Winter is almost upon us, you know what that means!

[fluffycrow]

Yup. Stiiiiiiiiill waiting.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I am curious though, have you noticed a difference in egg production based on the colour of the leghorn?

I used to think there was but now not so much. I'd notice a pen not producing as well but then like a month later they could be out laying the others.
Maybe there was back in the beginning when I acquired something new but for years now I've not brought in anything new. I've crossed and uncrossed and made so many of what I have now that the bloodlines have all been mixed.
With that and the whole it's an individual hen thing I don't see a significant difference now.
Maybe that made sense.

 

[fluffycrow]

I used to think there was but now not so much. I'd notice a pen not producing as well but then like a month later they could be out laying the others.
Maybe there was back in the beginning when I acquired something new but for years now I've not brought in anything new. I've crossed and uncrossed and made so many of what I have now that the bloodlines have all been mixed.
With that and the whole it's an individual hen thing I don't see a significant difference now.
Maybe that made sense.

Makes perfect sense. My reasoning behind asking that question is the favoritism for the whites. I have not read about the breed at all so I may be writing bullcrap, but I wonder why the white was favoured. If they all lay the same, then why go that route, when you could have the same egg production with another colour than is more appealing to the eye

 

[townchicks]

All my ladies are old, and molting. I've been buying eggs since September. They are just pets now. Well, they always have been, but they were pets with benefits.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Makes perfect sense. My reasoning behind asking that question is the favoritism for the whites. I have not read about the breed at all so I may be writing bullcrap, but I wonder why the white was favoured. If they all lay the same, then why go that route, when you could have the same egg production with another colour than is more appealing to the eye

Well I don't have whites so they're not in my equation. Whoops.
I've always heard and assumed the whites did lay better. I'd heard and it made sense that they layed better because the whites and egg production had been focused on far more then other colors.
When I had a mixed flock whites is what I had. I free ranged and ended up getting some browns cause I thought they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb to predators.
Side note.... the whites stayed just as safe as the browns.
Those two were the beginning of my leghorn breeding fascination. I penned them seperate and was suprised to find out the browns produced as well as the whites.
Then I crossed them and made a line of red Pyle. It took a few generations and when I got there I decided I didn't like that color at all.
I scrapped them and the whites. Never had whites since.
Luckily in that process I did make some silver duckwings or close to SDs so I then went in that direction and it's history after that.

 

[Debbie292d]

Oof, I get why you'd like somewhere slightly warmer. I'd imagine winters there are quite harsh, so finding ways to limit your time outside in the cold makes a lot of sense. How warm do you keep it?

Usually, when not a blizzard or high winds in subzero temps, we can keep the oil-filled radiator heater on almost its lowest setting and the coop stays 40F-ish. When it's really bad, we have to go out there and turn it up a notch as even though the coop is insulated, it's vented so when high winds come it can't keep up set on low. 400 watts is all it is.

 

[K0k0shka]

For the past few years I've had new pullets every year so I've had some eggs through winter. But I'm not planning on adding new chicks next year, so next winter will be a total drought. After their first year, mine lay nothing from September to February, and the couple of new pullets aren't enough for a family of 4, so we buy eggs. I picked my breeds for friendliness though, not productivity, and they definitely meet that requirement, so I'm happy.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I start stockpiling eggs early to try and make it through winter - nothing fancy, I just fill an entire fridge shelf with eggs. This year I started around late August I think? Though I have to be honest, I don't think I'll have enough as we haven't added new chicks since 2020 so laying's slowed enough to be an issue. Optimally I'd want to go into winter with 7-8 dozen but I only had maybe 6 dozen this year before laying stopped.

Previous year I think I started maybe early Sept., and stocked up enough that I had maybe 10 eggs left when the first overachiever started laying again. The year prior I started stocking up too late and ended up having to buy 2 dozen to make it through the year.

 

[tlcmurphy]

I’m currently buying eggs from my friend because my 3 chickens have stopped laying. Soon she will not have enough to sell and I’ll resort yet again to buying eggs at Publix with a bag on my head so no one recognizes me.

The things we do to be owned by chickens…

 

[fluffycrow]

Well I don't have whites so they're not in my equation. Whoops.
I've always heard and assumed the whites did lay better. I'd heard and it made sense that they layed better because the whites and egg production had been focused on far more then other colors.
When I had a mixed flock whites is what I had. I free ranged and ended up getting some browns cause I thought they wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb to predators.
Side note.... the whites stayed just as safe as the browns.
Those two were the beginning of my leghorn breeding fascination. I penned them seperate and was suprised to find out the browns produced as well as the whites.
Then I crossed them and made a line of red Pyle. It took a few generations and when I got there I decided I didn't like that color at all.
I scrapped them and the whites. Never had whites since.
Luckily in that process I did make some silver duckwings or close to SDs so I then went in that direction and it's history after that.

I wonder why the white was favoured then, if your experience says they lay the same. I've only had whites as well, but I like all other colours much more