MIChickandGuinea
Songster
I know it's the shortest daylight part of the winter, and we do live in a northern area with severely reduced daylight. So I know we should see fewer eggs. We are adding 2 hours of bright light in the coop with an LED bulb on a timer, and for the first couple of low-light months, that seemed to work well. In December, we had our first-ever day when every chicken laid her egg on the same day. And on average, we were getting 5-6 eggs from our 9 hens.
BUT! We had an event where a possum got into our coop (and fortunately DIDN'T hurt anyone, just scared them), and then just a couple days later we moved them into their newly built coop (possum-proof!). Their new coop is much more chicken-friendly and they seem very happy, tootling around, trying out all the perches and ledges. And SOME of the girls have resumed egg production as normal (the leghorn, isa browns, and light brahma are laying nearly daily). The Marans have ... laid 1-2 eggs each total in the almost 3 weeks since the possum event. But the easter-eggers have laid a grand total of ZERO EGGS between the three of them. Not one green egg since the possum event. I've even shuffled through the deep litter to see if they're laying/hiding their eggs, but I can't find any green eggs, shells, or other indication that the EEs are laying at all.
So ... are some different breeds typically more affected by reduced daylight? Or more affected by the stress of upsetting events and/or housing changes? (Before you ask, yes they have unlimited access to plentiful fresh, balanced layer feed, fresh water, supplemental oyster shell, access to a covered outdoor run, large, gracious nesting boxes with clean, fluffy bedding, and all appear to be in good health according to their appearance, droppings, eating habits, and just the way they're acting.)
BUT! We had an event where a possum got into our coop (and fortunately DIDN'T hurt anyone, just scared them), and then just a couple days later we moved them into their newly built coop (possum-proof!). Their new coop is much more chicken-friendly and they seem very happy, tootling around, trying out all the perches and ledges. And SOME of the girls have resumed egg production as normal (the leghorn, isa browns, and light brahma are laying nearly daily). The Marans have ... laid 1-2 eggs each total in the almost 3 weeks since the possum event. But the easter-eggers have laid a grand total of ZERO EGGS between the three of them. Not one green egg since the possum event. I've even shuffled through the deep litter to see if they're laying/hiding their eggs, but I can't find any green eggs, shells, or other indication that the EEs are laying at all.
So ... are some different breeds typically more affected by reduced daylight? Or more affected by the stress of upsetting events and/or housing changes? (Before you ask, yes they have unlimited access to plentiful fresh, balanced layer feed, fresh water, supplemental oyster shell, access to a covered outdoor run, large, gracious nesting boxes with clean, fluffy bedding, and all appear to be in good health according to their appearance, droppings, eating habits, and just the way they're acting.)
