Less Eggs = Time Change

[ldrwnorman47]

I have been getting 16 eggs a day from around 25 Hens. Now I am only getting 6 or 7 a day. Is it b/c of the time change. Will they get back on track?

Thanks

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Chickens don't care about time change, to them it all runs on the sun. Now if we are supplying extra light in AM on a timer in addition to natural light we need to make adjustments then so the don't loose an hour of light all at once.

If you are not adding light then as the days grow shorter they may slow on laying and likely won't pick up until mid to late winter when the days start getting significantly longer.

 

[Olive Hill]

If your chickens can tell time I think I'd worry less about how many eggs they are laying and more about their highly superior intellectual abilities... next they may try to take over the world.

Seriously though, the only way it may be affecting them is if you have a completely closed up coop and you're not letting them out for the same number of daylight hours now. There's a real simple solution if that's the case though, let them out earlier.

Or ... take the clock out of the coop.

 

[ldrwnorman47]

I havent been doing chickens long, I just dont understand why they arent laying as many and the time seems like the only difference. I have a high demand for eggs from customers and im worried i can fill order

I will take the clock down. Maby that will fix things.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
It is because the days are getting shorter as we head into winter. Do you add supplemental light?

 

[Olive Hill]

Your chickens can't tell time. To them, nothing changed. There are still the same number of daylight hours as there was before we set our clocks back -- daylight is still slightly waning in the northern hemisphere, but there was not a sudden quick jump of an hour.

If you're still letting them out at the same by-the-clock time however, that could be making a difference in how many of those daylight hours they see. And if your coop doesn't have windows that could make a difference in their laying productivity.

Just as an example here, before the time change it was getting light at 8:00 am and dark at 7:00 pm for a total of 11 hours of daylight. After the change it gets light at 7:00 am and dark at 6:00 pm for, still, a total of 11 hours of daylight. BUT lets say you let your chickens out everyday at 8:00am and they go to bed on their own at dark. Before the time change this means they were seeing 11 hours of daylight, after the time change (because you're leaving them in for an hour after the sun comes up) they're only seeing 10 hours of daylight. Make sense? Could this be what's happening with your flock (you let them out according to the clock, not the sun and your coop doesn't have windows)?