I found an egg in the coop today. An egg!! We have six chickens (only three are mature enough to lay) and haven't seen any eggs in a few months. I about flipped when I saw this baby and of course had to run inside and take a picture of it. (Crazy chicken lady, I know).
The hens all molted at the end of summer and with the shortened day light hours, they just haven't been producing. Hens generally need 12-14 hours of light to produce and lay eggs and they are only getting about 10 or so. We'll be putting a light in their coop this weekend set on a timer to turn on at 4am. Hopefully that will entice the girls to start getting back to business. It's either that or we'll be having some really good chicken dinners soon. Totally kidding.
Egg Watch 2012 will be starting soon as the newest additions will be getting ready to start laying in just a couple of months. Thank goodness - we need some eggs here, chickens!
This is new to us as our hens were in their egg laying prime last fall and barely decreased in their production. Those of you with chickens, do you notice a huge decrease in egg production during winter/fall? If so, do you let the girls rest or supplement with light? Would love to hear your experiences and how you handle things.
4 comments:
Adorable blog! Our chickens did the same...and after we hung a 4 foot lit-up Santa head on their coop for the holidays, they started laying again! Needless to say, we haven't taken it down! Good luck!
Bwahahaha!! That is absolutely hilarious, Alicia! I'll have to remember to pick up a giant Santa for the girls next year. Fortunately for us, the daylight has increased just enough to get two of our girls laying consistently again. Thanks for stopping by! ~ Grace
Grace, I just found you today and have fallen in love with your blog! I will continue reading! Thank you! I have been talking to my husband about getting chickens and it's so funny that I found you today!
Welcome, theblackberrypatch and thank you for your kind words! I have to tell you that raising chickens has been the most rewarding and fun experience for my family. If you have any questions about chickens at all, please don't hesitate to let me know and I'll try my best to help. :)
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