My granny said people who complain about chickens going barren in the winter don’t have roosters. (No eggs is “barren”, not just cutting back on eggs) When she got too old to be raising roosters and only had laying hens, she bought posters of roosters and tacked them on the ceiling of the coop, and on the outside of the chicken wire, facing into the coop for the hens. Now, this was back in the 60s/70s and Portable tape recorders just came out and we bought her one for Christmas, which made her so happy. She went straight over to a friends house and tape recorded the roosters and she would play the rooster crowing for her hens three times a day. And when she would play the rooster crowing at dusk, all the hens would go in the coop so she could shut the door. And in the morning they would come out when they heard the rooster crowing. She swore that if you have a facsimile of a rooster in the coop in the winter time and play rooster crowing that your hens will keep laying and never go barren in the winter. She swore it raised her winter egg production by 100% compared to everybody else. Now I’m not sure if that’s true or not but before we got her the tape recorder, she was out there crowing like a rooster and holding up the poster, moving it around in front of her on the ground to trick the hens. 😂 I kid you not! When we asked her where she learned it, she said on the reservation. apparently they would take rooster feathers and weave something with it stuck with the rooster feathers and they would make the rooster crow and have this stuffed animal thing the moved around. Of course, that was just on the rare occasions if their rooster died and they were in between roosters. Nobody ever went without roosters on purpose on the reservation because perpetuating your flock was so dang important. But she said that from time to time it did happen, and that was their method of getting through till spring to get you another rooster. Because back in those days they didn’t have electric incubators and fertile eggs being sent through the mail. 😂 From time to time I think how amazed she would be to see me raising chickens the way I do now. She’d be so proud that she’s the one that started this whole thing with me. And I think she would be really happy to talk to a bunch of chicken people on UA-cam, like all of you, and discuss all of the old ways that she knew. So I thought I would just tell all of you this for granny… because she would definitely be telling all of you if she was here.
Our production was down, and while the weather was awful I cooped my hens up; no free ranging. Production went up to an egg a day per hen. This makes me think they were laying, just not in the coop. I have a neighbor who never lets her hens out until after 2 in the afternoon and her production is really good. So, that has become my routine now, as well, and numbers are great.
If you don’t have a rooster, get a poster of a rooster, and put it where they can see it inside the coop, and find someway to play rooster crowing for your hens a few times a day, especially in the morning and at night and your egg production won’t go down so much. I watched my granny do it for 20 years when I was a kid growing up into my 20s and she swore by it and everybody in town took up doing it and it works. of course if you have roosters, just make sure that your hen can see and hear them and it will be the same thing. Although Granny swears that hens, want a rooster inside the coop in the winter time, whenever they stay almost all day because of the cold. I don’t know why or what that’s all about but she swore by putting a poster on the ceiling of the coop so they thought a rooster was in there with them. 😂 her hens did cut back on eggs, but they never went with zero eggs. And I used to hear old ladies go over and ask her how she did it and she would tell them the trick and they would tell her that she was crazy and it wasn’t gonna work, but it always did. 🤷🏻♀️
This is my first year of keeping chickens. Our egg production has been cut in half by the fall season coming on. We have only 7 hens that averaged 6 eggs a day during the summer. I was able to give a dozen away a week. Not anymore, now we keep what we get to eat ourselves. I started feeding fermented scratch grains a month ago, and they love their breakfast. I also started meal worm breeding boxes but that will take 6 months to get worm. I hope to start a second set of boxes in a month to have a continuous supply. Thank you for all you do and share with us ❤️
I Ferment lentils once a week and made a winter treat mix that they get daily to help them keep their temps up and laying if they want. Black soldier fly larva, cracked purple corn, dehydrated fruit and veggies mix, black oil sunflowers and raisins, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes. Plus all the kitchen scraps and leftovers.
I also believe in letting my hens rest in the winter time, we get fewer eggs but that is ok, It's the way they are meant to be, Thanks so much for this, :)
Make sure they aren't hiding them in a warm(er) corner of the coop. This is my second winter and both times they started avoiding the cold externally mounted nest boxes. They will drop off, just make sure they aren't getting missed.
Wow nice refreshing and very useful videi. You have good experience about your chicken, love to see eggs and your all chicken, thank you for sharing 😊😊😊 stay blessed and live happily
Ty acres of adventure. Our first year with chickens. Golden comets are abt 6 months old. We were told that they will lay during the winter bc they are still young. We shall see :)
We started slowing down mid September when the chickens started their molting. On average during the winter I get 3-5 eggs a day, spring it’s closer to 16-17 (I have 18 hens, 1 rooster). I added a rooster this summer (as a chick) and he’s just started to crow so we’ll see! We have cold snowy winters and I do not heat or artificially light their coop (off grid). So far nature’s way has been kind to us. I do water-glass some of my abundant spring eggs with great success so we’re good year round.
This is why you need to choose your breed. I chose an almost daily layer so for 5 hens we get 4 to 5 daily....as for moulting and winter? It's normal and expected
Nature Knows Best! The supplement Kicken Chicken helps mine. I cook oatmeal and mix with the liquid all winter and I get eggs, not a lot, but enough. And greens helps. I actually purchase a package of spring mix for $4 at sams and give them a handful or two couple Days a week as the grass dies. It has helped mine.
Our Easter egger has always been a terrible layer....she is 6 yrs old and gives us a dozen or so eggs a year, the 3 Barred Rocks are 4 years old and we get 2-3 a day all spring and summer up until October. We preserve eggs for winter time when they stop laying.
I have 6 chickens and my two Easter eggers give me only one egg per week, dramatically less than one month ago. But average about 3/day. But I’m okay with them taking a break.
If you get young chickens in the spring they will automatically lay in the colder/less light months. They do not need the light factor like the older birds. Also if you get extra eggs, water glass them or freeze them. I have two 36 eggs water glassed jars and i have like 20 freezer bags of eggs. My hens have still been laying 6-10 a day. I do not believe in artificial light but I did up the protein to orgainic chick quail feed so they wont have as rough as a molt.
Awesome experiment! I’ve decided to wait until the end of winter to get my first chickens, which gives more time to research/prepare and get straight into decent egg production (hopefully). I definitely learned a few things from this video. Do you do anything special with your rain barrel during winter? I was thinking of getting one but was wondering if they basically need drained during winter as to not break?
I’d assume the risk with forcing them to lay when it’s the natural slow time is that your hens wouldn’t lay for as many years as they could. Chickens are born with the total amount of eggs they will ever lay in their lifetime so I’d assume if you force her every year to max production, she wouldn’t be a productive hen for as long as she could be. You’ll still get her quantity worth but it wouldn’t be spread out as long as it could be. I’m not allowed to have chickens yet but I’m trying to learn as much as I can so I’m ready when the ordinance changes.
Add more protein if & when possible “animal protein” helps. I started fermenting feed again after a few months of not doing so. Added black oil sunflower seeds & an xtra scoop or 2 of grains. To their normal daily rations & cook them some scrambled eggs twice a week. Always adding crushed red pepper to the food & cayenne to their water. I’ve heard to give them cat food & or sardines/cans of tuna to add a good source of not the norm proteins but haven’t tried it with prices of everything increasing of everything what seems like daily
Here’s something to research: When it’s Summer in Alaska and there’s light most of every day, do homesteaders lock up their chickens in an artificial dark room so that their daily amount of light and dark is more “natural”? And during their mostly dark winter days, do the homesteaders there lock up their chickens in an artificial light room for the same reason-more “natural”? What really IS natural for a chicken? I choose to lengthen out my chickens’ days with artificial light. We’ve done it for years and get eggs during the Winter months (UNLESS it gets too far below 0. Even the hardiest breeds have their limits!)
I feel the same way, let nature do it's thing. However, I'm very new to having chickens and I have a lot to still learn.. Our young ones are now 30 weeks and still, no eggs. It has gotten colder and now shorter days, so I'm assuming that may be what the issue is here too. I'm working on adjusting their food to better quality food from local feed store instead of the corporate stores. (although they don't seem to like the pallet as much as they liked the crumble). Gifted some of our rooster away to help reduce the stress of too many roosters. I'm not sure what else I can do.. Is it possible that, naturally, they will not start laying until Spring?
My granny said people who complain about chickens going barren in the winter don’t have roosters. (No eggs is “barren”, not just cutting back on eggs) When she got too old to be raising roosters and only had laying hens, she bought posters of roosters and tacked them on the ceiling of the coop, and on the outside of the chicken wire, facing into the coop for the hens. Now, this was back in the 60s/70s and
Portable tape recorders just came out and we bought her one for Christmas, which made her so happy. She went straight over to a friends house and tape recorded the roosters and she would play the rooster crowing for her hens three times a day. And when she would play the rooster crowing at dusk, all the hens would go in the coop so she could shut the door. And in the morning they would come out when they heard the rooster crowing. She swore that if you have a facsimile of a rooster in the coop in the winter time and play rooster crowing that your hens will keep laying and never go barren in the winter. She swore it raised her winter egg production by 100% compared to everybody else. Now I’m not sure if that’s true or not but before we got her the tape recorder, she was out there crowing like a rooster and holding up the poster, moving it around in front of her on the ground to trick the hens. 😂 I kid you not! When we asked her where she learned it, she said on the reservation. apparently they would take rooster feathers and weave something with it stuck with the rooster feathers and they would make the rooster crow and have this stuffed animal thing the moved around. Of course, that was just on the rare occasions if their rooster died and they were in between roosters. Nobody ever went without roosters on purpose on the reservation because perpetuating your flock was so dang important. But she said that from time to time it did happen, and that was their method of getting through till spring to get you another rooster. Because back in those days they didn’t have electric incubators and fertile eggs being sent through the mail. 😂 From time to time I think how amazed she would be to see me raising chickens the way I do now. She’d be so proud that she’s the one that started this whole thing with me. And I think she would be really happy to talk to a bunch of chicken people on UA-cam, like all of you, and discuss all of the old ways that she knew. So I thought I would just tell all of you this for granny… because she would definitely be telling all of you if she was here.
Bless her heart I miss granny already I bet she’s awesome
This is so interesting!! Lol. How funny 😅 We have a rooster and our egg production is definitely down...maybe they aren't attracted to him 😂
Thanks for sharing !!! What a smart lady !!! Please share more stories!!
Thank you for sharing! We need to remember and teach the old ways.
Mine started molting in july this yr!!
What you need to do is, during times of plenty, waterglass your extra, clean, bloom-on eggs. They'll store a long time and taste like fresh
I love how you access the eggs
Our production was down, and while the weather was awful I cooped my hens up; no free ranging. Production went up to an egg a day per hen. This makes me think they were laying, just not in the coop. I have a neighbor who never lets her hens out until after 2 in the afternoon and her production is really good. So, that has become my routine now, as well, and numbers are great.
Great video because I was starting to question my 13 laying hens.
If you don’t have a rooster, get a poster of a rooster, and put it where they can see it inside the coop, and find someway to play rooster crowing for your hens a few times a day, especially in the morning and at night and your egg production won’t go down so much. I watched my granny do it for 20 years when I was a kid growing up into my 20s and she swore by it and everybody in town took up doing it and it works. of course if you have roosters, just make sure that your hen can see and hear them and it will be the same thing. Although Granny swears that hens, want a rooster inside the coop in the winter time, whenever they stay almost all day because of the cold. I don’t know why or what that’s all about but she swore by putting a poster on the ceiling of the coop so they thought a rooster was in there with them. 😂 her hens did cut back on eggs, but they never went with zero eggs. And I used to hear old ladies go over and ask her how she did it and she would tell them the trick and they would tell her that she was crazy and it wasn’t gonna work, but it always did. 🤷🏻♀️
Thank you!
This is my first year of keeping chickens. Our egg production has been cut in half by the fall season coming on. We have only 7 hens that averaged 6 eggs a day during the summer. I was able to give a dozen away a week. Not anymore, now we keep what we get to eat ourselves.
I started feeding fermented scratch grains a month ago, and they love their breakfast. I also started meal worm breeding boxes but that will take 6 months to get worm. I hope to start a second set of boxes in a month to have a continuous supply. Thank you for all you do and share with us ❤️
I Ferment lentils once a week and made a winter treat mix that they get daily to help them keep their temps up and laying if they want. Black soldier fly larva, cracked purple corn, dehydrated fruit and veggies mix, black oil sunflowers and raisins, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes. Plus all the kitchen scraps and leftovers.
@@lisaparleecarr1746 I sprouted them this summer for a fresh green treat. I will try fermenting some now. Thanks!
I also believe in letting my hens rest in the winter time, we get fewer eggs but that is ok, It's the way they are meant to be, Thanks so much for this, :)
During molting I give black sunflower seed and cracked corn to replenish there feathers
Unfortunately egg production drops in winter but they need there rest and you do the right thing
Make sure they aren't hiding them in a warm(er) corner of the coop. This is my second winter and both times they started avoiding the cold externally mounted nest boxes. They will drop off, just make sure they aren't getting missed.
Oh WOW I didn't know this. Thank you for sharing this information 😊❤
I got 13 chickens and 3 turkeys if they are happy they will keep laying. Just from what I have seen in my flock . Its November and i get 8 to 11 a day
Wow nice refreshing and very useful videi. You have good experience about your chicken, love to see eggs and your all chicken, thank you for sharing 😊😊😊 stay blessed and live happily
Ty acres of adventure. Our first year with chickens. Golden comets are abt 6 months old. We were told that they will lay during the winter bc they are still young. We shall see :)
Had chickens for years. Always had eggs year-round, except for 1 month (ever), because of a hard molt. Otherwise, I think happy hens=continual eggs.
We started slowing down mid September when the chickens started their molting. On average during the winter I get 3-5 eggs a day, spring it’s closer to 16-17 (I have 18 hens, 1 rooster). I added a rooster this summer (as a chick) and he’s just started to crow so we’ll see! We have cold snowy winters and I do not heat or artificially light their coop (off grid). So far nature’s way has been kind to us.
I do water-glass some of my abundant spring eggs with great success so we’re good year round.
This is why you need to choose your breed. I chose an almost daily layer so for 5 hens we get 4 to 5 daily....as for moulting and winter? It's normal and expected
where did you get your nesting box
Nature
Knows
Best!
The supplement Kicken Chicken helps mine. I cook oatmeal and mix with the liquid all winter and I get eggs, not a lot, but enough. And greens helps.
I actually purchase a package of spring mix for $4 at sams and give them a handful or two couple
Days a week as the grass dies. It has helped mine.
We start water glossing in Sept so we have a nice stash when they stop laying.
Never saw eggs that clean when first gathered.
How much time between adding the flocks and then separating them? That stressful time and mine usually lay less during that time.
Our Easter egger has always been a terrible layer....she is 6 yrs old and gives us a dozen or so eggs a year, the 3 Barred Rocks are 4 years old and we get 2-3 a day all spring and summer up until October. We preserve eggs for winter time when they stop laying.
Wow only a dozen a year? I have 4 easter eggers myself and I think only one is a laying. We only get a egg once every 4 days or so
Who did you talk to for that custom chicken coop? That looks really cool with the separated chicken egg catch!
I heard that feeding them fresh cut up hot peppers in their feed increases the number of eggs.. Is that true?
I have 6 chickens and my two Easter eggers give me only one egg per week, dramatically less than one month ago. But average about 3/day. But I’m okay with them taking a break.
I have a question, I heard that Brahma chickens lay from October to May. Would this solve the problem?
If you get young chickens in the spring they will automatically lay in the colder/less light months. They do not need the light factor like the older birds.
Also if you get extra eggs, water glass them or freeze them. I have two 36 eggs water glassed jars and i have like 20 freezer bags of eggs. My hens have still been laying 6-10 a day. I do not believe in artificial light but I did up the protein to orgainic chick quail feed so they wont have as rough as a molt.
My Michigan chix have slowed down since mid October..
My 6 girls have a rooster. I have been getting 6 day even the day we got snow. This is there first year. I am in the thumb of Michigan.
@@shelleyquandt8243I'm in the Thumb also. Watrousville.
Awesome experiment! I’ve decided to wait until the end of winter to get my first chickens, which gives more time to research/prepare and get straight into decent egg production (hopefully). I definitely learned a few things from this video.
Do you do anything special with your rain barrel during winter? I was thinking of getting one but was wondering if they basically need drained during winter as to not break?
If you want your chickens to grow feathers faster you can give the vitamins like e,d,c or give them more protein and calcium end leftovers of food
I’d assume the risk with forcing them to lay when it’s the natural slow time is that your hens wouldn’t lay for as many years as they could. Chickens are born with the total amount of eggs they will ever lay in their lifetime so I’d assume if you force her every year to max production, she wouldn’t be a productive hen for as long as she could be. You’ll still get her quantity worth but it wouldn’t be spread out as long as it could be. I’m not allowed to have chickens yet but I’m trying to learn as much as I can so I’m ready when the ordinance changes.
My chickens r 3 yrs old and i probably get 1 or 2 eggs a wk all yr around
I only have 2 chickens
Add more protein if & when possible “animal protein” helps. I started fermenting feed again after a few months of not doing so. Added black oil sunflower seeds & an xtra scoop or 2 of grains. To their normal daily rations & cook them some scrambled eggs twice a week. Always adding crushed red pepper to the food & cayenne to their water. I’ve heard to give them cat food & or sardines/cans of tuna to add a good source of not the norm proteins but haven’t tried it with prices of everything increasing of everything what seems like daily
Here’s something to research: When it’s Summer in Alaska and there’s light most of every day, do homesteaders lock up their chickens in an artificial dark room so that their daily amount of light and dark is more “natural”? And during their mostly dark winter days, do the homesteaders there lock up their chickens in an artificial light room for the same reason-more “natural”? What really IS natural for a chicken? I choose to lengthen out my chickens’ days with artificial light. We’ve done it for years and get eggs during the Winter months (UNLESS it gets too far below 0. Even the hardiest breeds have their limits!)
Well now I'm curious on what Alaskans do! Google here I come!
We have 15 layers. On Wednesday, November 1st we gathered 15 eggs and on Thursday we got 13. Hopefully we won't see a large drop.
What type of hens u have
I feel the same way, let nature do it's thing. However, I'm very new to having chickens and I have a lot to still learn.. Our young ones are now 30 weeks and still, no eggs. It has gotten colder and now shorter days, so I'm assuming that may be what the issue is here too. I'm working on adjusting their food to better quality food from local feed store instead of the corporate stores. (although they don't seem to like the pallet as much as they liked the crumble). Gifted some of our rooster away to help reduce the stress of too many roosters. I'm not sure what else I can do.. Is it possible that, naturally, they will not start laying until Spring?
It could be possible
Don’t make a kid because it costs like $100,000 dollars from 0 to 18 years
Do what you need to do according to your understanding of doing the right thing.🥹🤗💖