While waiting for feed testing results; how much light do hens need to lay eggs

[Sally PB]

And wavelenght affects how often a hen lays an egg, even if the hours of exposure to the light are the same... link

Very interesting. Now I'm really curious if the polycarbonate panels I put on the roof of the run change the quality of the daylight enough to mean anything. They're 83% transmission (actually, less now due to the snow/ice on them) which seems great in the summer, but perhaps not so great now. I can describe the light most days as: dim, dimmer, watery, gloomy, and dull.

 

[Fallenone05]

I'm just thinking it was the stress and weather. I wouldn't be laying either if I was a chicken until a week or two ago. We had another temperature plummet this weekend and I'm fully expecting eggs to slow again. Not that I'll complain, I already have way too many and only a fraction are laying anyways

I went from getting over a dozen a day to three or four a day again. It was spring (low to mid-70s) with heavy sunshine. A cold front blasted in. Then last week we got a half foot of snow and until Wednesday morning we're in an ice storm. My birds have a cold from the SUPER SUDDEN drop in temps (seriously from the 70s to the upper 30/low 40s over night) and they hate it right now. I feel so bad for them.

Edit to add that it was 55 this weekend after the snow before immediately plunging to 29F as the high.

 

[Alagirl]

I need to keep better track of the weather I suppose.
My girls started laying in mid-November and have produced steadily, between 2 and 4 eggs a day, some days I got 5 even.
They are not a year old yet (I got them in May of last year) 2 Ameraucanas, 2 Barred Rocks, one RIR, all from TSC, so I am not expecting top-producing birds anyhow.
They have an open coop, so as soon as the sun comes up, they have light until it goes down. They slowed a little during the cold, but not by much. I added oatmeal and more mealworms to the feed, to add carbs and fat to the diet. Temps dropped down to about 12 degrees Fahrenheit at one point, super cold for us!
Tucker Milling chick starter with oyster shell on the side, plus some Purina layer pellets, wild birdseed as scratch grains, and mealworms, for entertainment.
I am not long enough in this business to be of greater help but I am glad to provide anecdotal data to the mix.

 

[WallyG74]

We’re getting about 10.5 hours of good light right now and my hens are laying like champs.

 

[Brooks_]

FWIW, the week before the winter solstice was the most barren. Average of 2-3 a day with about 10h15m light. Production looked to have noticeable increase to about 5 a day around Jan 7 with 10h20m light. 10 today with 10h45m light.

No real records were kept/memory only. No chickens were harmed.

 

[saysfaa]

I looked up the daylight length, we get about nine hours on the shortest days. That is going by sunrise and sunset times. In real life it is a bit shorter on the heavily clouded days that are common in late autumn.

That may contribute to my expectation that stopping for a month or couple of months is normal.

Edit to add, and a bit longer on clear days because we can see pretty well for a while before and after the official moment of sunrise/sunset. Moreso, the further from the equator one is.

 

[Shadrach]

I find it impossible to believe that a reduction in feed quality, whatever that may be, is responsible for the reported reduction/ceasation of egg laying as some people are suggesting.
Firstly, there are a range of feeds with differing percentages of nutrients and for the the reduction in feed quality theory to stand up there would be a minimum standard at which no hens laid any eggs. This doesn't seem to be the case.
There may be a case that hens may lay less eggs with a reduction in feed quality but hens that don't get fed any commercial feed still lay eggs.
Ime stress and weather have a far greater impact on egg laying than any particular percentage of nutrients.

I've got hens laying with 9 hours of daylight, during moult and poor daylight quality. So have many other people.

 

[aart]

We’re getting about 10.5 hours of good light right now and my hens are laying like champs.

@WallyG74 first year layers or older than 18 months?

 

[WallyG74]

@WallyG74 first year layers or older than 18 months?

Mixture of both. My oldest will be 3 years this summer and I have a large group of first year layers. The oldest aren’t laying every day but they still giving it what they got!

 

[Alagirl]

I find it impossible to believe that a reduction in feed quality, whatever that may be, is responsible for the reported reduction/ceasation of egg laying as some people are suggesting.
Firstly, there are a range of feeds with differing percentages of nutrients and for the the reduction in feed quality theory to stand up there would be a minimum standard at which no hens laid any eggs. This doesn't seem to be the case.
There may be a case that hens may lay less eggs with a reduction in feed quality but hens that don't get fed any commercial feed still lay eggs.
Ime stress and weather have a far greater impact on egg laying than any particular percentage of nutrients.

I've got hens laying with 9 hours of daylight, during moult and poor daylight quality. So have many other people.

Oh, but it's something THE MAN added to the feed.
funny it never happened before....