Winter Laying

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Davetedjack

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Hi....

I read (on another post that I can find now) that if a hen does not start laying before the onset of the shorter days that she may not start to lay until the days draw out again in the new year.

Can anybody shed any light on this being correct.

I ask because I have 9 hens that should be laying 'blue' eggs (so they are really easy to spot if they are laying or not) but I'm only getting 2 blue eggs a day. Now either some didn't get going or they are only laying very 3 or 4 days. My other hens seem to be laying very similar numbers to what they did before it started to go dark early

Thanks in advance

Dave
 
Quite likely that two or possibly three of them have made it into lay and the others haven't, Dave. In which case you're in the same position as me, also waiting for my blue egg layer to get going, maybe in the New Year.
One advantage of a mixed flock like mine, if you have only a few hens, is that you can know who is laying, or not, on any particular day! If the others are hybrids and not more than 8 months old, they should probably keep going through the winter, maybe not every day but pretty often.
 
Better pullets don't start laying over Winter. It takes a lot out of them, so you get a stronger hen laying in the New Year if they don't. We have three Marans pullets at 27 weeks at the moment. Winter here has far more daylight than the UK, although it is no warmer in Jan and Feb, so I expect ours to lay on time at 30 weeks -in some respects I hope they don't.
 
Just thought I would add that one of the legbars laid its first egg today (hopefully the others will start now). The egg was a lovely olive colour and very different to the blue eggs that I get from the Cheshire hens.
Dave
 
Towards winter, daylength shortens and birds will lay less. Towards summer daylength increases and birds lay more. You can make them lay more during winter by giving them extra light, about 14 to 16 hours light (you supplement day light with artificial light). But you have to feed them balanced diet.
 
Commercial hybrids live their lives under merciless electric light which does stimulate lay but at great cost to the birds. Their bodies are continually stretched to wring every last egg out of them in the brief time they are alive, and by the time they are 18 months old they are past their best and although a few lucky girls find kind homes as ex batts, most of them finish up as dog food.
We often forget that eggs are a seasonal food and that hens are not machines. In winter their bodies need to take a rest, store up vitamins and minerals ready for the next season's egg laying, or finish maturing if they weren't in lay by the time the days got too short for them to manage it. They have to cope with all the cold and wet conditions winter throws at them, and they do this well, if fed properly and given dry shelter and somewhere to get out of the wind. In return they go on laying for much longer lives than birds who have been over stimulated by extra light in winter.
Yes, if you give extra light your hens will lay throughout the winter - and if you get young hybrid layers in early Autumn they will probably lay throughout their first winter without extra light. But you need patience to be a hobby poultry keeper, as distinct from a chicken farmer - always thinking what's best for your flock, rather than what you can get out of them in the short term.
 
@Marigold, if we're talking about raising chickens for business, you can't do without lighting. Can you imagine feeding over 1000 birds through the winter while getting few eggs in return? In commercial farms, the environment and feeding are right for high egg production. Whatever the birds lose due to egg laying they gain through their feed and other additive like vitamins in water.
..
But for a hobby farmer, well, you can afford to feed your hens even if you don't get anything in return. But never try it in business.
 
Of course I agree with you, Poultryman, as I think my post made clear. And, when I buy eggs in winter to supplement the ones my few hens are not laying, I do know where they come from and how they've been produced.
 
Just to make my position clear, I am a hobby keeper of chickens, I will probably end up with more than most hobbyists but it will remain a hobby. I do sell eggs from the gate but only after we have taken what we need and any that have been given away for favours in return.

I usually manage to sell more than enough to pay for my feed and other supplements so it does reduce the cost of the hobby.

As we grow more veg and fruit this will also be dealt with in the same way. There are a lot of people who live nearby and rely on public (rural) busses to get their shopping. These are mainly the people who by my eggs and it has been a great way to get to know the neighbours.

Update on the winter laying is that 4 of the 6 Legbars are now laying and I'm getting 16 eggs most days from 20 hens, not too bad i thinks

Merry Christmas to all and good luck in the 2015 season

Dave
 
Well done, it's exciting when they start to lay,isn't it? My little Chalk Hill Blue hybrid pullet who didn't make it into lay in time for the Autumn laid her first egg on 22 Dec, the day after the solstice. I'm now getting a blue-green one from her, a white one from my Leghorn, and a dark brown one from my Chalk Hill Ranger. Also my little Columbian Blacktail continues to lay relentlessly, now in her third year and has hardly missed a day summer or winter, and has never moulted. Very tatty bird, lays really funny eggs with thin shells, but they're OK for cooking in cakes etc.
 
Yesterday for the first time my new flock laid 10/10! 3 white 7 brown. They came mid-July.
My little Legbar/leghorn cross Sweetie has still not laid her first egg, should be olive green apparently, and everyday I ask her where is it?, but as she is currently with 5 lively bantams, she is a bit preoccupied.
 
16 eggs from 20 hens is @ 80% production. Not too bad. Merry Christmas, Jesus is the reason for the season.
 
We're getting two eggs per day between 5 young (under 2 years old) hens. The older hens are taking a well deserved break and the youngest hens haven't come into lay yet.
 
I was given a chicken breeds calendar for Christmas. On the Light Sussex page it says that they lay all year. Shame Heidi can't read ;)
I've been buying eggs since October. If only I had a big enough coop to add some more ex-batts to my flock...
 
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