Chickens typically lay one egg per day during the summer months, but they need 14 hours of daylight to be able to achieve this. In the winter, you might find that the laying schedule is less frequent. Some will even shut down entirely until the spring, which is an ideal window of opportunity to rest.
If you’re keen to keep enjoying fresh eggs through the summer months, there are steps you can take to encourage more frequent egg production. Provided this is managed in the right way, there should be no additional stress for your birds. These steps will all support their overall health during the winter months, and the side effect is that this can help them to continue producing eggs.
Offer additional light sources
Light is one of the main reasons that chickens stop laying eggs in the winter. By artificially lighting their environment, you can replicate the conditions they would experience from Spring to Autumn.
It’s important not to overdo this as it could lead to stress in the birds. For example, you can’t leave the lights on at night as would be the case with a commercial chicken farm. Instead, treat this method as a way to increase their enjoyment of the day, particularly on those days when it doesn’t seem to ever get light.
Give them a varied diet
Laying eggs is hungry work, so make sure that your chickens can enjoy a varied diet all year round. A balanced and nutritious diet will help your chickens to cope with the colder weather by ensuring they can grow a healthy plume of feathers.
Good nutrition will also help chickens to continue producing eggs through the winter. Feeding your chickens a good quality mixed corn later in the afternoon or early evening will help to keep them full and will also keep them warm. Digesting the corn helps to generate heat throughout the night.
From the start of Autumn, you should consider adding more protein into their diet to help them to produce feathers that will keep them warm. Protein also helps with egg production.
Be cautious with ex-commercial hens
If you have rescued your hens from a commercial facility, they won’t be accustomed to a cold winter. They will have lived in artificially warmed facilities for their entire life, so they might struggle during their first cold winter. Pay close attention to how these chickens react to the weather and be ready to put them in a warm space if they show signs of distress.
Keep stress levels down
Another common reason that chickens will stop laying during the winter months is stress. Foxes can be more active during the winter months as their food sources might not be as plentiful. Keeping your chickens safe and secure will help to keep stress levels down.
Chickens love their privacy, so even household pets can become a bother and a source of stress to your birds. Keep them separate and make sure your chickens always have somewhere to retreat to where they won’t be bothered.
Final thoughts
It’s far more important to focus on your chicken’s health during the winter months, but a side effect of this will be that healthy chickens are more likely to continue laying. By ensuring they have a varied diet, eliminating sources of stress and ensuring they are warm and comfortable during the winter months, you’ll have a better chance of being able to enjoy eggs all through the winter, even if this is at a slightly reduced rate to your usual expectations.
