[Dans]

I keep reading about people's chickens laying ok or less over the last few months and I'm wondering if we are doing something wrong.

We got some POL chickens last Feb (3 Brown marsh daisies, 2 cream leg bars and a Norfolk grey). They all seemed to lay pretty well until September when they stopped. They were starting to moult so I thought nothing of it and I had heard chickens slow down or stop laying over winter. We have now started to get about 1 egg a week (a brown marsh daisy) but none of the others have produced an egg for 4 months now.

 Our chicks (hatched in July and Aug) started laying December so we do have some eggs but seeing people talk about a drop in egg production or even saying that they have laid well is making me wonder what we have done wrong. Up until the bird flu restrictions they were free ranging and now they are in a covered run under some trees.

Any thoughts? Have I just got the wrong breeds for winter laying? Any tips to get even a small number of eggs over winter?

Thanks

Dans

[Anke]

I have found that mine start laying ok in their 1st autumn and continue through their first winter, and then we always give them a light over the second winter. I usually dispatch before their third winter, so no idea how they would do at that age.

I think the light (we extend the evening - light until 10pm) is essential. It is on a timer and doesn't effect their "going inside" time/habits in the late afternoon/early evening. Actually we find the youngstock (without light) tend to stay outside longer (they also are usually in a separate house/run).

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

i always let min rest over winter and dont use artificial lights
they are coming back in lay now which seems to be the norm for mine

they are still laying really well at 4 years old and i feel that the break has done them good, also the eggs seemed to get bigger each year

but that said i only sell to friends and work collegues so not in the masses, and if its for business purposes you would want to look at some thing more efficient

pure breeds usually in my experience lay less than you commercial layers but what you lose in egg revenue you can make back in selling day olds hatching egg and POLs

regards

[Eve]

Dans, if you have the space you could get two birds that hatched in spring and start laying around September, they'll then usually lay through their first winter. Then the next year or two years later you do the same.
It does expand your flock, of course, but it's an option if you have the space.

[Marches Farmer]

We find that chicks hatched in April to June will come into lay around Christmas, whatever breed (we breed mostly rare native breeds, no commercial egg layers).  The daytime hours around this time of year are too short to support the birds taking in enough nutrition to both live and produce eggs, particularly if they've moulted late in the year.  It's why commercial egg units provide extra lighting through the Winter months (to bring the total up to about 14 hours a day).  Our older birds are coming back into lay now and we expect them to be in full swing by March.  We keep only the replacement stock and best breeding quality 18-month old birds through Winter - the rest are sold.

[Celli]

Previous birds have stopped laying over winter and coming back into lay first half of Feb, they were Sussex, Maran and Columbine, now I only have White Stars ,  RIR  and Black Tail and they've all layed non stop over the winter, oldest bird is two so it might be down to age but my previous birds didn't when they were young.
So I haven't a clue !, I haven't changed anything, I wish they would stop over winter to give themselves a break.
As an aside, what a lovely breed RIR's are, first time I've had them, I thought they'd be a bit dull for some reason but they are by far the funniest most friendly bunch I've had.

[Marches Farmer]

they are still laying really well at 4 years old and i feel that the break has done them good, also the eggs seemed to get bigger each year

The eggs do get bigger with age, and the shells become thinner and more easily broken, which is another reason why commercial flocks are always young birds.

[twizzel]

My hens have a break over winter too, I don't force them with lights I think it's good to have some time out to moult as it can really take it out of them. A few came back into lay just before xmas but were on an egg withdrawal due to coccidiosis treatment, they are up to about 7 or 8 eggs a day now from about 15 hens. As they start laying more I cut the rolled barley out of their diet and put them on a higher percentage of layers pellets.

[Polyanya]

Dans there are a lot of replies and a lot of info for you to sift through - if I could add my two penneth worth and what works for us here in Shetland with arguably the least amount of natural daylight through Dec and Jan in the UK.    I always fill my incubator some time in March for an April hatch - these pullets will always start to lay some time in September and go on laying right through the winter without any artificial lighting. I have just had to sell a few of my hens as we were struggling to eat all the eggs despite feeding them to our dogs. The same hens will carry on laying until late autumn when they go into moult, by which time we have the next batch already laying - so you could only need one hatch per year. I do a couple of hatches because we eat our surplus ones.

[Dans]

Thank you all.

I think next year, when we are a bit more set up we will set some eggs to incubate in March to have some POL hens in the late year. This year though we will look at getting some POLs later in the year. I'd rather avoid giving them light so that the older ones can have a rest. Thanks again.

Dans

[twizzel]

Thank you all.

I think next year, when we are a bit more set up we will set some eggs to incubate in March to have some POL hens in the late year. This year though we will look at getting some POLs later in the year. I'd rather avoid giving them light so that the older ones can have a rest. Thanks again.

Dans

Be aware not quite a foolproof idea- I bought some POL leghorns one October, they came into lay at Christmas for about a month then went off lay until April. So not guaranteed to lay throughout the winter... it's a natural cycle- sometimes we have to buy eggs if we don't want to use lights 

[Terry T]

I have a small flock of hybrids and this is my 4 th year of keeping chickens. Each year I buy 3-4 hens at POL and have always had the youngest hens lay through winter with the older ones laying irregularly. All of the hens I got 4 years ago have died so I guess I can continue this pattern an keep 8-12 hens going.

[in the hills]

We used that method Terry T.

I think if you buy hybrids then you can be pretty sure of it working. If pure breed fowl then in our experience it isn't such a certainty that they will come into lay and then continue to lay reliably through the winter.

[Anke]

I would be careful with mixing home-bred (and therefore un-vaccinated) and bought-in (and most likely vaccinated) birds. Since we had an issue a few years ago where I bought in POL and (after a few weeks) mixed them with home-bred birds, first all of the home-bred ones died over a period of a few weeks. Then the bought-in ones died as well... so since then (and as we can keep a cockerel or two) I have decided to only breed my own replacements and bring in cockerels from other home-bred (and definitely un-vaccinated) flocks.