Winter Layers!!! It is said that...

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

It is said that if we incubate in the winter months using eggs from hens which can continue laying in the winter and from roosters capable of fertilizing the eggs in the winter, we can hatch chicks that will be great winter layers.

Let's discuss it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

What does winter look like, it can be quite different in Miami versus Calgary? How do you manage them? Do you provide heat, extend light, how do you feed them? Are they slow-molting or fast-molting? Maybe some things to think about.

I do believe a breeder can enhance certain traits by selective breeding. How well they lay in certain conditions is one of those. By selecting your breeders from those that lay well in those conditions you can improve the overall laying of the flock on average. How much that improves would depend on your record-keeping. If you just randomly keep breeders that hatch in winter you might make a bit of progress, but you will make a lot more progress if you selectively breed the best layers.

I'm not sure how much the rooster's ability to fertilize in winter has to do with egg laying ability. I think winter laying will be enhanced by selecting your roosters based on the hen's egg laying ability in winter, not the father's fertility. Those are two different traits.

This has nothing to do with how well they lay in other months. Are you sacrificing productivity then to gain productivity in winter?

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

What does winter look like, it can be quite different in Miami versus Calgary? How do you manage them? Do you provide heat, extend light, how do you feed them? Are they slow-molting or fast-molting? Maybe some things to think about.

I do believe a breeder can enhance certain traits by selective breeding. How well they lay in certain conditions is one of those. By selecting your breeders from those that lay well in those conditions you can improve the overall laying of the flock on average. How much that improves would depend on your record-keeping. If you just randomly keep breeders that hatch in winter you might make a bit of progress, but you will make a lot more progress if you selectively breed the best layers.

I'm not sure how much the rooster's ability to fertilize in winter has to do with egg laying ability. I think winter laying will be enhanced by selecting your roosters based on the hen's egg laying ability in winter, not the father's fertility. Those are two different traits.

This has nothing to do with how well they lay in other months. Are you sacrificing productivity then to gain productivity in winter?

Thank you very much, all your info is useful.

 

[RhodeRunner]

In theory it sounds good! In practice it makes me chuckle a bit. Anyone recommending hatching chicks in the dead of the winter, can't be having that hard of winter.

I live in the snow belt, not far from Canada. For winter eggs you would have to do lighting, and some heat. My birds don't lay in the winter, my neighbors birds don't lay in the winter. Some people's birds freeze to death in the winter. And no one hatches in the winter. Even if you did get eggs, you are going to have to heat and keep those birds inside for months. I don't hatch until generally May, as eggs are frozen in April.

If you are dedicated to what you are breeding, selective breeding is important and does work. I would without hesitation tag a hen laying in the dead of the winter (provided she lays well the rest of the year), give her priority hatching come spring, and be sure to toe punch her chicks. If you aren't dedicated, chances are is a breed that will lay better for you in the winter.

As Ridgerunner mentioned, I'm not so sure of the importance of the rooster's fertility either? It is different entirely, and would be hard to judge if the rooster is fertile, or if you didn't get the eggs in time for the embryo to survive the weather.

I used to live near Pittsburgh, which had some nasty winters, but nothing like I deal with now. I raised Chanteclers and Heritage Rhode Island Reds, and considered both of them to be very winter hardy. They took off in the dead of the winter, dead of the summer, and to molt. The Chanteclers did lay a bit further into the winter, but they were more broody come spring and summer. So, even though they layed longer into the winter then my Reds, the Reds actually produced more because they generally don't brood twice a year. (Which Ridgerunner mentioned as well.. are you truly getting the best layer by chasing winter egg production, or is there a sacrifice somewhere along the line?)

When I moved to where I am now, I sadly no longer had my Chanteclers, which would have been more practical. The Reds were okay, but went to producing only 6 months out of the year, which I was getting about 8 - 9 in Pittsburgh. So, now I am like most of my neighbors I have hybrids for laying, because that extra month or two of speedy maturity is the difference between getting eggs in the autumn/winter, and having to wait till spring. I would like to try the Chanteclers again, and see how they do.

 

[Ridgerunner]

@RhodeRunner your winter looks different from what I experienced in Arkansas. We seldom had temperatures drop below 0 degrees F, though teens and single digits were not unusual. I did not extend lights but usually had some laying in winter, pullets and older hens. I regularly hatched in January or February, wanting some cockerels to butcher before the meat in my freezer ran out. Those chicks were raised in a brooder in my coop. I was already retired so I could gather eggs a few times during a day to avoid a freezing problem. I usually got good hatches.

Jut to point out some differences that make some of these things harder to analyze. Different conditions can give you totally different results or even options.

 

[Susan12]

I hatch eggs in the summer from hens that lay in winter they lay very well in winter.

 

[RhodeRunner]

@Ridgerunner

Yes, winter's look different everywhere, and thus cause different results and options. I think I really failed to at getting my thought across (got to distracted perhaps lol). In that, if one can even think about hatching in the winter, if their temperatures are conducive to that... and they aren't getting eggs, or are getting few... they might want to find a breed better suited to their climate vs. taking the time to fight a strain or breed that is struggling in this area.

Now, if you are getting eggs, then sure selective bred the birds for better production. But, as you mentioned are you missing out on other important qualities when just selecting for winter production? Like my Chanteclers that laid better in the winter, but brooded the spring and summer away. While this situation may not apply to the breed the person is working with, it is possible that they are giving something up.

 

[Mitsos Lamprogiorgos]

In Greece we never have winters!!!!!

Even our winter has very hot hours from 9 o clock in the morning to 3 o clock, when the sun is up.

Even the Mediterranean breeds with huge single combs lay in the winter.