Fall-winter, molting and egg laying

[SueT]

I have raised new pullets each year. However, last year's pullets molted just like the hens, and they stopped laying for 2 months too! A lot of BYCers reported the same-- that their 2017 pullets also molted and stopped laying. I have only added 2 this year, fingers crossed they will keep laying.

 

[BPlayer]

Hi, I am one of those soft hearted souls who uses a heat lamp. But....I only use it during the really cold stretch we get in NE . Can't stand the thought of frost bite even though the girls are closed in when the sun leaves their yard! I have four pullets getting ready to join the older girls (as soon as I can get the new roost built. Lost one to a hawk and one to my neighbors dog.
I have swallow and chipmunk thieves eating me out of house and home. The chipmunk are really cheeky this year !
I'm glad to read that slowing down and losing feathers is normal. Last year I thought they were sick....der! All in all chickens are so much fun.

 

[Farmer jr]

With my free range chickens I just let them go and my egg production doesnt decrease they are all old hens and I only have two young ones

 

[aart]

With my free range chickens I just let them go and my egg production doesnt decrease they are all old hens

Old hens that don't stop laying in winter and while molting?

 

[dannygirl1]

My wellsummer pulleys which were hatched may 2017 started molting in June this year. We had a very hot summer this year ( yes it actually stopped raining and we had a summer in Ireland! ) and a lot of people reported the same thing. They’re getting nice red combs again so hopefully will resume egg duties shortly. They were wormed with Ivermectin, and I supplemented their feed with sardines and pumpkin seeds, so all in all they lolled around in dust baths and were spoiled for the summer. Yes those shop bought eggs are sad , I gave eggs to a friend last spring who had never had a REAL egg, she was totally amazed at the difference, so much so she now owns 4 very spoiled chickens.

 

[CharB]

Thank you for starting this thread. My 4 hens are 2 1/2 years old so this will be their second adult molt. After molting last year I did not get eggs again until February. I too had to resort to buying eggs at the store with guilt in my heart because my hens were getting the rest they deserved. I even fed them to my hens who needed the extra protein. I have frozen eggs when they are abundant and find they are good for baking purposes. Again, thanks to everyone who's posted. I feel reassured with my choices and also learned a lot. I hope my hens live to be 11 years old!

 

[Grits&Eggs]

Right after they started laying I started freezing eggs, they are real producers! I freeze the whites separate from the yolks. So I have several ice cube trays and has been good so far. Am rather new to chickens so I am not sure (since they just started laying a month ago) what to expect, but it has been fun sharing with friends and family - and will keep it up as long as it lasts

 

[azygous]

I have a perverse alternative to buying store eggs during the fall/winter egg drought. A few years ago, I bought a 36 ounce tin of powdered eggs. They are just too, too dreadful to mix up and cook to eat, but it enables me to pull eggs out of the pantry at the drop of a holiday invitation that states I'm welcome as long as I bring a home-baked pumpkin pie.

If one of my aging layers deigns to produce an egg during this time of egg famine, I cook it and wolf it down before any of my egg customers hears about it.

My active layers, by the way, include several six and seven-year olds. The matriarch of the flock is age ten and a half. Her lieutenant is nine and a half. The older one no longer lays, but her sidekick produces occasional shell-less eggs which the other chickens are happy to assist her in getting rid of the evidence.

 

[frostic]

I have a few quick questions, So my 3 hens are only 7 months old. they give a lot of eggs most of the time 3 eggs. they been pecking each other for months so i know they are not molting but an odity happened today. yesterday i got 3 eggs all 3 were huge. but today i got 5? 5 really small eggs and 3 large eggs yesterday. can chickens lay 2 eggs in a day? is that a sign of them being sick? maybe their body is working overtime?

the eggs on the left was yesterday. then today the ones on the right. you can see they are much smaller eggs.

View attachment 1545221

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I keep about 7 dozen in rotation. If they stop altogether that should get me through for a while. Last year I scrambled and froze many dozen to get me through the winter. This year I'll just buy @ Trader Joes to get me through if necessary. Last winter there was one or two a day, which was enough for my needs. I hardly ate the frozen eggs. I don't use supplemental lighting.