I forgot...does egg production drop during the heat?

[Aves]

I went from getting over a dozen and one half each day to barely getting one dozen.....

Thanks

Aves

 

[teach1rusl]

It can...really anything that is stessful (physically or otherwise) to a chicken can cause egg production to fall off. And Lord knows some of the heat that many areas of the country have been dealing with is certainly stressful.

My girls have slowed down over the last two weeks...

 

[rochrunner]

It looks like we in SE Minnesota will find out over the next five days...heat index could hit 110. No eggs today, and it was barely in the 90's. Maybe AC in the coop wouldn't have been a bad idea after all...

 

[BlossomSilkies]

Mine have slowed slightly.

 

[AllChookUp]

I am in MN as well, northeast of the Twin Cities about 35 miles. The heat & humidity have been terrible, but the egg production has only dropped slightly. We'll see - Today may be the worst.

What I find with stress that causes drops in egg production, is that it doesn't start back up immediately after the stress factors go away. Meaning, when it once again becomes cooler & less humid, it seems to take a while for the shock on their bodies to drop off so they can start producing again.

I try not to give them as much scratch when it's hot, as corn has a high caloric content, which I think can increase their body temps. Lettuce, leftover fruit pieces, etc., seem to do better.