Is this Bad?

[pax12]

Is it bad to have chickens lay all year round non stop other than molting time? Because I want my chickens to live a long good life.

 

[farmer boy]

a way you can stop it in winter is give them barely any light if they don't lay through winter the rest of their life they will live longer my friend told me to do that with my silkies and they can live up to 5 years if you do that

 

[Mavrik]

They naturally lay eggs year around. Just don't add extended light hours to force egg laying.

 

[aggiemae]

Is it bad to have chickens lay all year round non stop other than molting time? Because I want my chickens to live a long good life.

They will lay year round but lay less in the winter. I think that avoiding supplement light in winter is best for them but there are people here who don't agree.

BTW I cut back on the calcium when the laying slows down because I mix it into the feed, but I guess you could just offer it separately.

 

[janinepeters]

They have been bred to lay a lot of eggs. Even if you do not provide artificial light, most chickens will continue laying well beyond the normal springtime reproductive period. While some will lay well through most of the winter without artificial light, providing the latter will force more of them to do so. Some people believe this is stressful for them, but I know of no actual study on it. I do not provide artificial light because I like the idea of letting them experience the natural seasonal cycle with natural lighting, and I get enough eggs through all but a couple of weeks in mid-winter, even without artificial lighting.

 

[pax12]

Okay thank you

 

[farmer boy]

i want mine to live longer so i let them see a little light just not a lot or they will start laying again

 

[aggiemae]

I have windows in my coop just in case the weather is really bad and they have to stay indoors all day. But I expect that chicken go out from as early morning until sunset all year round.

 

[drohan]

Be careful with limiting their light. You absolutely must make sure they are getting enough vitamin D. If you have a medicated feed, you should be okay, but the best way to make sure is to let them out into the sunlight.

 

[coffeenutdesign]

I figure that God and mother nature know what they are doing, who am I to think I know better. I don't limit light or add artificial light. Most of the people I know with chickens don't either.