laying question

[coalroadcabin]

My 7 chickens were born on 7/18 - since they will be reaching maturity during the winter will they wait until springtime to start laying or will they start to lay this winter? We don't have lights on in the coop to extend the daylight hours.


Thanks!

 

[yankeedoodle300]

I think they will wait til it gets warmer...

 

[Fred's Hens]

No, temperatures have very little to do with.

I brooded out these little red pullets last September, out in the barn. They began laying right on schedule, in January, when the temps were single digits in the daytime and below zero at night. BTW, no insulation and no added heat either. They were energetic and healthy. They've missed very few days since. In fact, they batted 1000 this morning.

 

[coalroadcabin]

Fred's Hens, do you have lights in your coop to extend the daylight hours?

Those eggs look great! I can't wait until mine start giving me breakfast!

 

[OldChurchEggery1]

A few years ago I got some chicks in July and they started laying on Thanksgiving even though the days are still getting shorter at that point. Yours will probably start laying in the winter even without extra lights.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
Since our daylight in January is only 6 1/2 hours, yes, we provide a couple additional hours of pre-dawn light, both for the chickens and for me to do the morning chores. I do not extend their evenings at all. We are so far north, so winter is very, very dark. The additional lighting only bumps it up to 9 or 10 hours. I don't push my hens in the winter. Production isn't nearly peak, but that's OK. They need to use their energy for keeping warm. I carry a few extra hens through the winter to provide the eggs for our customers. Efficiency drops some, but the number of hens helps to make up for it.

 

[rgraf]

I was wondering this too, my chicks hatched August 1st and we get pretty cold here in Iowa in the winter. I sort of figured they might wait until spring to start to lay.

 

[coalroadcabin]

I googled our average daylight hours here where I live and it looks like we get about 9 hours in the winter - so maybe I'll get eggs in December? That would be such a nice Christmas present!!

 

[Chickiemom25]

I'd love a link to that page to calculate daylight hours.

 

[peachachecha]

Chickiemom24
go to: a.a.usno.nacy.mil/data/doc/Dur_OneYear.php and pick Duration of Daylight/Darkness table for One Year. They have you type in state and city and it gives you a complete listing for each day of the year and the length of sunlight.