winter layers??

[mrsteiner]

My Easter Eggers had stopped laying completely in late September and didn't start again until I added supplementary light last month. It took about six weeks of the "light therapy" but I'm getting about 5 blue eggs per day from 8 hens.

I have a light on a time and add about 4-5 hours of extra light per day.

 

[thebanthams]

after two long months my arauncana finally laid her green egg !!

 

[Bullitt]

You can purchase an LED light that uses very little electricity. Chickens need 14 hours of light a day to be good egg layers. If you have good sunlight and your chickens are in the sunlight, you only need to have the light on for a few hours a day to make sure they have 14 hours of light. If you have poor sunlight or your chickens are not in the sunlight, you may need to turn on the light for a longer period of time. Many people use timers so that the light turns on and off automatically.

A person can also purchase a small solar panel (probably less than 50 watts), charge controller, and deep cycle battery and have a 12-volt LED light. Many people are using a system like this for their automatic coop doors. The same battery may be able to be used for the LED light since it uses very little electricity. Or you may have to upgrade to a battery with more amp hours.

It would be pretty nice to have a system where the light comes on in the morning to wake up the chickens and then opens the coop door to let them into the chicken run, and then in the evening the coop door closes after the chickens are roosting.

 

[Lrunion]

I have been struggling to get my hens laying again. They went into molting in the fall and have not resumed laying. I have Red Sex Link that are just over a year old. Any other tips besides the light you can think of for me? I am a newbie to the chicken business. The have been on egg ration for a good while. I have not changed their feed since the got of the pullet stuff.
Thanks advance.

 

[karlamaria]

My girls are laying very well, got 5 eggs total ( last egg laid about 3 hours ago) and I have only 5 girls. Its winter here in Montana, cold gloomy and dark still at7:30 am and getting dark by 5:30 . No way are they getting 14 hours of sun light or any kind of light lol, and we do not supplement light for them. They are just going to town laying. They will e 1 year old next month.
I was going to supplement there light last month and the month before as they stopped laying for about a month and a half but decided to let them be natural and not force the issue. We love the eggs, but decided to buy others free range eggs until our girls got back in the mood. Im glad there laying again lol.

 

[thebanthams]

My ameraucana stop laying again, and shes not molting. I am sure theres not much you can do except spoiled them with veggie scraps. I think the weather has a lot to do with them . today we are expecting winter storm. She probably has cold feet !!!

 

[Fred's Hens]

I have a light in the coop on all day and night and all of my EE's are laying along with the rest of the crew.

Really? Why would you do that?

 

[debid]

My Sussex took an unexplained week off recently. When she started back up, it was like nothing happened. I was guessing that she finished her first clutch and now she's started her second rather than going broody? She was really cranky when she laid that last egg before her break (growled at me which she'd never done before) and I thought she was going broody for sure... but then she didn't.

My ameraucana stop laying again, and shes not molting. I am sure theres not much you can do except spoiled them with veggie scraps. I think the weather has a lot to do with them . today we are expecting winter storm. She probably has cold feet !!!

 

[Lbrad7]

I live in NW GA and I experienced the same thing this year and I think you are right..it has just been so gloomy and the limited light shut them down. I went from getting over 70 eggs a day down to 10-13. They are just about back up to speed now at 40-50 a day but it sure was a long few months there. Shelling out all that feed money and no cash flow coming in from egg sales was about to have me calling the White House for a feed bailout!

Even my breeds who are good winter layers (and DID lay through the winter last year and the year before) decided to quit this year. Not sure where you are, but I think the exceptionally gloomy, rainy weather we're having here has something to do with it. We're not just having short daylight periods, we're having NO daylight periods. It's like living in Alaska. The only chicken I have laying right now is a first-year, 22 week old Gold Star who just happened to start up at just the right time. My Wyandottes are all bumming, my Wellies always were terrible winter layers.

Anyway, to sum up -- I'm another vote for them just taking their annual break.

 

[Blue]

All of my chickens also decided to take a break this winter. I went for a couple months with no eggs at all. It seems like my dry spell might finally be over though. So far this week, I've gotten 6 eggs one day and 7 another. Now I just need to find buyers for all my extra eggs.