Laying Year Round

[LilyD]

So every other year I have had chickens I have used extra light in the winter to keep the chickens laying. This year I decided to try something different. I do have lights in the barn but they are only on when I go in to feed in the morning and again in the afternoon/evening and off the rest of the day. The chickens are loose in the barn usually by 8 am every morning and usually put themselves up in the coop by 4-5 in the evening.

I am not providing heat lamps or providing any lighting other than natural light in the coop but I am providing fresh greens three times a week plus vegetable and fruit scraps as I have them in the kitchen and BOSS seeds mixed with nuts

They have access to a large barn so they can still scratch and peck and there is no snow in there so they are more likely to stay active. I am getting 2-3 eggs out of 4 hens each day which is not bad for weather below zero in the middle of winter. Today is the longest night of the year and still getting eggs.

What is everyone else doing to help their flock lay during the winter months?

 

[azygous]

Having layer breeds that are known to be active layers during the low-light winter months helps. I got four sex-link hybrids last April, and this is the first time I've continued to get eggs every day at this time of winter. They receive no augmented light.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

What is everyone else doing to help their flock lay during the winter months?

I add in a couple fresh birds every spring who will lay late fall through winter while older birds molt. My young ladies often lay right through winter. ALL older ladies will need a rest at some point.

BOSS and nuts are high fat, using as a treat on occasion is okay.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How old are the OP's chickens?
Most breeds of first year layers will continue to reproduce right through the winter regardless of temperature/weather and treats as long as most of the food is a complete chicken feed.
That won't happen in subsequent years.

 

[LilyD]

I have two birds that are this years hatch from April and two that are from last year purchased full grown this summer. I add the BOSS and nuts and seeds to supplement for what they are missing plus veg and fruit since we are in the middle of winter in Vermont and averaging temps below zero with the wind chills currently at night.

Once the temps begin to rise and they can access the new green grasses and bugs I will decrease the seeds and nuts they get over the winter months. All my birds are orpingtons so are cold hardy but winters up here will for sure try even the best of birds especially in years that we get extreme winds and cold.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have two birds that are this years hatch from April and two that are from last year purchased full grown this summer. I add the BOSS and nuts and seeds to supplement for what they are missing plus veg and fruit since we are in the middle of winter in Vermont and averaging temps below zero with the wind chills currently at night.

Once the temps begin to rise and they can access the new green grasses and bugs I will decrease the seeds and nuts they get over the winter months. All my birds are orpingtons so are cold hardy but winters up here will for sure try even the best of birds especially in years that we get extreme winds and cold.

They are not missing anything with a complete feed. Hence the term, complete.
Many people feed BOSS as it is considered high in protein but unless you are feeding the kernels rather than the whole seed, you aren't doing your birds a favor. Whole BOSS contains too much fiber. It is between 20 and 23% fiber, 18% protein and 30% fat. The protein and fat are used to process the fiber. You want to stay around 5 or 6% fiber. Anything over that and you are losing nutritional value of feedstuffs.
What kind of nuts are you offering?
Windchill shouldn't have an impact inside a building.
I have posted this information many times before but there is very little correlation between production and temperature.
I spent an entire relatively severe winter tracking egg production of 5 flocks of chickens, daily high and low temperature, precipitation, both rain and snow as well as wind. There was no relationship between weather and egg production.
Production is primarily, if not solely, dictated by day length and whether it is increasing or decreasing.
Don't expect the same next winter. They'll molt in autumn and take a laying break. Some may resume after molt but most won't resume till after winter solstice.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I add the BOSS and nuts and seeds to supplement for what they are missing

If you are feeding a formulated ration they won't be "missing" anything... technically, by law.

I do understand boredom/enrichment aspect. Are you feeding a formulated ration also? Are you able to use deep litter method or add a compost/scratching box to look for bugs in?

A nice way to get some green in if YOU like it, can be sprouting fodder. Barley has been fairly easy, it's a great boredom buster, and kinda fun to do. Some folks even sprout their BOSS!

Orpington specifically as a breed *can* (doesn't mean will) be prone to fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome and even sudden death. My friend feeds excess meal worms (also high fat) and her hatchery Orps live about 5 years or so. It is most common in birds that are somehow predisposed genetically AND also fed excess high energy snacks.

Being dual purpose birds and some possibly getting older in your flock... Flock raiser or grower type feed with oyster shell free choice on the side for active layers can help keep everyone in peak condition and is *preferred* (not required) over "layer" for DP breeds, if that is what you are currently using... Aside from usually being a bit higher in protein and lower in calcium... it is usually higher in important amino acids.

Anyways, I'm not sure if only 2 or all 3 of this years keeper pullets are currently laying. But at least 2. All of my elder ladies are at some stage in molt. This "adding pullets every year" has shown that not all birds will comply with my expected laying time frame. So.. hatch early, nothing later than May or keep a extra couple to account for mishaps like predation, mini molts, or later laying in the additions.

But also.. eggs store extremely well unwashed in the fridge, easily 6 months in my experience! I also plan ahead for the lull and give away less eggs if my egg numbers are expected to be low.

Really, the yearly replacement also involves letting some of my older ladies go from breeding to make space and keep stock levels comfortable for ME. I grow out a lot (50+ including boys) and keep only the best of the best (2 ish if I'm lucky) according to the SOP and sell off or eat the rest. The ladies getting replaced will be sold (if still in good condition, otherwise I won't risk my reputation and will cull closer to molt) earlier in the season so their new family can get eggs before they start their 3rd or 4th molt. I consider 1st and 2nd molt still productive enough with larger size eggs to cover molt investment as more efficient than chick rearing.

Best wishes!

 

[LilyD]

If you are feeding a formulated ration they won't be "missing" anything... technically, by law.

I do understand boredom/enrichment aspect. Are you feeding a formulated ration also? Are you able to use deep litter method or add a compost/scratching box to look for bugs in?

A nice way to get some green in if YOU like it, can be sprouting fodder. Barley has been fairly easy, it's a great boredom buster, and kinda fun to do. Some folks even sprout their BOSS!

Orpington specifically as a breed *can* (doesn't mean will) be prone to fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome and even sudden death. My friend feeds excess meal worms (also high fat) and her hatchery Orps live about 5 years or so. It is most common in birds that are somehow predisposed genetically AND also fed excess high energy snacks.

Being dual purpose birds and some possibly getting older in your flock... Flock raiser or grower type feed with oyster shell free choice on the side for active layers can help keep everyone in peak condition and is *preferred* (not required) over "layer" for DP breeds, if that is what you are currently using... Aside from usually being a bit higher in protein and lower in calcium... it is usually higher in important amino acids.

Anyways, I'm not sure if only 2 or all 3 of this years keeper pullets are currently laying. But at least 2. All of my elder ladies are at some stage in molt. This "adding pullets every year" has shown that not all birds will comply with my expected laying time frame. So.. hatch early, nothing later than May or keep a extra couple to account for mishaps like predation, mini molts, or later laying in the additions.

But also.. eggs store extremely well unwashed in the fridge, easily 6 months in my experience! I also plan ahead for the lull and give away less eggs if my egg numbers are expected to be low.

Really, the yearly replacement also involves letting some of my older ladies go from breeding to make space and keep stock levels comfortable for ME. I grow out a lot (50+ including boys) and keep only the best of the best (2 ish if I'm lucky) according to the SOP and sell off or eat the rest. The ladies getting replaced will be sold (if still in good condition, otherwise I won't risk my reputation and will cull closer to molt) earlier in the season so their new family can get eggs before they start their 3rd or 4th molt. I consider 1st and 2nd molt still productive enough with larger size eggs to cover molt investment as more efficient than chick rearing.

Best wishes!

I am feeding a formulated feed. It's a flock raiser with free range oyster shell for the girls and regular med range chick grit for the boys.

They don't stay in the barn all day long even with the snow and will walk outside into the horse pastures and around in the yard and then go back in the barn to warm up. Often they are out for hours even when the weather is 15-30 below with the wind chill which is why I started giving them the BOSS seeds mixed with safflower, pistachios pumpkin seeds kelp etc mixed in.

I try and give them either sprouted seeds or fully grown herbs and veg scraps at least a few times a week since they usually are out getting those things all day in the spring summer and fall. Usually the spring summer and fall I feed very little feed. I put it down in the morning and they may stop and take a bite at night before going to bed but are out in the pastures scrounging up bugs all day long and eating grasses and seeds they find.

Right now in VT it is 19 degrees and we are supposed to have a few warmer days in the 30s for Christmas but before that we had 4 days that were single digits and with the wind were around -15 during the day and colder at night. I know with many other varieties of animals the amount of food is directly correlated to how warm they are able to be in the winter. I don't blanket my horses in the winter but I will offer them more hay so that they can keep eating and keep their core warmer as the weather gets colder.

I have never been a big time believer in the "complete feeds" They have only been around about 100 years or so and chickens did okay with it before they existed getting their own food on the places they lived. Winters in VT are always going to be hard on animals so I always try to offer more for them which prevents the egg eating and picking at each other that sometimes can occur. I also don't shut them up. They have the barn to go into and their coop is smaller and inside the big barn out of the wind but I am up usually by 4 am and have opened up their door to get out of the big barn so they have outside access all day until around 5 when my husband shuts them back in for the night and does a head count.

I have listened to a lot of podcasts from the people who are considered leaders in the chicken breeding field and most of them make up their own feeds and vary it depending on the weather and what is going on for the birds. If they are moulting increase the protein. If they are laying eggs increase the calcium and vitamins they get. Recovering from an injury etc...

My thought is that they can't eat just one feed and have that be considered complete because their needs are constantly changing which is why we can see baby ducks with wry neck and lameness issues even if they are eating a complete diet because their Niacin needs far outweigh what is available in the complete food.

Just food for thought...

 

[jolenesdad]

So every other year I have had chickens I have used extra light in the winter to keep the chickens laying. This year I decided to try something different. I do have lights in the barn but they are only on when I go in to feed in the morning and again in the afternoon/evening and off the rest of the day. The chickens are loose in the barn usually by 8 am every morning and usually put themselves up in the coop by 4-5 in the evening.

I am not providing heat lamps or providing any lighting other than natural light in the coop but I am providing fresh greens three times a week plus vegetable and fruit scraps as I have them in the kitchen and BOSS seeds mixed with nuts

They have access to a large barn so they can still scratch and peck and there is no snow in there so they are more likely to stay active. I am getting 2-3 eggs out of 4 hens each day which is not bad for weather below zero in the middle of winter. Today is the longest night of the year and still getting eggs.

What is everyone else doing to help their flock lay during the winter months?

Awesome! I was just thinking about you the other day. How are those Orpingtons?

 

[LilyD]

Awesome! I was just thinking about you the other day. How are those Orpingtons?

Growing like weeds lol. I have a pair I saved of mottleds and then two blues who are older and a lavender. The Chocolate roo I kept from this years hatch is massive but super nice. Still can't wait for hatching season this upcoming year. Already have eggs on order for March/April for a spring hatch lol.