A theory for eggs in the winter

Hello fellow Permies!

This is the third winter in a row that I notice the same pattern happening with my laying hens, and I'd like to share my theory.
It is told that chicken lay according to how much light they get.
I think it has more - or also - to do with protein.
I've never worked with additional light, natural sunlight is all they get.
Apart from stopping laying for maybe a week in mid winter, they're laying through the whole year with... (drumroll...)
a supplement of dried mealworms!
I currently have 11 hens, and I give them two handfuls of dried mealworms immediately after they've gotten their soaked wheat grains in .the morning.
Sometimes I temporarely run out of mealworms, and the egglaying pattern follows the mealworm pattern.
In the spring, when nature pumps out natural, living bugs in abundance, I stop with the mealworm supplement.

I'm curious to read your experiences!

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Two hens became eggbound. I've written a separate post about it further down the thread.

You know, I have been trying to sus out if my routine has been linked to egg laying.

I will sprout sunflower seeds and periodically give them to the chickens during the week. It seems that when I give them the sprouts, I receive more eggs the following day. The days that I do not give them the sprouts, I am back to a reduced amount.

Anecdotal, but might be tending towards supporting your theory.  

That's interesting! I'm sure they're happy with the sprouted sunflower seeds, getting a nutrition boost, and thanking you with eggs!
It would be cool to gather all egg-increasing tips here in one thread!

I have no source to back this up, but a well-respected poultry farmer in our area recently posted about the whole daylight and egg-laying thing. His claim was that a hen experiencing a longer day (whether naturally, ie: summertime, or from lights in the coop) will eat more since she is active for more hours of the day. Chickens sleeping on their roosts don't usually come down to eat in the dark, even if there is food available. He claimed the extra eating would result in more eggs being laid.

Your chickens may be experiencing something similar but, by feeding them very nutrient-dense food, it sounds like you can skip out on the lighting!

I agree, also to do with protein. Last winter, our hens were on 16% protein layer feed supplemented with winter veggies, deer carcasses, chicken scraps. Laying slowed down around the solstice.

This winter they have been on 20% protein layer feed with winter veggies, deer carcasses, chicken scraps. All the way through the solstice, they ate less and gave me almost an egg per hen per day.  Barely noticeable that they slowed down.

Billy Weisbrich wrote:I have no source to back this up, but a well-respected poultry farmer in our area recently posted about the whole daylight and egg-laying thing. His claim was that a hen experiencing a longer day (whether naturally, ie: summertime, or from lights in the coop) will eat more since she is active for more hours of the day. Chickens sleeping on their roosts don't usually come down to eat in the dark, even if there is food available. He claimed the extra eating would result in more eggs being laid.

Your chickens may be experiencing something similar but, by feeding them very nutrient-dense food, it sounds like you can skip out on the lighting!

I have never used lights. For those that do, does it keep the chickens from going to the roost early? If so, the observation here makes a lot of sense.

Jackson Bradley wrote:... All the way through the solstice, they ate less and gave me almost an egg per hen per day.  Barely noticeable that they slowed down.

I would like to point out that winter laying is a double edged sword. Yes, since Hubby has regular customers, we *need* to have some birds laying year round, but if birds don't get a break from laying, eventually regardless of diet, I find that their egg shell quality deteriorates (yes, they have free access to oyster shell).

We have two groups of layer ducks. One we are encouraging to lay (not particularly successfully and I think many of them are getting too old) and a second group we've let naturally take a break.

However, my chicken whisperer friend swears by hot porridge with lots of goodies added, is her trick to keeping them laying in the winter. She add things like turmeric and finely crushed egg shell to the oats.

Jackson Bradley wrote: I have never used lights. For those that do, does it keep the chickens from going to the roost early? If so, the observation here makes a lot of sense.

We do have lights, and I do find that it keeps them active a bit later in the evening. I haven't done too much of my own experimenting on that front though, I have a number of egg customers and I'm reticent to rock the boat lest the chickens start retaliating, ha ha ha.

Jay Angler wrote:I would like to point out that winter laying is a double edged sword. Yes, since Hubby has regular customers, we *need* to have some birds laying year round, but if birds don't get a break from laying, eventually regardless of diet, I find that their egg shell quality deteriorates (yes, they have free access to oyster shell).

We have two groups of layer ducks. One we are encouraging to lay (not particularly successfully and I think many of them are getting too old) and a second group we've let naturally take a break.

However, my chicken whisperer friend swears by hot porridge with lots of goodies added, is her trick to keeping them laying in the winter. She add things like turmeric and finely crushed egg shell to the oats.

I find this about the weak winter shells as well. My running theory was that they were supplementing their calcium intake with shelled bugs in the summer, which are now under the snow, but who knows.

How do you encourage a duck?!! My ducks don't do a single thing they didn't think of themselves.

Billy Weisbrich wrote: How do you encourage a duck?!! My ducks don't do a single thing they didn't think of themselves.

They are divided into two separate shelters and the ones we wanted to lay are given supplemental light. It's enough to get some of the group to lay every day or 2, which has given us just enough duck eggs for our customers who are allergic to chicken eggs. The "lay now" group is also in the spot in the field that pretty much gets the most sun as possible. Not much help with the dreary Dec we had - very low thick cloud cover the whole month - but every little bit helps.

Important update!
I had one hen die from being eggbound. I tried giving her a warm surroundings and a warm bath, but it didn't help the matter.
Now it seems as if a second hen has the same condition.
I've had chicken since 2012, and this is the first time I'm encountering this problem.
In the previous two years (this is the third year) I also supplemented them with meal worms. The only difference is that this winter has been colder/cooler than the previous.
I'm going to stop feeding them mealworms for now. The health of the chicken is more important to me than eggs.

Nina Surya wrote:Important update!
I had one hen die from being eggbound. I tried giving her a warm surroundings and a warm bath, but it didn't help the matter.
Now it seems as if a second hen has the same condition.
I've had chicken since 2012, and this is the first time I'm encountering this problem.
In the previous two years (this is the third year) I also supplemented them with meal worms. The only difference is that this winter has been colder/cooler than the previous.
I'm going to stop feeding them mealworms for now. The health of the chicken is more important to me than eggs.

How old are the egg bound hens, roughly?

Jackson Bradley wrote:[
How old are the egg bound hens, roughly?

They're only 2.5 - 3 years old. They come from the same commercial breeder - that's the other quirky factor in the equation. One was a Sussex, the other is a Rennes hen.

Nina Surya wrote:

Jackson Bradley wrote:[
How old are the egg bound hens, roughly?

They're only 2.5 - 3 years old. They come from the same commercial breeder - that's the other quirky factor in the equation. One was a Sussex, the other is a Rennes hen.

I may have had a suggestion based on some experience we had with younger layers but the factors you list, including age, have me baffled.

Sorry to hear about that. I know that most folks keep about the number of hens they need and any losses are impactful if you have to start over and wait ~20-24 weeks for new ones.

Are your birds getting less exercise due to winter weather?

My friend suggests too much grain (as in scratch) or bread or fatty food, could also increase the risk.

ETA: my friend also suggests you try switching to every 2 days for the soaked wheat. It may be causing a fatty bulge in the abdomen which can block the egg.

Thanks Jay, I'll alternate between soaked wheat and leaner feed from tomorrow on.
They're free ranging, like always, so getting all the exercise they want (moving around freely on 3000m2).