Washingtonians

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
I can hook you up with Blue Laced Red Wyandottes late winter/early spring!

I'll take some too!! How early can you sex them? I don't want cockerals

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Bleh. I'm so fickle!!!! I still can't decide on supplemental lighting this winter. All my girls are first year pullets but I'm so worried that if I don't supplement that we'll be feeding 11 chickens all winter and still buying eggs. We go through 3.5 dozen eggs a week on average. Right now, that's what we're getting from 7 confirmed layers and 2 that may or may not be laying sporadically, though I don't think they've started at all. I just worry that my poor 14 week olds will technically reach laying age at the end of October and won't actually start due to lack of light until March when they're 8-9 months old! That would royally suck. SOOOO, this is for those on the wet and icky side: DO YOU USE SUPPLEMENTAL LIGHTING? If not, do your first year pullets still lay reliably during the winter as long as they aren't molting?

Yes, we use supplemental lighting in almost all the coops. And watch, as the days get longer, you will notice a slow down in eggs. And yes, your 14 wks old may very well hold out till spring if you don't provide light. We have ours set up on timer's, and I was just telling DH he needs to get them set up this weekend. It will only be a couple of weeks before the daylight is too short!

 

[TheReidHomestead]

Quote:
I can hook you up with Blue Laced Red Wyandottes late winter/early spring!

I'll take some too!! How early can you sex them? I don't want cockerals

Wyandottes are harder to sex with their rose combs for sure. Definently takes longer than single comb birds. I usually have good guesses by 8 wks, just by posture, legs, attitude, but I've been fooled before, it's usually around 14 wks before I know for sure. Ameraucana's are hard too with their pea combs.

 

[Tailfeathers]

Yes, we use supplemental lighting in almost all the coops. And watch, as the days get longer, you will notice a slow down in eggs. And yes, your 14 wks old may very well hold out till spring if you don't provide light. We have ours set up on timer's, and I was just telling DH he needs to get them set up this weekend. It will only be a couple of weeks before the daylight is too short!

Ditto. Set my timers up last weekend.

God Bless,

 

[chickenjane82]

Bleh. I'm so fickle!!!! I still can't decide on supplemental lighting this winter. All my girls are first year pullets but I'm so worried that if I don't supplement that we'll be feeding 11 chickens all winter and still buying eggs. We go through 3.5 dozen eggs a week on average. Right now, that's what we're getting from 7 confirmed layers and 2 that may or may not be laying sporadically, though I don't think they've started at all. I just worry that my poor 14 week olds will technically reach laying age at the end of October and won't actually start due to lack of light until March when they're 8-9 months old! That would royally suck. SOOOO, this is for those on the wet and icky side: DO YOU USE SUPPLEMENTAL LIGHTING? If not, do your first year pullets still lay reliably during the winter as long as they aren't molting?

Nah.
We dont buy eggs though. If they dont lay them, we just eat something else.

If you dont want to feed them unless they are producing, youll have to supplement light.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

Bleh. I'm so fickle!!!! I still can't decide on supplemental lighting this winter. All my girls are first year pullets but I'm so worried that if I don't supplement that we'll be feeding 11 chickens all winter and still buying eggs. We go through 3.5 dozen eggs a week on average. Right now, that's what we're getting from 7 confirmed layers and 2 that may or may not be laying sporadically, though I don't think they've started at all. I just worry that my poor 14 week olds will technically reach laying age at the end of October and won't actually start due to lack of light until March when they're 8-9 months old! That would royally suck. SOOOO, this is for those on the wet and icky side: DO YOU USE SUPPLEMENTAL LIGHTING? If not, do your first year pullets still lay reliably during the winter as long as they aren't molting?

Yes, we use supplemental lighting in almost all the coops. And watch, as the days get longer, you will notice a slow down in eggs. And yes, your 14 wks old may very well hold out till spring if you don't provide light. We have ours set up on timer's, and I was just telling DH he needs to get them set up this weekend. It will only be a couple of weeks before the daylight is too short!

I'm getting worried my two "Exchequer Leghorn" pullets won't lay till spring. (I use quotes because they are hatchery birds and lord only knows what their lines actually are, probably mostly Ancona with a little white Leghorn?). Anyway, the woman I bought them from in mid-June said they were both hatched 4/16, but who knows? One has a far more developed comb than the other, and neither has shown any sign of laying. Of course, they prefer roosting in their pine tree, so I can't provide a supplemental light unless they actually decide to start using the coop we're building soon, which I doubt they will (it will be on reserve for cold weather, injured birds, etc.).

What do y'all think? Will I get any eggs out of them soon?

Jess, you should definitely provide a light if you need eggs through the winter! Yes, it puts more strain on the chickens, but compared to the conditions the hens live in who produce the eggs you used to buy from the store, they will still be in chicken heaven, trust me.

 

[VelvettFog]

Bleh. I'm so fickle!!!! I still can't decide on supplemental lighting this winter. All my girls are first year pullets but I'm so worried that if I don't supplement that we'll be feeding 11 chickens all winter and still buying eggs. We go through 3.5 dozen eggs a week on average. Right now, that's what we're getting from 7 confirmed layers and 2 that may or may not be laying sporadically, though I don't think they've started at all. I just worry that my poor 14 week olds will technically reach laying age at the end of October and won't actually start due to lack of light until March when they're 8-9 months old! That would royally suck. SOOOO, this is for those on the wet and icky side: DO YOU USE SUPPLEMENTAL LIGHTING? If not, do your first year pullets still lay reliably during the winter as long as they aren't molting?

I live on the dry and nifty side, and I have lights in my coop.

 

[UrbanEnthusiast]

I live on the dry and nifty side, and I have lights in my coop.

Yeah, from what I understand, it has nothing to do with climate and everything to do with length of daylight.

 

[RaZ]

Bleh. I'm so fickle!!!! I still can't decide on supplemental lighting this winter. All my girls are first year pullets but I'm so worried that if I don't supplement that we'll be feeding 11 chickens all winter and still buying eggs. We go through 3.5 dozen eggs a week on average. Right now, that's what we're getting from 7 confirmed layers and 2 that may or may not be laying sporadically, though I don't think they've started at all. I just worry that my poor 14 week olds will technically reach laying age at the end of October and won't actually start due to lack of light until March when they're 8-9 months old! That would royally suck. SOOOO, this is for those on the wet and icky side: DO YOU USE SUPPLEMENTAL LIGHTING? If not, do your first year pullets still lay reliably during the winter as long as they aren't molting?

Well I'm not from either side of WA but I ran an experiment last winter on natural light and egg production. I use no artificial light or heat in my coop here in Mich. I used my flock of 6 hens as my control group. They were all laying by Thanksgiving so I began the analysis on December 1 and compared egg output to number of hours of natural daylight.
The average per day was: Dec = 4; Jan = 3; Feb = 2.5; Mar = 2 and Apr = 2.75.
I then compared that to the counts of some 14 other chicken keepers who did the same experiment (no artificial light, no heat) and from all over the country from Texas to Maine to Georgia to Michigan UP. Data was then analyzed on a biological statistics programme.

The conclusion was that there was no direct correlation between available daylight and egg output with a confidence of 0.005. The experiment earned me a B-minus in my Bio-Stats class.

Granted that was only one experiment and more data would certainly help. Especially a comparison to chickens with artificial light present. But I'm going to stick with natural light with no extras.

Something that occurred to me that I didn't think about for the experiment...My coop has two (2) windows that are each 15 sq. ft. in area. I have no idea what my other folks had for window size. Now that I'm graduated, I just came up with a better experimental design.

 

[Chicken Rustler]

As for the Bike helmets. While I never had one (I don't think they had been invented) and I survived. I highly recommend them. Just as I told a man a few years ago. He was trying to buy a motorcycle helmet for his child. The man was making a huge deal about the cost of a helmet. See a $30 helmet was the cheapest one. Finally after getting tired of listening to him I politely (imagine that) turned to him and said "sir what is your child's life worth because that is what you are doing is buying life insurance for your child". Now granted we all know that a helmet will not prevent all injuries/death's the cost of a helmet is a cheap price to pay. And to save ya asking NO we don't wear helmets in the rail. See there is no room and we are tightly strapped into race approved bucket seats with 5 point harnesses.

BTW the salesman later told me that man bought one of the more expensive helmets in the shop. Maybe he just needed it put in a little different perspective!

I am not saying anybody is right or wrong just sharing my opinion as a former FF/First responder.