My hens laid eggs all winter long

[maureenclaire]

I got a group of 25 chickens last year. They started laying in what seemed to be a very quick amount of time. I kept reading how during winter egg production slows. Is this always true for all breeds in all climates? I live in the Midwest and we had a horrible winter with some -45 days. My hens never stopped laying eggs. We have consistently getting between 18 and 20 eggs a day since they started laying. I've only seen a malformed egg three or four times. Has to be the same hen because it's always in the same place and it's always missing the outer shell and feels like a strange gelatinous blob but it's completely intact other than missing the outer hard shell. They are very well fed, cared for and loved. I did put a small 1500 watt heater in their shed because it was so terribly cold this winter. There were some days they couldn't even come out at all but we still went out and collected eggs. Half were frozen and cracked most of the cold days, but they never stopped laying. I also made sure they had plenty of oyster shell for calcium and extra corn, which I usually don't feed, to keep them warm.

 

[foreverlearning]

The reduction in laying is from two things, reduced daylight hours and molting. When yours molt they will stop for a short while (some 2 weeks, others 2 months). Pullets and production breeds tend to lay threw the first winter with production breeds possibly laying threw the second winter as well. Some people add light during the winter to keep egg production up. I don't add light because I see it as my girls break and recoop time. If you have oyster shell out the rubber eggs would be one hen laying more then one egg a day. It happens sometimes while figuring out the laying cycle and is not a concern unless it happens often.