Congratulations to Jamie and her growing twins. As much as I love being a father I am glad I got to ease into it one child at a time. Hope's oldest son and his wife had twin girls months ago and if Hope didn't help everyday they would be up the proverbial creek.
I would like to thank all of you for your efforts with regard the the Michigan Right To Farm Act and a special call out to Raz for his efforts.
As I read over the last several pages a couple of questions with regard to molting, egg production, and light were brought up and I thought I'd share what I know on the subjects. Molting is triggered by the reduction of daylight and if the birds experience a hard molt egg production will cease. It is common for them to not resume laying for up to 8 weeks. Providing supplemental light can lessen the severity of the molt.
As the days shorten hens enter into a "resting stage" in which egg production falls off dramatically and in some birds ceases completely. Providing supplemental light will keep their egg production up. Depending upon breed, hens will only lay a certain amount of eggs in their entire life. Keeping the number of daylight hours above 15 will result in the hen laying those eggs in the shortest amount of time. Not providing additional light will result in the hen laying the same number of eggs but she take more years to do it.
While providing additional light will keep egg production up, it must be added before the day starts to shorten. You should plan on having the lights installed no later than the autumnal equinox. Once a hen has started to molt or has entered into her "resting" stage, adding additional light will not reverse the trend.
One final subject is damage and injury to hens by over amorous roosters. A close study of a rooster's breeding style will point out the problem. He will grasp the hen by the feathers at the back of her head which is why so many hens become bald on the back of their heads. Other than removing the rooster from the flock there isn't anyway to prevent this.
The next major issue with breeding is how the rooster positions himself on the hen. If the rooster is young and inexperienced, or the hen isn't adquately submissive, the rooster will have trouble maintain position. This constact jostling for position result in damage to the coverlet feathers resulting in the so called "rooster wear". In extreme cases all the feathers will be striped from the lower back and in the worst cases the flesh sustains wounds.
While a rooster spurs can add to the damage, the primary source is his toenails. I've found that if you keep a rooster's toenail trimmed short and blunted you can dramatically lessen the damage.
I would like to thank all of you for your efforts with regard the the Michigan Right To Farm Act and a special call out to Raz for his efforts.
As I read over the last several pages a couple of questions with regard to molting, egg production, and light were brought up and I thought I'd share what I know on the subjects. Molting is triggered by the reduction of daylight and if the birds experience a hard molt egg production will cease. It is common for them to not resume laying for up to 8 weeks. Providing supplemental light can lessen the severity of the molt.
As the days shorten hens enter into a "resting stage" in which egg production falls off dramatically and in some birds ceases completely. Providing supplemental light will keep their egg production up. Depending upon breed, hens will only lay a certain amount of eggs in their entire life. Keeping the number of daylight hours above 15 will result in the hen laying those eggs in the shortest amount of time. Not providing additional light will result in the hen laying the same number of eggs but she take more years to do it.
While providing additional light will keep egg production up, it must be added before the day starts to shorten. You should plan on having the lights installed no later than the autumnal equinox. Once a hen has started to molt or has entered into her "resting" stage, adding additional light will not reverse the trend.
One final subject is damage and injury to hens by over amorous roosters. A close study of a rooster's breeding style will point out the problem. He will grasp the hen by the feathers at the back of her head which is why so many hens become bald on the back of their heads. Other than removing the rooster from the flock there isn't anyway to prevent this.
The next major issue with breeding is how the rooster positions himself on the hen. If the rooster is young and inexperienced, or the hen isn't adquately submissive, the rooster will have trouble maintain position. This constact jostling for position result in damage to the coverlet feathers resulting in the so called "rooster wear". In extreme cases all the feathers will be striped from the lower back and in the worst cases the flesh sustains wounds.
While a rooster spurs can add to the damage, the primary source is his toenails. I've found that if you keep a rooster's toenail trimmed short and blunted you can dramatically lessen the damage.
