It looks like this is to be expected...do you think they will start laying more again once they are acclimated to the cold? We just insulated their coop too and now the water hasn't been freezing even...but still only getting 6 or 7 eggs a day when we were getting 14 to 17.... We turn the light on in the coop at 7am....it is on until between 8 to 9 pm at night...maybe it isn't "light enough"? We have the light hung over the area where the food / water is but it lights the whole coop up pretty good?
It's the length of daylight that matters most. You can find a lot of posts on the pros and cons of supplementing light to layers during winter. I do not supplement, and mine are finally dropping production. But I am OK with that for a couple of months, it lets their bodies rest.
You did not mention if you have a light in the coop, but without one that would explain the drop in eggs.
I was getting 12-16 a day during summer. Then it gradually went down to 4-6 a day over the last 2 months or so. I added a light on a timer that gives them 4 extra hours in the morning. It took about two weeks but the count is back up to about 12 a day. Michael
Its best to give them added light in the AM. My light turns on at 4 AM and off at 9Am then they can head for their roost at dusk which is a natural for them. If you have it on at night and it suddenly goes out they might not be prepared for it and find themselves o the coop floor and then they can't find the roost to snuggle and get warm.
so....we aren't really giving the added light properly..shoot..and here I thought we were doing good!...we need a timer in otherwords so do you suggest going ahead, getting the timer and then having that set to turn on at about 4am...it is completely dark by 5pm or shortly thereafter..we live in the flat lands and are having alot of coyote sightings in the last few months so ours are inside for the winter..we have a nice big coop...so with that in mind what time of day would we want that to shut off? they need about 14 hours right? so 4am to 6pm would be good?
If they are inside for the Winter, it doesnt matter too much how you schedule their day and night, Jen. My birds are essentially on MY schedule for the day and night (but they get a little more beauty sleep ). In their tropical homeland, chickens would get about 11 to 13 hours of light year-around. The researchers have found that more than 17 hours will have no benefit in terms of egg production. Less than 8 hours can nearly guarantee zero eggs. This is how I remember it. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture has a information page with a table on Lighting Programs for Laying Hens at the bottom of the page. Keep in mind is that decreasing hours of light suppresses, increasing hours of light encourages. So, you may not want to run too many hours now and then decrease the hours of light when the weather gets better and they can get outside. Steve
