I know this is ot, but for the last 6 years we have been raising hens for eggs. Well every winter they slow down laying, and we have to buy some store eggs. I cant find ANY eggs that taste as good as my free range hens eggs. Iv tried Land-o-lakes, Egglands best and every thing in between. Any suggestions? Im thinking of putting lights on the hens so they will lay all winter? Hard to eat store eggs after haveing your own all summer. J
- Thread starter JayinNY
- Start date
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
When we had less horses, I had chickens. I put a florescent (cause it was cheap) light on a timer and gave them light starting at 0400 - 2200. Had plenty of eggs with most laying an egg a day. Little florescent goes a long way. You could prolly run an 18 watt (2ft?) tube for year for the price of a couple dozen eggs and you can always see toclean the chicken house. You prolly have to adjust feed when it's real cold?
Dave
Dave
thanks for the idea Dave.!!! Last month I was about to throw away a 2ft bright stick gro-n-sho floresent light, but being cheap I kept it. I was gonna use a 100watt bulb in the coop, but now that you mention it I'll use this gro light. Now I gotta spring for a 100 or so foot extension cord..owwwwww! thanks for the idea. J
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
How many watts is it? Car battery and a small inverter may do you better than a cord stretched thru the snow. Probably even a couple of 12volt CF or florescent RV lights like was suggested to me in my post in tool talk. Don't throw the gro light away though, you'll need it for something later.
Dave
Correct me if I'm wrong but you're suppose to aim for 14 hours of light a day to keep production up, right?
Is there a problem with just giving them the light after they've been experiencing the short days for quite some time now? I'm down to 1 to 2 eggs a day now (5 hens) and would like to get them going again but wasn't sure if I should give them 14 hours all at once or gradually give them more.
My Rhode Island Reds laid well with out light last year so I didn't think about it until my egg box was empty.
Two have/are still molting, boy don't they look like a mess!
Is there a problem with just giving them the light after they've been experiencing the short days for quite some time now? I'm down to 1 to 2 eggs a day now (5 hens) and would like to get them going again but wasn't sure if I should give them 14 hours all at once or gradually give them more.
My Rhode Island Reds laid well with out light last year so I didn't think about it until my egg box was empty.
Two have/are still molting, boy don't they look like a mess!
I'll have to look into the car battery deal. I cant find the watts on the light, it just says GE bright stick, and I cant get the floresent tube out of it to tell, but seems like the original bulb. The light has slots on the top and sides for mounting it on a wall or a celling, looks pretty handy. I took it out from above my kitchen sink when I bought the house and put up a small track light instead. So this thing has been floating around for 10 years.
lol, I dident know what I was gonna do with it until I read your suggestion! J
lol, I dident know what I was gonna do with it until I read your suggestion! J
NO, You have it right 14 hours of daylight, so put light on them in the morning, and again at night for roughly 14 or so hours of light for them to lay. Im down to 3-4 eggs from 22 hens, some are old though, and I wonder if some of the other ones are laying outside some were.???
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
My family has had chickens now for 2 or 3 generation and all of us have used lights in the chicken houses. Me I'm lazy and have them one 24/7 and now days use the new cheap to use bulbs. I also have a heat light of some sort in one of my houses. Right now I am getting about 6 a day and sell my extras to off set feed cost. Also what and how you feed them makes a difference.
Now you can believe me or not but years ago I worked in a commercial egg farm. It took them at least a month to have a load of eggs. From there they went to a ware house where they where then sorted which could take another month or 2. Then from there to another ware house to be shipped to the stores. All total it could take up to 6 months for the eggs to get on the store shelves so yep no taste
Now you can believe me or not but years ago I worked in a commercial egg farm. It took them at least a month to have a load of eggs. From there they went to a ware house where they where then sorted which could take another month or 2. Then from there to another ware house to be shipped to the stores. All total it could take up to 6 months for the eggs to get on the store shelves so yep no taste
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
according to one for sale on amazon it's 33 watts.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
(quoted from post at 20:14:29 11/28/10) Correct me if I'm wrong but you're suppose to aim for 14 hours of light a day to keep production up, right?
Is there a problem with just giving them the light after they've been experiencing the short days for quite some time now? I'm down to 1 to 2 eggs a day now (5 hens) and would like to get them going again but wasn't sure if I should give them 14 hours all at once or gradually give them more.
My Rhode Island Reds laid well with out light last year so I didn't think about it until my egg box was empty.
Two have/are still molting, boy don't they look like a mess!
I have a chicken book with a hitec schedule that says what time to run the lights for a given date range. I have a hard time remembering to put gas in my car so just went with the earliest and latest times on the chart and set the timer accordingly for the whole year. If you are feeding them right, you should notice a difference in a few days with the light. Just set it and turn it on.
Dave
I would be interested to see if you will end up sacrificing taste/quality when you increase production. It doesn't sound like they are going to be natural/free range eggs you like if they are locked in coop without access to range and unnatural lighting. In fact, it is kind of starting to sound like the production houses that produce the commercial eggs that you say you don't like. Many people are now trying to find the balance between nature and production.
Joel Salatin is an author/speaker who covers this balancing act in his books and lecture circuit. Interesting stuff, following nature's lead. He would probably suggest getting a few more hens to meet your demand during winter while allowing them to produce at a natural rate.
Of course, our chickens of today are nothing like our great-grandparents. They have been selectively bred to the point where they often require a higher protein feed than they could get in nature. So the balancing act begins.
Joel isn't just another hippy-nature nut either. He is a family farmer who has made a very respectable living off his farm and book/speaking deals.
Hope this post doesn't come off as spam for Joel...I really enjoy his work and just wanted to share some thoguhts. Good Luck! Ryan
Joel Salatin is an author/speaker who covers this balancing act in his books and lecture circuit. Interesting stuff, following nature's lead. He would probably suggest getting a few more hens to meet your demand during winter while allowing them to produce at a natural rate.
Of course, our chickens of today are nothing like our great-grandparents. They have been selectively bred to the point where they often require a higher protein feed than they could get in nature. So the balancing act begins.
Joel isn't just another hippy-nature nut either. He is a family farmer who has made a very respectable living off his farm and book/speaking deals.
Hope this post doesn't come off as spam for Joel...I really enjoy his work and just wanted to share some thoguhts. Good Luck! Ryan
I have read, and am fimular with Joel and polyface farm, farm of many faces. I find nothing wrong with his books. But when we can get up to 2-3 feet of snow the hens stay in. As far a feeding them, they get scratch, c-corn or oats. I also get salad scraps from a local store, bad milk and bred. So the get there veggies. I also give them layer pellets.
guido
Well-known Member
Hello JayinNY,
We do a container of 12 eggs, scramble them and freeze them. If you have a lot of eggs that is what you can do. Try it! Freeze some for a week or two, amd cook them up! bet you they will taste better then the store bought.
If you like them fryed,then you'll have to wait till spring.
Guido.
We do a container of 12 eggs, scramble them and freeze them. If you have a lot of eggs that is what you can do. Try it! Freeze some for a week or two, amd cook them up! bet you they will taste better then the store bought.
If you like them fryed,then you'll have to wait till spring.
Guido.
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Also compare the yokes side by side of a farm egg and a store egg. The farm egg is a bright yellow while the store egg is a pale yellow. Plus I have found if you have roosters your eggs will be even better tasting and also better for you
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
I'm getting this picture............Somebody stop me.................
old
Well-known Member
- Location
- Camdenton Missouri
Egg pellets or granules help a good bit because of the high protein. Also and this may sound strange but feeding them hot peppers brings up production a good bit.
Also if your hens are say 2.5 years old or older production goes down a lot. I try to buy around 15 chicks (pullets) every spring so that they are just starting to lay when it starts to get cool out. That way last years birds are just slowing down as the new ones start up. I figure 6-10 eggs a day is more then enough for me and the people who buy them from me
Also if your hens are say 2.5 years old or older production goes down a lot. I try to buy around 15 chicks (pullets) every spring so that they are just starting to lay when it starts to get cool out. That way last years birds are just slowing down as the new ones start up. I figure 6-10 eggs a day is more then enough for me and the people who buy them from me
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
besides the light make sure they are getting oyster shells and enough protein, Grandpa called it egg mash
Jay, Years ago an old farmer who kept 900 hens and peddled all his eggs, told me the best way to get your hens to keep laying was to mix warm water with the egg mash.Through the years I have found that it does work.I hand feed my hens daily so it works for me but it is a little extra work.I feed a 21% mash along with cracked corn.Plenty of grit and oyster shell.Fresh water also.
Don't bother with the battery and inverter. If you're lucky you'll get a day or two out of it, then the battery will be dead.
Cold knocks the stuffing out of a battery, cutting its useful capacity 50% and more if it's cold enough.
You'll soon grow tired of carrying the battery back and forth to the house to charge it. Then if you screw up and let it go too long, you get to buy a new battery!
Run an extension cord.
Cold knocks the stuffing out of a battery, cutting its useful capacity 50% and more if it's cold enough.
You'll soon grow tired of carrying the battery back and forth to the house to charge it. Then if you screw up and let it go too long, you get to buy a new battery!
Run an extension cord.
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