Winter laying

[montain_dweller]

They do have free flowing water available all day inside the coop. And since it's cold still they spend the non sunny days inside.
I will admit that I have not been changing it daily. I will start replacing the water in the mornings when I feed.

 

[turkey lover]

thank you so much i guess i need to put a water warmer in the coop,for them i have one for the turkeys but not in my chicken coop,i do give them fresh water daily but not till i get home from work so the water has usually frozen ,i just didn't think that could be a factor what a dummie i am ,i had talked to the guy at the feed store so i know they get enough calcium ill go get them a warmer today for the water when i get out if work thank you

 

[4 the Birds]

Give your chickens fresh water each day (or at least ensure they have plenty) and cracked corn along with their normal feed. The less energy they need to stay warm or survive the cold the more energy they can transfer to laying eggs. A stress free environment = more eggs. I have three 250w lamps in my large coop to provide light and a warming stationing if any feel stress from cold. 5 below today and 15 below here in a few days. We get about 2 dozen eggs/day from 30 birds.

 

[turkey lover]

what do you use to keep water from freezing ,in summer i have them on a water line an it works great but in the winter well that has been a different story

 

[4 the Birds]

what do you use to keep water from freezing ,in summer i have them on a water line an it works great but in the winter well that has been a different story

Not sure if your question is directed to me but I use a couple 2 gallon hanging heated water dispensers. One is shown in the first picture of the above post in the upper left. They run about 25 bucks at Tractor Supply and keep the water flowing even at sub zero temperatures. I could not do without these since the coop is several hundred feed from the house.

 

[montain_dweller]

I use a 3 gallon bucket with water nipples on the bottom. It is wrapped with heat cord used for pipes.

It is simply taped into place with metal duct tape and has worked wonders here. We got to -25 for more then a few days here and the water always was melted.

I do need to get a lid for the water, as dust am feathers do get in there. I am making more of a point to replace the water each morning so that it won't get skunky again.
Big bonus, I got an egg today! It froze by the time I got home, but yay for seeings eggs in the nests again

 

[whittychick]

thank you so much i guess i need to put a water warmer in the coop,for them i have one for the turkeys but not in my chicken coop,i do give them fresh water daily but not till i get home from work so the water has usually frozen ,i just didn't think that could be a factor what a dummie i am ,i had talked to the guy at the feed store so i know they get enough calcium ill go get them a warmer today for the water when i get out if work thank you 

Great point! Always fresh water! It's hard when I wake up their water is completely frozen an when I get home (7hours later) it's completely frozen! But between my hubby and I we fill it every time we are home

 

[turkey lover]

ok so i went home an did some changing in my coop i have the light on a timer ,goes on at 5.30 am off at 7,am then on again at 5.30 pm and off again at 8.30 pm i have put a heated water system in the coop an the chickens now have fresh water threw the day,I'm still giving oyster shell,as well as a high protein laying mesh,and I'm so happy to say all 9 chickens are laying now on a regular basis ,

this was my first year with chickens in the winter ,but im glad a have it worked out now,thanks to all you for the advice ,it worked