Last year, all 3 of my girls had stopped laying for the winter at this time.
I have 4 new girls and lost 2 of the 3 from last year (predators-coop is moved and it's much safer now).
None of mine have stopped laying. They are all 5 still going strong. My maran, Sassy, just completed a molt, so she just came back into laying.
My black australorp is the only girl I still have from last year. She stopped mid September, early October last year, but this year hasn't even slowed down.
They are free-ranging this year and have a much larger coop and "share" canned cat food with the kitten a couple times a week. I'm not supplementing any lighting, pretty much letting nature take it's course and not interfering in case their bodies do need a break.
I'm just really really shocked. It's just a big difference than last year in regards to laying behavior.
The breeds I have are:
Ferrari-Deleware-8-9 months old
Lotus-Red Star-8-9 months old
Egghead-Barred Rock-right around a year old
Sassy-maran mix-right around a year old
Tender-black australorp-right around 2 years old.
We're in GA and the lowest temps we've had this year have been around 30 degrees and just turned the clocks back an hour last week to end Daylight Savings time.
The girls are turned loose around 7am and cooped back up around 6pm or whenever night falls and they wander into the coop for the night.
The backyard does have plenty of grass, bugs, dirt, sand, etc for them.
Can anyone help me understand why they're still laying so well? Is it because they have more freedom, more company, and are possibly happier or would it be more temperatures?
Are other members in GA experiencing the same?
I have 4 new girls and lost 2 of the 3 from last year (predators-coop is moved and it's much safer now).
None of mine have stopped laying. They are all 5 still going strong. My maran, Sassy, just completed a molt, so she just came back into laying.
My black australorp is the only girl I still have from last year. She stopped mid September, early October last year, but this year hasn't even slowed down.
They are free-ranging this year and have a much larger coop and "share" canned cat food with the kitten a couple times a week. I'm not supplementing any lighting, pretty much letting nature take it's course and not interfering in case their bodies do need a break.
I'm just really really shocked. It's just a big difference than last year in regards to laying behavior.
The breeds I have are:
Ferrari-Deleware-8-9 months old
Lotus-Red Star-8-9 months old
Egghead-Barred Rock-right around a year old
Sassy-maran mix-right around a year old
Tender-black australorp-right around 2 years old.
We're in GA and the lowest temps we've had this year have been around 30 degrees and just turned the clocks back an hour last week to end Daylight Savings time.
The girls are turned loose around 7am and cooped back up around 6pm or whenever night falls and they wander into the coop for the night.
The backyard does have plenty of grass, bugs, dirt, sand, etc for them.
Can anyone help me understand why they're still laying so well? Is it because they have more freedom, more company, and are possibly happier or would it be more temperatures?
Are other members in GA experiencing the same?
