Chickens went left on me

[cobfly 1,248]

All take and no give, dang freeloaders. Oh well, they will go back to the right in the spring, aka: hard working members of the place.

[vtfireman85 5,054]

No eggs this morning? The ducks have slowed down drastically, one, maybe 2. 

[MarkG 864]

My neighbor who has a commercial chicken house says hens only lay so many eggs then they are done. Time to make chicken soup and get new bittys in the spring.

[searcyfarms 2,477]

24 minutes ago, MarkG said:

My neighbor who has a commercial chicken house says hens only lay so many eggs then they are done. Time to make chicken soup and get new bittys in the spring.

your neighbor would be wrong to a degree if you are talking HIGH COMMERCIAL OUTPUTs, i would agree after they get some years on them but they are good for a couple years well past good tender eating stock, the biggest determination on eggs also is hours of daylight, stress then age. If you keep the lights on and keep them comfy/fed you will get eggs no problemo. 

[cobfly 1,248]

We got pretty cold the last few days, not gonna light the coop up to help. Just that time of the year.

[searcyfarms 2,477]

gu

7 minutes ago, cobfly said:

We got pretty cold the last few days, not gonna light the coop up to help. Just that time of the year.

maybe if you squeeze them harder you can pop more out then

[sandhiller 14,724]

Mother moved hers from the summer house to the winter house (good old cinder block coop) before the zero hit last night. 

They are still laying but for one who has figured out that she still gets just as much to eat whether she poops an egg or not. 

She's even got a heat lamp in there, heated water dish, probably a heated feed pan for all I know and if you think I had any luck telling her we don't need to be wastin electricity on a chicken..........then you don't know my missus and her chickens.

Their probably warmer than I am tonight and if I don't quit bicchen I'm a gonna get a lot colder. 🥶

Pick your battles Jeff, pick your battles

[AKwelder 1,949]

The back of the new shop has a chicken coop for her.  I am working hard but it’s not heated yet, soon though. We have 20 hens and some days see 20 eggs.  She enjoys them and it helps her decompress after work so it’s worth it to me.  
 

supposed to be. High of 3 above by next weekend. Bet I finally can get help on the shop🙄

[IH Forever 378]

I know the home grown ones are better...but eggs are SO cheap in the store.  I'll just keep buying my eggs.

[from H to 80 738]

Since we have this chicken thread,i have a question for the experts. My youngest daughter got in the chicken business this year, we built her a nice little coop but it has no electric. My grandmother had lots of chickens when i was a kid, and i know that there was no kind of electricity in her chicken house ,but my wife and daughter are convinced they need heat and warm water. I think she can just thaw the waterer out overnight in the shop and the chicky's will be fine.

[vtfireman85 5,054]

14 minutes ago, IH Forever said:

I know the home grown ones are better...but eggs are SO cheap in the store.  I'll just keep buying my eggs.

There are 0 cost savings to small home bird flocks. Only if you otherwise enjoy them or have other reasons. Same with a garden.. its a slippery slope. 

[vtfireman85 5,054]

1 minute ago, from H to 80 said:

Since we have this chicken thread,i have a question for the experts. My youngest daughter got in the chicken business this year, we built her a nice little coop but it has no electric. My grandmother had lots of chickens when i was a kid, and i know that there was no kind of electricity in her chicken house ,but my wife and daughter are convinced they need heat and warm water. I think she can just thaw the waterer out overnight in the shop and the chicky's will be fine.

They will lay more consistently with heat and light, they are already born with as many eggs as they are able to lay, the faster they lay them, the sooner they stop. You can have a fairly old bird still contributing if nature takes its course, or a fairly young one that has dried up. Personally with ducks they don’t care so much about Temperature but are affected by light as much. In would think a heated  waterer would be a good idea, if you can deal with the energy usage. 
if she hasn’t already joined the back yard chickens forum it has been a tremendous resource for me.  https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/

[IH Forever 378]

37 minutes ago, vtfireman85 said:

There are 0 cost savings to small home bird flocks. Only if you otherwise enjoy them or have other reasons. Same with a garden.. its a slippery slope. 

Couldn't agree with you more.  I'm not a big fan of yard birds but enjoy gardening.  That's why I have a garden and no chickens.  When something like this pandemic occurs and things get hard to find in the stores it does make you put a higher value on producing your own food.  Although I'm going to take my chances that I will be able to get eggs in the store...no chickens for me.

[Gillfisher 1]

We always have chickens running around.  We cant seem to eat store bought anymore.  Its kind of like maple syrup,  once you make your own, you cant eat the fake stuff.  We have never had heat in the coop. Just good ventilation, and always make sure that they get at least 12 hours a day light.

[sandhiller 14,724]

2 hours ago, IH Forever said:

I know the home grown ones are better...but eggs are SO cheap in the store.  I'll just keep buying my eggs.

my post above was mostly "tongue in cheek". There is more cost than savings to having chickens but I do like the eggs and if the cost is going tank my operation well then I better find a new line of work. 

Can't put a real value on the stress relief they provide for  and actions let her decompress as with akwelder's wife. They just cluck and pick around her and you can see the tension leave her. That is priceless. 

I gotta admit I get a kick out of leaving the house at noon and seeing them get excited cuz they know they will get an apple core from my dinner. 

What the heck, heated water, heat lamp, wonder if they make little electric chicken blankets🤔😉😁

[stronger800 838]

Oh they do. I’m sure they do. 

[Jesse in WI 319]

1 hour ago, sandhiller said:

What the heck, heated water, heat lamp, wonder if they make little electric chicken blankets

Not sure if this qualifies as a blanket but we have a heat pad that goes vertical on the side wall of our nesting boxes. Heat pad is about 8"x12" and plugs into a 120v outlet.

[Scott! 135]

15 hours ago, MarkG said:

My neighbor who has a commercial chicken house says hens only lay so many eggs then they are done. Time to make chicken soup and get new bittys in the spring.

You have to force molt them.

[from H to 80 738]

I did install a solar powered light in the coop that burns a couple extra hours each night depending on the sun. i guess my next question is, if i put a heat lamp in there they will have light 24-7 is that good or bad?

[Rawleigh99 826]

Take a hatchet out to the coop with you and they may reconsider their position on that!

[sandhiller 14,724]

3 hours ago, Jesse in WI said:

Not sure if this qualifies as a blanket but we have a heat pad that goes vertical on the side wall of our nesting boxes. Heat pad is about 8"x12" and plugs into a 120v outlet.

Ya know, I remember grandma having a chicken coop without electricity. It was big. Let chickens out every day to get to water and scratch around.

I know winters were just as cold back then and her chickens seemed to survive ok.

Try telling my wife this and she just says "we have REA now, get used to it".  

just dawned on me, damn chickens have a summer home AND a winter home, I'm doing something wrong😪😁

[Farmall1066 1,809]

3 hours ago, from H to 80 said:

I did install a solar powered light in the coop that burns a couple extra hours each night depending on the sun. i guess my next question is, if i put a heat lamp in there they will have light 24-7 is that good or bad?

Get reptile heat bulbs, they are ceramic and don’t give off light! 

[searcyfarms 2,477]

bawwwwk baaawwwwwwk its cold - my butts puckered so tight i cant lay an egg - at least thats what they have convinced the city slickers of so they make them nice warm cozy shelters so they dont freeze to death - sheesh, if they only knew how animals survived this long w/out so much as electricity or water heaters 

im not very soft, i make my dog sleep in the garage with the door open and my cat in the barn = im waiting for my neighbors to turn me in and peta to show up or the ASPCA

[vtfireman85 5,054]

I think they will do ok either way, but commit. Dont go one way or another. If your gonna say no heat,  harden them off now. Don't give them heat when it gets brutal and take it away when its 20. 

[cobfly 1,248]

Did the math years ago, heat and light makes my eggs quite expensive. I will put an LED light on a timer, doesn't help much, helps a little. I guess even a chicken needs a break from work. I bet when winter comes, even the left crazies might settle a little. We can only hope. They are a bunch of chickens anyhow.