Egg Production in Cooler Weather

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:23:01

Host-Blaire

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the coop with Meyer Hatchery, where we talk about all things poultry in hopes of educating chicken keepers and inspiring future flock owners. I'm your new host, Blair, and I'm excited to be here with you today. The topic of today's episode is egg production in cooler weather. And I have with me Lauren from our marketing team and Anne from customer service.

00:00:23:04 - 00:00:50:23

Welcome, ladies. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us. Sure. So let's start by talking about why egg production in hens usually drops. Once the cooler weather rolls in. I know this is a natural process for chickens to slow down and conserve their energy during the winter, fall, and winter. But what are, you know, some other reasons why this may happen.

00:00:50:23 - 00:01:14:21

Well, I know that when the starts to cool down, and with daylight savings time and stuff, you lose some sunlight. You lose quite a bit, actually. And the chickens actually do have to have 14 to 16 hours of light to make these eggs, and and they're not getting it right. That's true.

00:01:14:23 - 00:01:36:19

Yeah. Yeah. I think that the cooler weather just kind of coincides with, shorter daylight, like again said. I think for some of the, like, extra cold places, too, it's like a matter of conserving energy a little bit as well. Yeah. Because don't they molt around 18 months old and such, like, sometimes after the cooler weather, they can molt.

00:01:36:22 - 00:02:01:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they're kind of storing up energy for all that growing in feathers. Yeah. Yeah, it kind of happens all at the same time. They have their molt and then the daylight savings, and then they're just like, you know, and it's cold outside and, you know, you gotta keep yourself warm somehow. Yeah. Now on the flip side, we had one of our listeners from Texas make a comment recently.

00:02:01:02 - 00:02:24:22

Megan says here in Texas, my hens don't reduce laying in the winter. They reduce in the summer. Which is. It's so true. I live in a southern state, too, and it's very, very hot. And the extreme summer heat can definitely affect them, especially first year hens. Like, first year pullets. You'll see them out there just panting, and it can cause a little bit of a delay, in laying.

00:02:24:22 - 00:02:48:12

Unknown

Or they can stop altogether in the summer. Have you guys experienced that? And, you know, when do you think the hens will start reducing their laying in the winter? You know, that's interesting. Oh you're good. And you can go. In my experience, I'm in Missouri, so we do have some really hot days. And they don't lay on those days as well.

00:02:48:12 - 00:03:10:07

Unknown

But I've noticed that once it starts to get a little bit cooler, my egg production is really picking up now. And then, of course, you know, we're coming into the fall, so I get a lot of eggs and then they'll slow down again. Right. Like a wave. Yeah I see it was interesting, like hearing Megan say that because I've actually never experienced that.

00:03:10:07 - 00:03:31:02

Unknown

Like our chickens. And we're in Georgia, so also a southern state. And our chickens never kind of slow down in the summer, even when it's incredibly hot. I mean, they'll sometimes end up laying underneath the shed instead of going back to the coop in their nesting box because it's cooler under there, and that's where they spend all their time.

00:03:31:02 - 00:03:56:00

Unknown

But, they do still end up laying we still our egg production stays about the same kind of spring and summer, and fall as well. Yeah. Okay. That's good. Our our temperature is can get up and above, like 95, 100, and we'll have, like, a solid month, month and a half where, no matter what, they're just trying to stay cool and that's fine.

00:03:56:03 - 00:04:20:13

Unknown

And they pick up again for us in the winter because we have warmer winters. So it just depends on where you are, I guess. Yeah. So I'd love to give our listeners some practical tips on this subject, like how, they can maintain egg production in the winter or the summer. Like, what are some factors that would affect them other than the season?

00:04:20:13 - 00:04:26:27

Unknown

Because there's, there's a lot, that actually goes into producing eggs.

00:04:27:00 - 00:04:56:02

Unknown

Yeah. So for us, we have done it both ways where we just kind of let them take a natural break. And don't try to have them lay in the winter. And we have also added lights and up to their protein intake so that they will lay in the winter. So those are like a couple of tips that have worked for us was a higher protein feed.

00:04:56:04 - 00:05:21:08

Unknown

And also adding lights, which it doesn't have to be a lot of lights. It can be a small, like those kind of inexpensive little solar lights, even just a little bit of extra light every day can give them that light. But they kind of need to make eggs. Yeah. Yeah. I would caution people to, to use a light versus a heat lamp because it can be dangerous.

00:05:21:10 - 00:05:50:18

Unknown

Yeah. You know. Oh no, money is alright. Right. Make sure it's a safe lamp. But it doesn't take much. Yeah. And it can make a huge difference. Like what? Protein content are you looking for? During that time? Well, for us, we typically feed our laying hens just a 16% layer palette that we get from a local feed store, and they're kind of next step up from that is 22%.

00:05:50:21 - 00:06:10:22

Unknown

It's like a show or show feed, which is huge jump. And I definitely don't think that they need that much protein, but that is what we have and makes most sense to purchase. And so we go whenever they're molting or whenever we want to add protein, for whatever reason, we will just purchase that, which is what we feed our ducks.

00:06:10:22 - 00:06:35:01

Unknown

So it kind of works out that they can just all eat the same food. But that 22% protein, I think it's really I think the recommendation really ends up being like 18 to 20% somewhere in there, just a little bit higher than your typical 16. Yeah, I feed about 18% layer feed on it. It seems to do all.

00:06:35:04 - 00:07:00:24

Unknown

But in times of stress and such, sometimes I up it. And do you find that your chickens get stressed out? And that affects their laying ability? Sometimes, It depends. I think that the the weather changes definitely stress them out sometimes. As well as if they don't have some of my birds don't come.

00:07:00:24 - 00:07:19:28

Unknown

They free range. So they tend to stress out if they go out and they're like, oh, there's no food here. So I do supplement out in my yard. I put out, like, cracked corn and some, scratch out there for them. And also so they'll stay in my yard and not go further anywhere else to look for food.

00:07:20:01 - 00:07:42:06

Unknown

So that that does kind of stretch, stress them out a little bit as well as they're molting. I feed mine I higher any way. I have ducks and geese and guineas, so they all eat the same feed and then I'll give them extra calcium. Just the hens. Right, right. I would do the same thing. Just throw the mealworms and such out there.

00:07:42:06 - 00:08:08:02

Unknown

They'll. They'll never leave. Yeah. Nope. And so, so some breeds are going to be better layers throughout the whole year. I know for me, I've found the Easter eggs lay all year, even without supplemental light. But again, I'm in a warm climate. So what, do you guys have any suggestions on what breeds would do great in the winter?

00:08:08:02 - 00:08:32:29

Unknown

Like laying throughout the winter? Maybe not a full a full like schedule of eggs. Like maybe they normally lay five. Say they lay 3 to 5 in the winter, you know. What breeds do you guys recommend? What do you think, Lauren? You know, we've actually had really good luck with Easter egg laying, kind of. Even when we let them take a break, like, they'll still lay later into the fall and a little bit earlier in the spring.

00:08:33:01 - 00:08:53:17

Unknown

Any of those, like, higher production breeds? I feel like just because they lay more eggs, they are less affected by, like, cooler weather, less sunlight, but also even, like you were saying, the stress, like, those are my birds that pick back up laying the fastest when we've moved them into a new setup or anything like that, too.

00:08:53:20 - 00:09:19:28

Unknown

We have a white leghorn that, like that chicken will lay no matter what I, I mean, it doesn't matter. And she will take maybe a month off, and that's it for the winter time. And do you have any favorites? Yeah. My well they're overall they're not my favorite. But as far as like laying like machines my like horns I have four I get at least three eggs every day.

00:09:20:00 - 00:09:46:09

Unknown

Even when it's hot, when it's cold, they are awesome. Apparently my golden bucks have taken a little bit of a break due to the heat. I'll get like 1 or 2, and I have like three of those. But yeah, those, those high production ones, they are just awesome. They really are. And then some of those heavier breeds are just, like, just packed and ready for the winter, I guess.

00:09:46:11 - 00:10:02:12

Unknown

They do really well, like Rhode Island Reds. And Delaware is do good. And of course, there's Brahmas, big, big birds. But, you know, they're ready for the cooler weather and they do continue playing for the winter, so I highly recommend those.

00:10:02:25 - 00:10:27:23

Unknown

So I have a list here, that Ohio State University recommends, for chickens that lay well in the winter time. We've got Americana, an kona's, a black Austral, or, the black Jersey giant Brahmas or Pennington's cocoons. Delaware is. There's a long list of so many New Hampshire's, Plymouth Rocks. They come in a lot of colors.

00:10:27:26 - 00:10:49:09

Unknown

Rhode Island red, Sussex and Wyandot also come in a lot of colors. So that's a lot of options. If you live in a colder climate and you're looking for some delay through the winter, and a lot of those were kind of either their higher production or just those heavier breeds like Blair. You were saying to that they're just those hardy, hardy birds.

00:10:49:11 - 00:11:14:02

Unknown

The cold doesn't seem to affect them or. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. My personal favorites for the warmer climates are going to be those production breeds. Like we mentioned earlier. They just they just keep going. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you for tuning in today. As we explored how and why a production can slow down during the different times of the year, I hope you find these tips helpful and can apply them to your own flock.

00:11:14:04 - 00:11:35:19

Unknown

A big thank you to Lauren and Ann for being here today, and be sure to listen to our next episode and interview with author Sarah Thrush. And with that, I thank you for listening to the coop. Be sure to subscribe and if you would be so kind, drop us a review. Did you know that you can save $5 off your next major hatchery purchase of $50 or more?

00:11:35:22 - 00:11:56:00

Unknown

You can enter the coupon code the coop at checkout. We'd love to hear your thoughts, and we want to know if you have any ideas or topics you want us to talk about on the coop. Please send an email to podcast at Meyer hatchery.com. We're looking forward to hearing from you. Again. Thank you for tuning in. And remember, life is good because we have chickens.