so was the rooster (my avatar), my hens now look like real chickens, instead of dog chew toys. My advice is that if you don't need a rooster to replenish your stock, do your girls a favor and put him in the stew pot!)

I purchased 6 day old chicks back in April. One turned out to be a cockerel. He is a good one who is very protective of his girls. I've witnessed him alerting the girls to impending storms and hawks flying too close to the coop. The pullets are looking just fine so far. I hope to free range them at least some in the future, I just need to make sure there are enough hiding places due to the hawk population around here. So, I think I'll keep my Randy Roo for now.

 

[Old Philosopher]

I purchased 6 day old chicks back in April. One turned out to be a cockerel. He is a good one who is very protective of his girls. I've witnessed him alerting the girls to impending storms and hawks flying too close to the coop. The pullets are looking just fine so far. I hope to free range them at least some in the future, I just need to make sure there are enough hiding places due to the hawk population around here. So, I think I'll keep my Randy Roo for now.

Apologies for highjacking this thread to talk about roosters, but mine (named Morpheus - only bird I've ever named) was very protective, also. Managed a full-on tackle of a Cooper's Hawk that attacked one hen. He had 2 1/2" spurs, and weighed about 8 lbs. Nothing dared enter that run. But he was just as aggressive in his treatment of the hens. They constantly looked like they were half-plucked. The social dynamics certainly changed when he passed. The poor girls didn't know what to do. Nobody to boss 'em around. They overslept, and were afraid to go out in the run, apparently because their protector was missing. He'd herd them out in the morning, and herd them back in at dusk. Now they just mill around, and cluck a lot.