- Thread starter
- #21
Good to know. I thought maybe it'd affect their schedule. Will it stop them from laying eggs since they won't have as much daylight?
Question about getting chickens to bed
- Thread starter cp2894_
- Start date
Some people find that it does, others find that it doesn't. Latitude matters.
Many pullets, especially of high-production breeds, will lay through their first winter. Year-old and older hens stop laying and molt somewhere in the summer or fall and may not resume laying until spring.
Missyschix13
Songster
Wait....so it's possible my pullets will continue to lay through the winter? I'm in PA. Please tell me more!
Wait....so it's possible my pullets will continue to lay through the winter? I'm in PA. Please tell me more!
I'm a good deal further south so I have more winter daylight than you do, but I had June-hatched pullets start laying in December from my higher-production, faster-maturing breeds.
- Thread starter
- #25
Oh ok. I was worried my pullets would slow down/stop laying. They'll just start laying around then so it'd be a shame if they stopped. Thanks!
Missyschix13
Songster
Which breeds in particular? I know daylight impacts laying. My neighbors chickens lay through the winter but at greatly reduced rate. Since it's August and no eggs yet (I think we're getting close) that it would be short lived this year. I'm curious to see how it plays out. I'm leaving for vacation in 10 days.....mark my words, they will start laying while I'm gone.
Which breeds in particular? I know daylight impacts laying. My neighbors chickens lay through the winter but at greatly reduced rate. Since it's August and no eggs yet (I think we're getting close) that it would be short lived this year. I'm curious to see how it plays out. I'm leaving for vacation in 10 days.....mark my words, they will start laying while I'm gone.
Blue Australorps and a California White.
Missyschix13
Songster
I have 2 cinnamon queens, a golden comet, and a sapphire gem. I guess we'll see how that works out!
The shortening of days may delay onset of laying, so you might find that to be the case instead.
Some of the key words in this are may, can, might, it's possible, and especially some. Don't take anything as every time, 100%, without fail. People tend to do that with this topic and many others.
When they were feral, chickens would lay eggs and hatch chicks during the good weather months and stop laying eggs when the days got shorter and food got harder to find. Their feathers would wear out and need to be replaced, so when the days got shorter in the fall they'd quit laying, molt, and use the nutrients that were going into making eggs to grow new feathers. When the weather got better in the spring they started the cycle again.
We domesticated them and selectively bred some of them to lay a lot more and not go broody so often. We feed them well in the fall and winter. Some people mess with the lights, some don't. They still follow the basic patterns of molting when the days get shorter but not all totally stop laying when they molt. Practically all do but there are some exceptions. With chickens there are always exceptions to any rule. Not all wait until the nice days of spring before they start laying after the molt. Some pullets skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue to lay throughout the winter. Some don't lay throughout their first winter. High production chickens, whether a breed, hybrid, or barnyard mix are more prone to starting to lay earlier than spring or lay throughout the winter. The decorative chickens still can but are less likely to.
This light thing. Light is very important to chickens. The change in length of the day is important especially to tell them to molt or crank up laying again. Light also tells them when to release a yolk to start the internal egg making process. You read on here that they need a certain length of light before they lay. That has not been my experience. The commercial egg laying operations have worked out their system the way they feed them, house them, and manage them that somewhere around 16 hours of light is the most efficient to get the most quality eggs out of their chickens. They have ways so that every hen in the flock eats what she needs for maximum egg production and that no one hogs the feed. We don't manage them that way.
The longer the length of day the more time available for the triggers (there are more than one trigger) that tell them to start an egg to work. This works so the egg is laid in the daytime, not at night when they are on the roost. The longer the light the more time they have to eat so they get more nutrition to make an egg. This affects the size of the egg but also frequency.
I've had hens finish the molt and resume laying before the days even start to get longer. I've had pullets lay a lot of eggs during the shortest days of the year. In Arkansas that was about 10 hours of light a day. In Pennsylvania your shortest days will be a bit shorter since you are further north. It is still quite possible you will get some eggs, and maybe a lot, from some of your pullets without extending the lights. Don't count on it but don't be surprised if it happens.
When they were feral, chickens would lay eggs and hatch chicks during the good weather months and stop laying eggs when the days got shorter and food got harder to find. Their feathers would wear out and need to be replaced, so when the days got shorter in the fall they'd quit laying, molt, and use the nutrients that were going into making eggs to grow new feathers. When the weather got better in the spring they started the cycle again.
We domesticated them and selectively bred some of them to lay a lot more and not go broody so often. We feed them well in the fall and winter. Some people mess with the lights, some don't. They still follow the basic patterns of molting when the days get shorter but not all totally stop laying when they molt. Practically all do but there are some exceptions. With chickens there are always exceptions to any rule. Not all wait until the nice days of spring before they start laying after the molt. Some pullets skip the molt their first fall/winter and continue to lay throughout the winter. Some don't lay throughout their first winter. High production chickens, whether a breed, hybrid, or barnyard mix are more prone to starting to lay earlier than spring or lay throughout the winter. The decorative chickens still can but are less likely to.
This light thing. Light is very important to chickens. The change in length of the day is important especially to tell them to molt or crank up laying again. Light also tells them when to release a yolk to start the internal egg making process. You read on here that they need a certain length of light before they lay. That has not been my experience. The commercial egg laying operations have worked out their system the way they feed them, house them, and manage them that somewhere around 16 hours of light is the most efficient to get the most quality eggs out of their chickens. They have ways so that every hen in the flock eats what she needs for maximum egg production and that no one hogs the feed. We don't manage them that way.
The longer the length of day the more time available for the triggers (there are more than one trigger) that tell them to start an egg to work. This works so the egg is laid in the daytime, not at night when they are on the roost. The longer the light the more time they have to eat so they get more nutrition to make an egg. This affects the size of the egg but also frequency.
I've had hens finish the molt and resume laying before the days even start to get longer. I've had pullets lay a lot of eggs during the shortest days of the year. In Arkansas that was about 10 hours of light a day. In Pennsylvania your shortest days will be a bit shorter since you are further north. It is still quite possible you will get some eggs, and maybe a lot, from some of your pullets without extending the lights. Don't count on it but don't be surprised if it happens.
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