My Quaker Alan and I were discussingour fiscal situation — gripes might be a better condition — and I noted that thing were especially difficult with our poultry farm not yet producing income this year . “ Oh , no ! ” Alan answer with care . “ Why no farm production ? ”
I imagined that Alan quite mayhap envisioned raccoon runningoff with our layers or some other barnyard catastrophe .
Or perhaps he think it might be the weather . It ’s currently April 25 and blizzarding outside ( hardly the weather to snuggle down on a nest to lay eggs ) . The Sojourner Truth , however , is much more mundane yet also quite insightful about the life of a laying biddy .
Let There Be Light
A chicken ’s reproductive bike is extremely photosensitive . In other words , it react to light . A hen needs a minimum of 14 hours ofconsistent daylightto jumpstart her egg production , with 16 minute of Light Within supply optimal conditions for egg laying . This ingrained behavior ensures species endurance by make late spring and early summertime the optimal time for think of .
sustain menstruation of continual spark are typically accompanied by the warmth necessary for chicks to flourish and grow . As winter approach , both daytime and temperatures lessen , creating chilly conditions in which chicks flounder and betray .
Read more : Here are 4 reasons to keep chicken that are n’t egg prices .
The Chicken & the Egg
What does optimum chick survival time of year have to do with egg position ? Everything , in reality .
Avian physiology alter itself over the millennia to make a hen ’s reproductive system go dormant during the cold months , when hatchlings can not come through . Since there ’s no pauperism for metal money propagation during this prison term of year , there ’s no need for eggs , which are essentially oval nurturing seedcase that business firm baby poultry until they are quick for discharge into the world .
It just so happened that someone somewhere in history pick up the tasty mental object inside the shell , turning eggs into a basic in the human dieting .
Winter Break
I ’m certain Alan enquire why I just did n’t install unreal lights inside my coops to produce the ignitor necessary to keep hen producing . While this is popular with backyard and hobby - farm owner , there is a Brobdingnagian downside to this pattern .
It negatively impacts a lay biddy ’s wellness .
The practiced layer are n’t cover models for Chickens Magazine . The most fat hens look like they ’ve been through the ringer : scruffy , with sagging or broken in feathers and , quite perhaps , bald patches . This is because biddy pull on the protein and atomic number 20 from their own bodies toprovide the construction blocksnecessary for successful egg product .
Without their natural wintertime quiescence period , crybaby literally wear themselves out year quicker than if they were give the downcast - calorie-free month to recuperate and restore from the expectation to lie testis .
record more : Check out these unnatural eggs you may encounter in the nesting box seat .
Great Eggspectations
So when can I expect the first egg of the year ? Any mean solar day now , I assume .
Our Alexa announces when it ’s time to lock away up the coops a half hour before sunset , and lately those declaration are creeping up on 8 p.m. With dawn breaking at about 6:45 a.m. , we ’re drawing closer to that 14 - hr gratifying spot that will trigger our girls ’ egg laying . We ’re not there yet , but just in grammatical case I ’ve started checking the nest boxes .
After all , chickens did n’t read the manual of arms to learn that they ’re not supposed to set the day the calendar winter is over .
As for Alan , he learned something new today . “ It just go to show you what I have sex about farming or lift volaille , ” he quipped . That ’s all decent , Alan . I ’m more than happy to aid you learn what you need to start your own backyard flock .
