A hen whose 2nd year of laying has past is in fact coming 3 years old. They are your hens, it is your money that feeds them, so by all means do as you see or feel is best.
Chickens are wild animals that have been semi domesticated for the benefit of man. It is a chickens' nature to raise young when the time of the year for doing so is the most favorable. Therefor a chicken is in tune with its surroundings. It is not a coincidence that eggs and baby chicks have a strong link to the time of year when we celebrate Easter.
This also happens to be the time of year when the hours of Sunlight slowly creep past 12 hours per day. Because this is also the time of year when hens are best able to incubate eggs and baby chickens'
natural food supply is greatest, this is also the best time of year for baby chicks to hatch. Therefor you may say that hens and pullets strike while the iron is hot by laying more eggs when the hours of daylight are at or nearing their greatest.
All this is controlled by a chickens' pineal gland. The reason that Northern areas produce fewer eggs in the winter that the Tropics is because the further North you travel, fewer hours of Sunlight are available to stimulate the pineal gland. They don't call the Alaskan Arctic the "Land of the Midnight Sun" (or mid-day Moon) for nothing. This effect is so pronounced that even roosters respond to it by becoming more willing to stake out breeding territory and defend this territory against all comers in the late Spring.
http://animals.pawnation.com/effects-sunlight-laying-hens-1392.html
Chickens are wild animals that have been semi domesticated for the benefit of man. It is a chickens' nature to raise young when the time of the year for doing so is the most favorable. Therefor a chicken is in tune with its surroundings. It is not a coincidence that eggs and baby chicks have a strong link to the time of year when we celebrate Easter.
This also happens to be the time of year when the hours of Sunlight slowly creep past 12 hours per day. Because this is also the time of year when hens are best able to incubate eggs and baby chickens'
natural food supply is greatest, this is also the best time of year for baby chicks to hatch. Therefor you may say that hens and pullets strike while the iron is hot by laying more eggs when the hours of daylight are at or nearing their greatest.
All this is controlled by a chickens' pineal gland. The reason that Northern areas produce fewer eggs in the winter that the Tropics is because the further North you travel, fewer hours of Sunlight are available to stimulate the pineal gland. They don't call the Alaskan Arctic the "Land of the Midnight Sun" (or mid-day Moon) for nothing. This effect is so pronounced that even roosters respond to it by becoming more willing to stake out breeding territory and defend this territory against all comers in the late Spring.
http://animals.pawnation.com/effects-sunlight-laying-hens-1392.html
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