Hens & Winter

bluecherry74

This is my first year keeping hens and it's going great so far. I've read that they'll lay less over the winter period and I'm just wondering what people's experiences are? When will "production" start to drop off and is it possible that they'll stop completely for a while?

Is there anything I need to do to prepare them for winter? I've read that they're hardy little things when it comes to our cold wet weather. I'm going to put some extra bedding in their house when the weather turns cold and I have an old golf umbrella over their sand box to keep them dry but if anyone has any other suggestions or tips I'd love to hear them.

Also a question on general laying... I have 4 hens and was told I'd get 6 eggs per week per hen, which is 24 in total. However I'm getting more like 28/29 per week! Is this common or do I have some kind of super hens??

Askim

usual is 1 egg per day, per hen.
but 24 per week would be ok for me & 28 would be great.
The may slow up over winter

A

syklops

bluecherry74 wrote: »

This is my first year keeping hens and it's going great so far. I've read that they'll lay less over the winter period and I'm just wondering what people's experiences are? When will "production" start to drop off and is it possible that they'll stop completely for a while?

Is there anything I need to do to prepare them for winter? I've read that they're hardy little things when it comes to our cold wet weather. I'm going to put some extra bedding in their house when the weather turns cold and I have an old golf umbrella over their sand box to keep them dry but if anyone has any other suggestions or tips I'd love to hear them.

Also a question on general laying... I have 4 hens and was told I'd get 6 eggs per week per hen, which is 24 in total. However I'm getting more like 28/29 per week! Is this common or do I have some kind of super hens??

Hens need around 14 hours of daylight to sustain top egg production. During winter, once daylight drops below 12 hours, production can decrease and may stop altogether. Set up a light in the hen house, put it on a timer and have it set to turn on at 7am and go off around 10am. This has resulted in us getting fresh eggs on Christmas morning, and egg production continuing through out the winter.

aonb

as you say, hens are hardy little things - they 'do' better in cold weather than in hot, their feathers are like duvets, they will be fine for the winter as long as their house is dry and (nb!) draught-free.

I dont know what your set up is but you may find their run is getting very muddy - they churn it up - you might need to think about covering part of the run.

As skylops said, egg production is dependant on the number of hours of daylight. Having said that, modern hybrids are laying very well year round now - Ive had hens that didnt stop laying all winter, and others that have stopped completely til spring. In any case, production will definately fall off a bit. You can help them by providing a bit of mixed corn (Fancy Feeds or Smallholders brands are GM free) in the afternoons to 'warm' them before they roost for the night. Feed them their layers pellets during the day, then just the corn in the evenings or they wont eat any pellets (which is best for egg production). I give my hens warm mash in the winter - just add a bit of hot water to the pellets in a dish. They may moult (if they havent done already) in whcih case laying will pretty much stop - boost their protein levels to recover from a moult by giving them oily fish, or pate type fishy catfood. You could put a bit of Cod Liver Oil in their food too. (Are they getting calcium - microwave any eggshells, break up small with your fingers - they'll gobble them up)

Sounds like you have some very productive hens there. They wont keep this level of production up though, so dont be dissapointed - laying will drop off as they peak and get older. You might consider getting a couple of new ones in the spring or something, to 'stagger' production, so that you dont have all older hens at the same time.

bluecherry74

Thanks all for the replies!

syklops wrote: »

Hens need around 14 hours of daylight to sustain top egg production. During winter, once daylight drops below 12 hours, production can decrease and may stop altogether. Set up a light in the hen house, put it on a timer and have it set to turn on at 7am and go off around 10am. This has resulted in us getting fresh eggs on Christmas morning, and egg production continuing through out the winter.

I don't think I really want to go down the road of lighting the hen house, if they decide to take a break over winter that's fine with me, I was just curious.

aonb wrote: »

I dont know what your set up is but you may find their run is getting very muddy - they churn it up - you might need to think about covering part of the run.

Sounds like you have some very productive hens there. They wont keep this level of production up though, so dont be dissapointed - laying will drop off as they peak and get older. You might consider getting a couple of new ones in the spring or something, to 'stagger' production, so that you dont have all older hens at the same time.

The run isn't too muddy really, it's a mixture of gravel and earth so the gravel helps with drainage. I was thinking of covering part of it though, just to give them a bigger area of shelter as they're not mad about the rain. What would you recommend - would it need to be perpsex or something transparent to let light in?

aonb

No, I never went the route of providing a light in the house either - the laying slows down/starts up with the seasons... I have a perspex shelter area for my girls - I suppose it depends on what your set up is but I would imagine clear perspex would provide a bit of the all important light - some hens dont seem to mind a bit about the rain - my old purebreeds spend wet days under shelter, the younger hybrids look like drowned rats, but at least there is someplace dry to put their food, and they pop in/out