How much longer do I have to wait for my 1st egg

[EggWalrus]

a few hours in the morning (beginning at 5am, I think), then off 9am-4pm as it is daylight, then on again 4-8pm. We only just installed this a week or so ago, so I can't speak to how much of an egg production impact it will have.

We were getting 7-9 eggs a day from 12 hens (although it seems our 3 white egg layers aren't even laying at all..or ever...so really 9 laying hens). As the natural light was reduced and we had not yet installed the artificial light, we had a decrease in egg production to around 3-5 per day. Now with the light on for the past week or so, we are around 4-6 eggs per day. We don't have production birds, so we would never expect a consistent 1/day from each hen anyway. If we get an avg of 5/day through the winter, I'll be happy.

Here is our electric set-up in the coop: The only reason we installed electric is because we had to completely re-do the electric in the barn due to chewed wires and old installation issues from previous owners. Otherwise, it would have been unlikely that we would have installed electric just for chickens. Also, this coop wall is about 24" (yes, 2 feet) behind the barn, so it was conveniently located.

View attachment 1584528

Unless your timered light is on a dimmer also, and it gets dark at 4pm where you are, why not just set the timer to have light come on at 2am and go of after sunrise. They will still get 14 hours light, but they can see to go to bed by the setting sun, instead of stumbling around by being plunged into darkness with a light going off at 8.

 

[Acre4Me]

Unless your timered light is on a dimmer also, and it gets dark at 4pm where you are, why not just set the timer to have light come on at 2am and go of after sunrise. They will still get 14 hours light, but they can see to go to bed by the setting sun, instead of stumbling around by being plunged into darkness with a light going off at 8.

Overall, hesitant to potentially have a crowing rooster at 2 am (or early 2,3,4 am hours) through the winter. I do have neighbors and don't particularly want to be the subject of complaints. In addition, I have a neighbor with a rooster that crows more often than ours. Their rooster, and ours respond to each other...so if mine crows, theirs might as well, and so on and so forth.

Due to the natural light waning in the evening, the birds have been settled on their roosts before the light turns off.

 

[Acre4Me]

Great set up thanks for the reply. Just one more question do you have light where they sleep or in the run? I have an upstairs where they roost and than they walk a ramp down where the spend the day. I will have to do solar as there is no electricity but that should work. I already have the door and electric fence hooked up solar.

This light is in their coop. Their run (50'x10') does have exterior lights, but these are purposefully turned on by us as needed and are not kept on.

 

[Zwillingsmama]

No males around? I think girls are slower to lay when there isn't a male around. I think mating with a rooster prompts their laying sooner.

Most of them look close (the first looks like a beautiful cream legbar, is she OE mix?) except the BCM. I'd lay bets that she will be last to lay. They are slow as crap!

Yes I think my Oe is a Legbar Welsummer mix. She is quite the character

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I just read that chicken do need a minimum of 12+hours some say even 14h - and would a lamp in their coop be able to supplement and if so where they roost or in the run? …

An overhead bulb is best and everything considered an incandescent bulb is better yet.
The most natural and easiest way to supplement the light is to put the bulb(s) on a timer and set them to come on before Sunrise and to stay on until two about two hours after Sunrise. This will give you the light your hens need to be productive and as an added benefit your birds will still enjoy a natural Sunset and stay primed to go to roost at the normal time, ie. Sundown. Just be sure that wherever you are that your birds enjoy at least 14 hours of light per day. North of the Equator the days get shorter AFTER June 20th and after December 20th the days begin to lengthen.

The closer to the Equator you are the more abrupt the Sunrise and Sunset is. The further from the Equator you are the longer twilight lasts. Good luck.

Oh, BTW, when a hen is getting closet to lay, her head and face will redden up nicely and her comb and face will begin to look like a very plump & ripe strawberry. You may want to Google the word "penial gland" or "melatonin" to learn more.

 

[EggWalrus]

Overall, hesitant to potentially have a crowing rooster at 2 am (or early 2,3,4 am hours) through the winter. I do have neighbors and don't particularly want to be the subject of complaints. In addition, I have a neighbor with a rooster that crows more often than ours. Their rooster, and ours respond to each other...so if mine crows, theirs might as well, and so on and so forth.

Due to the natural light waning in the evening, the birds have been settled on their roosts before the light turns off.

Makes sense.

 

[Acre4Me]

No males around? I think girls are slower to lay when there isn't a male around. I think mating with a rooster prompts their laying sooner.

Come and talk to my Dark Brown Leghorn girls and inform them that they should be laying!! <sigh> 36 weeks old, three DBL pullets, the only white (cream) layers in our flock....no eggs... Even our Black Jersey Giant has been laying for weeks. Of course, the head cockerel does not seem to like the DBLs and they are flighty, so not sure if they've ever been mated. I guess time will tell if they will lay...but since none of the three DBL's are laying it is not likely to be a defect, maybe stress since at least 2 of them are lowest on pecking order, but no blood, no obvious fights, and they can access food and water, also plenty of roost space.

 

[Aceoky]

I don't think supplemental light makes any difference on first year layers, maturity matters not how much light they are getting, older hens yes, first year pullets I really don't think so.

 

[WVduckchick]

I don't think supplemental light makes any difference on first year layers, maturity matters not how much light they are getting, older hens yes, first year pullets I really don't think so.

Partially agree. I think the later they come to “maturity”, if the daylight hours are too low at that time, they may not start until spring. I had a group of 8 lavender orpingtons one fall, 2 laid thru the winter, the other 6 waited till spring. But I do have some new pullets starting to lay just this week.

 

[EggWalrus]

Partially agree. I think the later they come to “maturity”, if the daylight hours are too low at that time, they may not start until spring. I had a group of 8 lavender orpingtons one fall, 2 laid thru the winter, the other 6 waited till spring. But I do have some new pullets starting to lay just this week.

Lots of modern breeds of pullets will lay right thru their first winter, but there are those heirloom breeds that won't lay till the next spring if they were born after spring. I have some pullets that are nearly 10 months old and even with supplimental light, they aren't laying (even though they are red faced) and probably won't until they are certain the weather is right for having babies.
It's just how chickens have managed to survive for millions of years without human interference.
Sometimes they know better than we do.