Keeping our Chickens Happy

 With the egg shortage going on, we're very lucky to have our chickens continue producing eggs, even through the winter. We currently have a mixed flock of about 75 mature laying hens, and we receive about 30-36 eggs daily just from feeding our hens and allowing them to do their natural thing. We are not giving them any supplemental lighting to force them to lay through the colder months. 

We provide them with fresh food (currently we're using a commercial laying feed), water (I go out there at least twice a day to refill their heated waterers), two heat lamps, and fresh hay for bedding/nesting material. Any cracked eggs we find (we find more on those freezing days), we boil, mash (shell and all), and feed them back to the hens - and they love it. With the eggs we eat, we save the eggshells, crush them, and give them back to the hens to continue giving them the calcium they need to produce eggs with strong shells. 

At least once a month, we treat our hens to a nice snack of live Superworms - it's fun watching them snatch them and run around with their treasure. Once I have my black soldier fly farm going, we'll be giving them these larvae as well. 

Our hens are considered free range, meaning they have access to the great outdoors during the daytime (except for those extremely cold and blizzard-y days, where it would do them more harm than good to allow the cold and snow in, since we use a garage door). We do close everyone up at night to protect them from the cold nights and from predators. The chickens have full access to our property (and beyond, since there's no real barrier set up to keep them in), but they have aptly learned to stay close to home, and our pup reminds them which side of the fence is safe.

As far as I can tell, we have one rooster, who diligently watches over his flock. He also does what roosters do, and we have noticed many of our eggs are fertile, so we've had a few people ask for our eggs specifically so they can raise some barnyard mix chickens. We're considering breeding our chickens, if we get males of certain breeds that we like, but for now we're just raising them.

Obviously not all of our chickens are laying to their full potential right now (otherwise, we'd have at least double the amount of eggs we're currently getting), but we anticipate a reduced rate in the winter. This is the time for chickens to rest and recover, so we don't want to push them to lay with artificial lighting. I know they'll thank us with a bounty of eggs in the springtime. This is also their first year laying, so they're young and spry, which likely has an impact on their willingness and ability to lay eggs through winter. 

If you're struggling with getting your hens to lay eggs through the winter, there may be a few things you can do to encourage egg laying (aside from forcing them to lay with artificial lighting). You can try giving them a heat lamp so they're warm and comfortable, using clay eggs to encourage laying, and ensure they always have a supply of food and water (heated waterers are a necessity to ensure it doesn't freeze). Though what may make the biggest impact on our farm is the sheer number of chickens we have. They keep each other warm, and I honestly couldn't tell you if one chicken is laying daily or if one chicken lays only once a week. I do see familiar hens laying on top of eggs in their favorite spots, but they have a mixed batch of eggs under them, so I couldn't say who laid what. 

Whether your hens lay for you throughout the winter, or they take the time to rest and recover, keep them happy with good food, water, and heaters, and they will thank you with eggs when their bodies are ready to expend the effort. 

Happy Farming!