15 eggs today 1-5-23
5 whites from the Leghorns
8 browns from the Rhode Island Reds
1 blue and 1 brownish from the black Marans
I get eggs year 'round because I provide the required 15 hours of light per day. A combination of daylight and artificial light is fine. I have a single 60 watt incandescent bulb on a programmable timer in the coop.
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How many chickens do you have to get the 15 eggs, if you don't mind What do you feed your chickens Also, how many hours of light do they get daily when using the winter lighting Thanks, Bob PS I have 14 hens & no winter lighting and get 5 eggs per day currently Seems low to me I feed whole corn & pellets
ReplyDelete@Anonymous [Bob]: I will answer all of your questions here, one at a time.
Delete1). I have 19 hens and a rooster (no eggs from him ha ha). The 6 Leghorns and 8 R.I. Reds lay every day. The 5 Black Marans are older and only lay occasionally. I keep them for winter coop warmth and strength in numbers from predators. They are wise old ladies.
2). I feed them Agway brand layer pellets at $19.49 per 50 pound bag. I buy 3 bags at a time and keep it all in a 30 gallon metal trash can in my barn to keep vermin away. I will be restocking this weekend. The feed goes in a gravity feeder that I keep filled. Every morning when they come out they get 1 1/2 cups of cracked corn mixed with 1 cup of freeze dried mealworms as a faily treat. They get the worms year round, and the corn in cold weather only. The corn will raise their body temperature too high in warm weather. They get over ripe fruits and veggies and the trimmings when we make salads. Be sure to follow the list of what's safe for them to eat. Here is a link to a good list:
https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/what-chickens-can-and-cant-eat/
3). You may have missed it in the body of the post, but they need 15 hours of light but no more. It can be a combination of natural and artificial light. More than 15 hours interferes with their sleep cycle and results in undesirable behaviors, like fighting. Everyone I know that doesn't provide light basically get no eggs for the winter. I have always gotten year round production.
My birds have plenty of food, water, treats, fenced in open space to forage, draft free shelter, and a 250W heat lamp in the coop for heat in temps below 20 F. My coop is built like a house and well insulated. With the heat lamp on and the water inside, they do well for the winter. Anyone can feel free to email me for advice at:
glyptodropem at gmail dot com (no spaces and email conventional addressing)
I have 12 Novogen birds that are bred to lay 345 eggs per year. They're about 16 months old and I get a pretty solid 12 eggs a day giving them 13.5 hours of light and a diet of egg-layer, roughly what you're paying. I give "the girls" a mix of cracked corn and sunflower seed each morning, as well as a bit of oyster shell to make their shells stronger. They have a 40 watt bulb that activated at 6:30am for early light and re-activates around 5pm until 8pm(i'm in Oregon so we get short days this time of year). We rarely get to 20 degrees so I have not given them a heat lamp.
ReplyDeleteI think you spoil them, Glyp(grin).
Yes, they are spoiled. But the heat lamp is mostly about keeping the water from freezing. Their body heat does a pretty good job keeping the birds warm. As soon as they hear the door on the house they all come-a-runnin' to the gate and they are well trained to lay eggs only in nesting boxes. So spoiling them with goodies pays off.
DeleteThank you for the feedback. I am wanting to add winter lighting, so this is helpful Bob
ReplyDeleteI have thirty birds, twenty are two years and ten are pullets.
ReplyDeleteI don’t affect them with extended light, they rise and roost with the sun.
My breed is the Cinnamon Queen from cackle hatchery in Missouri. I’ve been raising this breed ten years.
My first flock of twenty went into the freezer at six years old. Stewing hens
I provide heated water fonts and use a radiant heat panel for added warmth in winter
I miss my chickens. Throw in some protein feed to increase size and production during the off season. Mix partial in full season.
ReplyDeleteThose eggs are like money in the bank.
ReplyDelete