Out of 21 hens...they all quit laying at once???

[mmtillman]

We jsut experienced a very extreme cold spell....egg production dropped each day till there are NO eggs in the nest today ?!!! Why would all my hens know to quit laying at once and when will they begin again? Did the bitter cold effect them that much??? Weather is improving and temps are goin up ...so I hope my little egg business can survive. I was getting 16-18 eggs daily

 

[catdaddyfro]

Quote:
Same here, out of 23 I am finally back up to 2 a day. Some are molting but the young pullets just up and quit all of the sudden never ever have I not got some eggs all winter long. this is the first time that my new layers stopped all of the sudden, and like you asked , yes I do think they knew this cold spell was commin' and went into energy conservation mode. I reckon?

catdaddy

 

[mmtillman]

I have figured it out...the hens had a meeting about a month ago....Weather alert..cold will be extreme soon, so they all agreed ....like someone just said, to take a break and conserve their energy to keep warm and resume laying when the weather is decent again....NOW I understand how it is they all quit at one time.....them birds are smarter then we think!!!

 

[dlolato]

The first two winters that I had chickens, I did not keep extra lighting on or did I provide any additional heating. Out of the thirty hens I had at that time, we would only get three to six eggs a day. The third winter, I kept lights on for fourteen hours a day, and added heat to their coop. I know there are alot of different opinions on this matter, but the results were out of the thirty hens, I maintained 85% production which was a tremendous difference. If you are relying on production of eggs to sell, then you might want to consider these alternative measures. You also must keep in mind, that the cost of lighting and heating does not exceed the income you have for the additional egg production.

We love to be able to go out and see our girls happy in their lighted and heated coop and happily producing eggs!