Keeping Your Chickens Laying Eggs Year Round
For those of you who have chickens I’m sure you have noticed that during the winter and summer your hens might slow or cease egg production. Chickens are sensitive to the weather but their egg production also relies on light. Here are some things you can do to keep your girls laying nutritious eggs all year round.
Chickens need at least 14 to 15 hours during the day of sunlight to keep them laying. To help keep them laying during the winter, when the days are shorter, put a light of some sort in the coop. If the temperatures plummet during the winter months or skyrocket during the summer, your hens will need a very well insulated coop. It is still important to make sure your coop is well ventilated so your birds don’t get sick.
Your feed’s protein ratio is another thing that is very important to egg production. Your hens will use less energy during the warmer months to maintain a good body temperature; so a feed with about 16% percent protein would be best. In the colder months your girls with use a lot more energy trying to keep warm so they will need feed with about 20% protein during this time.
Your chickens may still stop or slow egg production while they are molting but there isn’t anything you can do to stop it.
Finally, always make sure to check your flock several times in a year to make sure they do not have lice or mites. These nasty bugs can affect the health of your chickens and affect their egg production.
