We live in Central Florida, and my older hens stopped laying about a month ago. I figured it was due to the change in the amount of daylight. Now all of a sudden, my younger hens have started laying. Kinda confused now. No one lost any feathers, so i don't think they stopped to molt. I don't keep them under artificial light during the winter to give them a break. The only light they might be getting is from a purple bug light I keep in my grow out coop. We have a HORRIBLE problem with mosquitoes where we live. My hen house and grow out coop share an interior wall and it has a small vent in it to allow air circulation between the 2 coops. I don't think the bug light is what caused them to start laying again, because it runs all night and has throughout the summer. Any ideas?
Don't be confused. Young pullets will start to lay when they reach sexual maturity - almost regardless of day length. Much depends on the time of year they hatched and breed. Adult hens will take a break, depending on breed, sometime in autumn. Sometimes that break will last all winter. They won't go bald but you should see a lot more feathers in the coop/run in their annual molt.
Thanks for the info. I've had chickens for 4 years now and I'm still learning. With my first hens, almost 4years old now, they layed through the winter. They were game hen mix. They stopped laying this year. My new girls were hatched late spring, they are barred rock. No extra feathers in coop or yard, yet. But it lookes like it snowed in my duck pen, from all the feathers. Lol
I went from getting 6-8 eggs a day to getting 1 a day if I was lucky (out of 9 hens), I didnt want to put an artifical light in the coop, thought what the heck, give the girls a break, today after alittle over a month the EE laid an egg, Hopefully by next month I will get a couple more here and there...Some are molting but some had just started laying when they suddenly stopped. Go figure, Although I hated to do it, I bought eggs for the first time in two years the other day. Good news, out of the 17 chicks (now 2 months old) that survived I am pretty certian over half are hens
If I read your post right, it's your BR's that are laying? If so, BR's are one of the winter layers! As are game birds....BR's may slow down a bit in the winter but still lay pretty well, even with less light! Your other gals might be in a molt but just haven't started dropping feathers yet. Some breeds take longer to molt than others! You should know soon. BR's are also cold hardy, so you might want to watch them a bit more, once summer hits, as they don't tolerate the heat as well as some breeds. Raising them from baby chicks should help...but you might have to do a little extra in the summer for your BR's. Fans and frozen soda bottles help!
