Winter time rest

[chickenmama5]

Hello,
We are new to the chicken world, but we have some friends that raise chickens. A couple of our friends say they let their chickens rest in the winter and others put on a light so they still lay as many eggs as they do in the summer. Which way is best or does it matter?

 

[ronott1]

Hello,
We are new to the chicken world, but we have some friends that raise chickens. A couple of our friends say they let their chickens rest in the winter and others put on a light so they still lay as many eggs as they do in the summer. Which way is best or does it matter?

Look into getting winter laying breeds

Look for the snow flake in the chart. These breeds will keep laying in the winter after molting without supplemental light

Most hens will lay eggs their first winter though

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

 

[Mckennas poultry]

Hello,
We are new to the chicken world, but we have some friends that raise chickens. A couple of our friends say they let their chickens rest in the winter and others put on a light so they still lay as many eggs as they do in the summer. Which way is best or does it matter?

Winter time rest ? I’ve heard of that and there’s usually dead chickens involved. Winter is a hard time of year for chickens, let them out everyday as usual, you can provide a light if you want but mine do fine. My hens do continue to lay only they won’t lay every day.

 

[Mckennas poultry]

Look into getting winter laying breeds

Look for the snow flake in the chart. These breeds will keep laying in the winter after molting without supplemental light

Most hens will lay eggs their first winter though

http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html

I heard buff Orpington and Brahmas are good winter breeds for eggs
My leghorn has layed the past two winters, she might not lay every day but she’d lay around 5 eggs a week.

Hello,
We are new to the chicken world, but we have some friends that raise chickens. A couple of our friends say they let their chickens rest in the winter and others put on a light so they still lay as many eggs as they do in the summer. Which way is best or does it matter?

 

[ronott1]

Winter time rest ? I’ve heard of that and there’s usually dead chickens involved. Winter is a hard time of year for chickens, let them out everyday as usual, you can provide a light if you want but mine do fine. My hens do continue to lay only they won’t lay every day.

Sadly sometimes the "rest" includes feeding them corn only. That is terrible for them! And they will die

 

[Mckennas poultry]

I don’t use lights or put them into rest, mine do fine during winter and I have all sorts of breeds
Including a Minorca (Spanish breed) however she’s the only one that stops during winter !

 

[ronott1]

I don’t use lights or put them into rest, mine do fine during winter and I have all sorts of breeds
Including a Minorca (Spanish breed) however she’s the only one that stops during winter ! View attachment 1360698View attachment 1360699View attachment 1360701View attachment 1360702View attachment 1360703View attachment 1360704

I treat them the same in the winter too. Egg laying slows down but does not stop completely.

I do live in California though. Daylight is low from Mid October to Mid January here so some breeds will have more of a tendency to stop laying then. The further south you go the more average light you have..until you go past the equator of course

 

[rosemarythyme]

I let mine have the winter off (they're primarily pets so anything that might be more natural for them is what I prefer). Since they reached their 2nd winter this year I didn't get a single egg between October to March, something like that? If you want to continue egg production with hens past a year old you'll need to use light to get them to continue laying.

 

[Mckennas poultry]

I let mine have the winter off. Since they reached their 2nd winter this year I didn't get a single egg between October to March, something like that? If you want to continue egg production with hens past a year old you'll need to use light to get them to continue laying.

I guess it depends where you live really, I live in a mild climate, not too hot and not too cold, our winters can get below freezing at night
But never below -5. All my chickens still lay but they don’t lay as much and they tend to take two weeks off in egg production before spring

 

[keesmom]

Winter time rest ? I’ve heard of that and there’s usually dead chickens involved. Winter is a hard time of year for chickens, let them out everyday as usual, you can provide a light if you want but mine do fine. My hens do continue to lay only they won’t lay every day.

For those of us at higher latitudes the decreasing daylength of fall into winter can/does stop egg production. Pullets may lay their first winter but virtually all will cease for the second year and beyond unless supplemental lighting is used.

For the OP, I do not use supplemental lighting. I let my second year hens take a break and count on the pullets for winter eggs. You could use lights if you want, but at some point those hens will take a break and molt. It just depends on when you want that to be.