Solar Lights Helping My Chickens Lay?

[aart]

light enters the eye there is no trigger to release the ova from the ovary.

It's actually absorbed thru the skull by the pineal gland.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting

 

[Fairview01]

It's actually absorbed thru the skull by the pineal gland.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting

Yeah, that too.

 

[Ashley McDaniel]

I found this interesting about egg laying. I read that hens have a certain amount of ova. Obviously different for each bird but once the proverbial gas tank is empty there is no refill available. They don't make more ova.

How I understand the egg laying process is that until a certain period of light enters the eye there is no trigger to release the ova from the ovary. There isn't a backlog of developing eggs just dormant ovas waiting to be released from the ovary into the egg laying process.

To me stockpiling eggs for winter is like waiting for our fresh eggs to get old so we can peel them easier as hard boiled eggs. What's the point of going to all the trouble. I try to have staggered hatches from February to April. The pullets start laying in fall just when last year's pullets are going into molt. If I time it just right I can process last years layers before molt while the new pullets have already started laying. I use a led shop light in the coop on a timer for 3.5 hours. The monthly cost of that electricity is probably less than the amount of coffee I drink in a week.

Nobody seems to have informed my white Plymouth rocks they shouldn't be laying everyday. They are insane egg laying machines.

Very interesting. Thanks for the new info!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I found this interesting about egg laying. I read that hens have a certain amount of ova. Obviously different for each bird but once the proverbial gas tank is empty there is no refill available. They don't make more ova.

That is my understanding as well.

To me stockpiling eggs for winter is like waiting for our fresh eggs to get old so we can peel them easier as hard boiled eggs. What's the point of going to all the trouble.

The point is that SOME people don't have enough eggs to get through the winter. And stockpiled eggs are STILL better than the nastiness you would have to buy at the store. Which by the way can be up to 60 days old legally. They get sent to market with a 30 day label. any unsold get returned to the supplier where they are regraded and then sent out to stores with ANOTHER 30 day label. After which point they are returned to the supplier again if not sold and become institutional food for school lunches and that type of thing.

You can peel brand new fresh eggs by simply making sure your water is boiling before adding the eggs regardless of room or fridge temp. And then after your done to your likeness, shocking them in COLD water. Mine is usually cold enough out of my well water tap, but some people do have to use ice water to achieve this effect. It works for about 11 out of 12 eggs. There is an occasional difficult one but that isn't the average.

Now let me give you my understanding of the egg process..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/interesting-facts-about-chicken-eggs.63122/

"At any given time a productive hen will have eggs of several stages within her reproductive system. The eggs most recently discharged from the ovary are just tiny yolks, and the eggs farther down the oviduct are progressively larger and more developed.
From the time an ovum leaves the ovary, it takes approximately 25 hours for the egg to reach the vent for laying. During that time period, the yolk will grow larger while being surrounded by albumen (egg white), wrapped in a membrane, and encased in a shell. Pigment is deposited on the shell as the last step of the egg production process."

Mind you this article article doesn't give references for me to verify, but I will definitely look into it more because I do NOT like to spread misinformation.

So if the egg takes 25-26 hours, which is my prior understanding... how could ANY hen lay eggs everyday if there weren't more ovum releases into the duct before the other was laid? This article indicates slab sided egg are from another one coming to close behind and bumping/resting together...
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/01/how-hen-makes-egg-egg-oddities.html

I have a real curiosity here. So any insight, with references would be appreciated!

 

[junebuggena]

I've got a stock-pile of eggs out in my garage right now. I've already used about half, thanks to holiday baking. The freshly laid pullet eggs are being reserved for the incubator. The older hens and the ducks are all molting or recovering from their molt, so it will be another month or two before I get enough eggs for both hatching and eating/selling.