Susan Skylark
Songster
Have you noticed a difference between individual coturnix in their sensitivity to seasonal lighting for laying/mating hens? Last winter my laying and male activity was no different than the summer, this year I'm running about 2/3 on egg production and only one of my 3 males is currently obsessed with girls (that might just be his personality!). I just pulled 3 hens for a breeding project but they are only giving me 1 egg a day and it is the same bird, one is only 7 weeks old so no surprise there, but the other two are 6 months old, and big, healthy birds. The only changes Ive made are switching to group housing and my led christmas lights are farther from the pen, ie a bit dimmer than last year. The weather has been remarkably mild compared to last year as well. All birds are 3-12 months old, on a 21% layer feed (ideally my protein should be a bit higher but in my area thats what i can reliably find and theyve done well overall, same feed as last year), and 14 hours of light. supplemental calcium and grit is also available. Overall stress and health are improved vs last years individual breeding group pens, bullying, aggression, and pacing are pretty much gone (ive also culled heavily for temperament). Just curious if anyone else has noticed anything with light intensity vs egg production? In dairy cattle, some cows can milk for years without having another calf while others naturally drop off after a year or so, or in the case of some hereford/guernsey crosses, they milked for 60 days and stopped (yes, it is a bizarre cross, at least if you are planning to milk the resulting heifers!). It isnt a huge issue, just curious if it is my lights or i just have a couple unproductive birds i need to weed out!
