short days - when will chooks start up again?

[louloubean]

when do your chickens start laying again after the solstice?

do they wait until march? or do they start ramping up again earlier?

 

[gsim]

I am in E tenn and mine have not yet slowed down. They are 25 weeks old and a flock of 24 pullets is laying 14 - 17 eggs daily. It did not change when the temps dipped so low (teens) for this area recently either. It may have to do with your breeds and whether they are cold-hardy layers or not. May be that different poultry hatcheries produce birds that have different degrees of performance as others of the same breed. One poster on BYC reports his never have laid and are going on 9 mo old and are RIR and Black Aussie. Both of those are cold-hardy and good wintertime layers.

I have Black Aussies, Barred Rocks, Rhode Isl Reds, and Buff Comets (sometimes called Golden Comets) All 4 breeds are producing. I am pretty sure that three newbies are coming into lay now as have found 3 eggs on the poop plank yest and 2 there today, thin shells. So it could even be the hatchery they come from.

 

[louloubean]

i have 7 barred rocks. March born.

earlier this month, they were producing around 6 eggs a day. this week, 2-3 eggs a day.
i figure i have one more week until the shortest day, then maybe production will increase again? i dunno?
oh yeah, with no supplemental light, or heat.

plus how old are birds when they moult? is it a birthday thing? or a spring thing?

i guess i need to be more patient to find out these things!!