Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CarolynF]

@Hinotori you got a BYC Friend Badge!! Congratulations!

Long overdue in my humble opinion!

 

[Aliciahess]

@Hinotori
  you got a BYC Friend Badge!!  Congratulations!

Long overdue in my humble opinion!

Congrats!

 

[Hinotori]

Thanks!

I was very surprised.

 

[CarolynF]

I haven't been here much lately, but I know we have a few new peeps joining the conversation.
Hi and Welcome, glad you're here!

 

[elizmartin]

Yeah, Hinotori, Congratulations ! ! !

 

[jbkirk]

Yeah, Hinotori, Congratulations ! ! !

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ShockValue]

Seems to be an undecided subject - extra light in the coop. I've decided to give it a try just to see what happens. We've been without eggs now for about 2 months and as much as I enjoy their company, we DID get them for eggs.

I've spent the last week building a microproccessor controlled light system that automatically calculates sunrise and sunset for my LAT/LON. Based on the sunset time, it turns the lights on 14 hours prior, and then turns them off at sunrise to conserve power. This way the birds always have the natural fading daylight in the evening to mosey back to the coop, get a bite to eat and get up on the roost with no sudden "lights out". Lights are an LED strip powered by a 6V battery and a small solar panel to trickle charge it during the day.

Will post some pics and results in the next few days.

 

[DaveOmak]

Seems to be an undecided subject - extra light in the coop. I've decided to give it a try just to see what happens. We've been without eggs now for about 2 months and as much as I enjoy their company, we DID get them for eggs.

I've spent the last week building a microproccessor controlled light system that automatically calculates sunrise and sunset for my LAT/LON. Based on the sunset time, it turns the lights on 14 hours prior, and then turns them off at sunrise to conserve power. This way the birds always have the natural fading daylight in the evening to mosey back to the coop, get a bite to eat and get up on the roost with no sudden "lights out". Lights are an LED strip powered by a 6V battery and a small solar panel to trickle charge it during the day.

Will post some pics and results in the next few days.

I have 3 laying hens.... I get 2.5 eggs/day.... My lights come on at 12:30 AM... go off at 10:00 AM.... They are back on the roost at 3:30 PM..... Chickens are blind in the dark and should be allowed to find their way back to the roost during afternoon dwindling daylight..

This is from the Purina Vet.....


DrMikelleRoeder

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There could be a couple of things a play here.

Let’s look at your flock nutrition. To make sure your layers are provided with adequate nutrition, they should be fed a balanced and complete layer feed free-choice, and the treats you feed should make up no more than 10% of their total diet. Given the severity of your situation, I would even cut the treats back further. Too many treats throw the nutrient balance off and can hinder performance. Adequate amino acid availability, calcium and phosphorus are of particular importance with older hens.

Molt is an unlikely culprit, as even the longest molts are only 6 months long. But, your hens could be facing other stressors, such as space, nesting area comfort and access to enough light. They are also getting considerable age on them and may simply have reached the non-productive stage of life. You may want to have them checked for parasites, which can rob them of the nutrients in the feed. Predators lurking around at night could also be a stressor. Even something innocuous to us, such as construction noise, could be a potential stressor.

Chickens need adequate space to be comfortable, so make sure your hens are offered at least 4 sq.ft/bird inside and at least 10 sq.ft./bird outdoors. From your question, I am guessing you have around 10 birds, so your coop should be at least 40 square feet and their outdoor space should be 100 square feet.

Check the nesting boxes. Make sure that there is plenty of soft, clean bedding material in each nesting box. Hens prefer to not lay in dirty or unkempt nesting areas.

Your hens will also need a proper light:dark schedule – 16 hours light, 8 hours dark per day for optimal egg production.

Hope this helps!


DrMikelleRoeder

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Are you providing supplemental light? It is day length, not temperature that stimulates the beginning and cessation of egg laying. Birds need 16 hours of light, daily to maintain egg production through the winter. Since your birds have already ceased laying, they may not start up again until next spring, even if you do supplement now with light. Next year, as fall approaches, set a lighting schedule of 16 hours light and 8 hours dark and maintain that to help support continued egg production. Also be sure to not overfeed greens and other treats, as the layer feed will provide the protein, energy and other nutrients necessary for the demands of egg production.

 

[ochochicas]

Seems to be an undecided subject - extra light in the coop. I've decided to give it a try just to see what happens. We've been without eggs now for about 2 months and as much as I enjoy their company, we DID get them for eggs.

I've spent the last week building a microproccessor controlled light system that automatically calculates sunrise and sunset for my LAT/LON. Based on the sunset time, it turns the lights on 14 hours prior, and then turns them off at sunrise to conserve power. This way the birds always have the natural fading daylight in the evening to mosey back to the coop, get a bite to eat and get up on the roost with no sudden "lights out". Lights are an LED strip powered by a 6V battery and a small solar panel to trickle charge it during the day.

Will post some pics and results in the next few days.

Up until the end of December I was giving my hens minimal supplemental lighting. I left the coop light on until 6:00, which was an hour and a half of extra light. I was getting, on average, 5 - 7 eggs per day. After Christmas I started leaving the lights on until 8 p.m., which is two hours more than they were getting. I'm now averaging 3 - 5 eggs per day. I realize the hens are still only getting about 12.5 hours of light, so perhaps they do need a full 16 to lay consistently. Maybe the lights have to be on for 16 hours all year round without fail or you throw the system off balance???

In any event, I'm not worried about it. The girls are enjoying a break, I'm sure.

 

[Hinotori]

I have an 8 watt LED light on for 14 hours in the coop sinfe it's dark in there. It goes off around 8pm. The girls know what time it goes off. I've never had one off the roost. Most of them are up on when it starts getting really dark outside. They will be napping in the light when I check them.