It’s the beginning of January and I have no need to carry an egg basket with me while doing chores anymore. My pockets will do just fine for the few eggs we are getting these days.
What happened? Where did my eggs go?
Normally, our 30 (ish) hens give us upwards of 15-20 eggs per day. Lately, we are lucky if we get 5. Three is average with an occasional duck egg a couple times a week.
This is one of the downfalls of winter. Not many eggs- limiting our eggs for breakfast and rationing when I know I need to bake.
Why does this happen? We have one thing to blame… the sun.
The sun?! Yes, the good ol’ sun. The shortened hours of sunlight doesn’t just affect our mood, it also affects how chickens lay! Vitamin D deficiency takes it tole on chickens as well as humans. Chickens biologically lay less frequently when the days get shorter. It is natures way of giving them a break from all their hard work.
Extreme cold temperatures also have a negative affect on egg production- as does extreme heat. Although it makes a difference, the temperature doesn’t play as big of a role as the sun- especially with cold-hearty birds.
Your location in the world (as far as distance from the equator) is going to affect how great the production change is. If you are very far north (aka Alaska), your chickens probably will stop all together. If you are farther south, say Florida, you may only notice a slight decline in production, if any.
What can be done?
You can… wait. Unless you can control the sun- in that case, can you give me a few more hours of sunlight please?!
Theoretically, you can give them artificial light (aka a lamp) and their production will pick up some. However, we prefer to let nature do it’s thing. It kind of knows what it’s doing, right?! Our hens work so hard to give us tons of beautiful, nutritious eggs during the spring/summer months (and into fall), they deserve their break!
Giving your chickens time outside of the coop (even if your coop gets a lot of sunlight) when weather permits, can help improve their mood and may increase egg production. Don’t expect miracles though. Chickens need 12-14 hours of daylight for peak production.
Luckily, the winter solstice is behind us and from here on out the days will be getting longer (although it seems to take forever for spring to get here). Soon we will be back to being overloaded with eggs, practically giving them away to anyone who happens to pull in our driveway.
Until then, our girls will lay on occasion and enjoy their time off… or maybe they are counting down the days until Spring, just like we are!
Thank you for stopping by the homestead!
Until next time,
Melissa
