Hi Gang, I'm so excited to have joined BYC and love all the pics! This is my first post on any thread online, so please be patient. About a month ago hubby and I bought 52 leghorns and settled them in for the winter in an insulated building with a heat lamp. For the first couple of weeks, I gathered anywhere from 32 to 45 eggs daily. But over the past 2 weeks, production has reduced down to only 2 to 4 eggs daily. I don't think the ladies are eating them. But not sure. The hatchery told us they don't need oyster shell and I'm wondering if having none available to them is the problem. Has anyone else had this challenge?
The colder weather could be affecting their laying, but there can be other factors, too. I may be a newbie, but I disagree that they don't need oyster shell or a comparable supplement. It takes a lot of calcium to produce egg shells. It can't hurt to offer it to them - if they don't need it, they won't eat it, but if they do, then you'll know that they craved it. Also, if it is freezing where you are, make sure they always have clean drinkable water. As long as you are doing everything right, they will do their part. They may just need to slow down for the winter and will crank it back up in the spring. In Arizona, we have the opposite problem - our summers are the hard time of year, and we have to have fans, misting systems, plenty of shade, etc!!
Yes, it's below freezing here and we've kept the coop above freezing with the heat lamp. Thanks for your thoughts re the oyster shell. Will put some in for their choice. Great to have such a quick reply!
Hello and Welcome to BYC! How old are your girls, and do you have them under lights? Light 14 hours per day+ is more important than heat for laying (most people do not heat their coops), and with the time of year, if they were mature birds they could be molting. Moving homes/stress will often lead to birds not laying and going into molt, though odd it took a month for yours to quit if that was the main problem. It never hurts to have oyster shell available for them, though the Layer feeds are supposed to be complete. Long BYC thread on why chickens aren't laying. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/423023/why-arent-my-chickens-laying-here-are-your-answers
It's that time of year. If you desire increase the day photo period to at least 14 hours. Otherwise wait until daylength starts increasing - so will their egg production.
Wow! Thanks all for the great advice. We're not actually heating the coop, but just have a heat lamp on. Today it's fridgid outside (-24C) and the coop is a few degrees below zero. We still have a heat lamp in there and maybe we should have a regular lamp as well - to imitate daylight? We are putting in some oyster shell today and we'll see what happens. How cold can it be before they just can't lay for the winter? Tomorrow it's supposed to be about -30C here in the Great White North of Alberta, Canada.
