Hello all...
This is only the second year I've had layers and the first time I've tried wintering them. Over the summer I built my flock up to about 70 girls and the first couple of weeks after I added the last of them (late summer) I was getting approx. 4.5-5 dz eggs per day.
Now I am down to aprox 1 dozen a day!!.... A few weeks ago I moved them from the chicken tractor to their new winter digs as it was much larger and had electricity available. I have added a light bulb to heat their water, changed over to fermented feed and hooked up lights to come on 4 hours before dawn.....none of which seems to be helping much.
I am located in Northern Ontario but we are not really experiencing cold temps yet...hovering around 5C. Not sure how much longer I can justify the cost to carry so many chickens when I am not getting the eggs to pay for them!....
Any and all suggestions will be welcomed!
This is only the second year I've had layers and the first time I've tried wintering them. Over the summer I built my flock up to about 70 girls and the first couple of weeks after I added the last of them (late summer) I was getting approx. 4.5-5 dz eggs per day.
Now I am down to aprox 1 dozen a day!!.... A few weeks ago I moved them from the chicken tractor to their new winter digs as it was much larger and had electricity available. I have added a light bulb to heat their water, changed over to fermented feed and hooked up lights to come on 4 hours before dawn.....none of which seems to be helping much.
I am located in Northern Ontario but we are not really experiencing cold temps yet...hovering around 5C. Not sure how much longer I can justify the cost to carry so many chickens when I am not getting the eggs to pay for them!....
Any and all suggestions will be welcomed!
and Welcome to BYC!
