amama
Chirping
These are our first chickens so we haven't had a winter with them yet. We have 12 Black Australorp hens that are 14 months old that free range on 50 acres (well, they don't go all that far from the house). They weren't eating much feed, so we took away commercial feed to see if it mattered that much, and they started to molt and stopped laying, which wasn't what we wanted, so we added the feed back in. They started laying again, about 6 a day, (laid 12-13 a day during the summer) and then just stopped immediately after the days got shorter. I wasn't planning on using artificial light, but didn't know they would stop laying completely. I had read their breed would lay through the winter, but maybe I read that wrong or assumed that meant without artificial light.
1) We have them for egg production, and don't want to feed them without eggs in return, so is it too late to start adding artificial light in the coop?
2) Do those of you that have hens that don't lay through the winter, do you still feed them the same amount? I wouldn't think they would need as much when not laying.
3) We would like to get a rooster to have chicks to start the next round of egg layers, but I didn't want to get one in the winter since it's too cold for chicks outside. Would February be too early to start that process?
4) Will hens handle a rooster being introduced that wasn't raised around them?
Thank you for your advice
1) We have them for egg production, and don't want to feed them without eggs in return, so is it too late to start adding artificial light in the coop?
2) Do those of you that have hens that don't lay through the winter, do you still feed them the same amount? I wouldn't think they would need as much when not laying.
3) We would like to get a rooster to have chicks to start the next round of egg layers, but I didn't want to get one in the winter since it's too cold for chicks outside. Would February be too early to start that process?
4) Will hens handle a rooster being introduced that wasn't raised around them?
Thank you for your advice