Winter Laying

[ChickenKids]

Hey.
We've just started keeping chickens.

I know hens lay best in spring and summer (about an egg a day, if you're lucky) but how much in winter?

We're trying to estimate how much egg production will go down in winter if we don't put a light in the coop.

Does anyone have any numbers?

Thanks

 

[ColoradoMike]

I've kept only three hens for one year now. My experience last winter (and it was a seriously cold winter) was that two of the birds (Cali White and Barred Rock) did not lay for about three and a half months, centered almost precisely on the winter solstice. Our third hen, a Red Sex Link, layed faithfully all winter, pretty much every day. She is a champ.

 

[ChickenKids]

Great. So does it depend on what type of hen you have as to how much they lay?

We have Wyandottes, Leghorns and Easter Eggers (psudo Ameracaunas). They are all supposed to be relatively hardy birds.

I wonder if this means they'll keep laying through the winter.

Does anyone have winter experience with any of these breeds?

Thanks!

 

[sgtmom52]

I have Wyandottes, Buff Orp and EE. All layed well over the winter without extra lighting ~ after they finished an almost 3 month strike while molting!

 

[fldiver97]

I have GLW's, an EE, a BR that all layed in the winter months. They are just a year old now but even with only 30-60 min extra light from mid December to mid January they did OK. Not as much as in the spring but again, they just started laying in the fall and early winter. I don't much care for adding light and artificially prolonging the days in the winter but I had not installed a bigger window in back yet so the coop was dark way early....

 

[Tamrajh]

I think it also depends on where you're located and how hard the winters are on them. I live in Utah and had 3 girls over the winter. We didn't get a single egg. 2 EE, 1 RIR

 

[gritsar]

Hens that start laying for the first time in the late summer, early fall will generally lay well through their first winter. If you're going to see a slowdown, it will be in their second winter.

 

[ChickenKids]

Thanks everyone!