I'm sure this has been asked many times before, but I'm trying to work out the timing of when egg laying will start to pick up again in the spring.
The details:
- No supplemental light or heat, well-ventilated coop with lots of natural light
- Feeding Southern States layer mix with some scratch, free ranging and leftovers. ACV in the water
- 3 Marans about 8 months old - one started laying regularly in early December, and a few days ago I started getting two Marans eggs a day, so someone else has joined the club. None of the three have molted.
- 9 other hens of various breeds. 4 are currently molting. I acquired these a few days before Christmas. They are about a year old. One is laying daily.
I know that some of the slowdown is because of the hens that are molting (they are mostly recovered but still show some pin feathers). Some is from the stress of the move. I am hoping that the molting hens will recover in a few more weeks, and that because the new hens are settling in well, they will recover from the moving stress in a few more weeks. The pecking order seems to be pretty well established and they are happily ranging and going in and out of the coop.
Now the big question in my mind is when the seasonal shifts happen. I hear everyone say that laying slows down in the winter and picks up again in the spring, but are we generally talking abut February? April? June?
Thanks!
The details:
- No supplemental light or heat, well-ventilated coop with lots of natural light
- Feeding Southern States layer mix with some scratch, free ranging and leftovers. ACV in the water
- 3 Marans about 8 months old - one started laying regularly in early December, and a few days ago I started getting two Marans eggs a day, so someone else has joined the club. None of the three have molted.
- 9 other hens of various breeds. 4 are currently molting. I acquired these a few days before Christmas. They are about a year old. One is laying daily.
I know that some of the slowdown is because of the hens that are molting (they are mostly recovered but still show some pin feathers). Some is from the stress of the move. I am hoping that the molting hens will recover in a few more weeks, and that because the new hens are settling in well, they will recover from the moving stress in a few more weeks. The pecking order seems to be pretty well established and they are happily ranging and going in and out of the coop.
Now the big question in my mind is when the seasonal shifts happen. I hear everyone say that laying slows down in the winter and picks up again in the spring, but are we generally talking abut February? April? June?
Thanks!
