Ameraucana Breeders Club
The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club => Ameraucana Marketplace => Topic started by: Guest on November 25, 2006, 11:48:54 PM
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Hello all,
I\'m new to the Forum so I\'d like to say hello. I have a little (almost 2 acres) farmlet in Utah. I have a half dozen sheep, 3 dairy goats, and a dozen chickens--8 of which are supposedly Ameraucanas. (The other 4 are supposedly Buff Orpingtons, but I\'ve seen at least one of those laying a green egg. I know they haven\'t crossed with MY Ameraucanas since I don\'t have a cock!)
Anyway, here\'s the question: How well do Ameraucanas lay in winter? Right now we\'re at about 8 hours of daylight here. I got mine as new chicks in May, so they are just now getting old enough to lay. I can\'t find any numbers on just how much egg production drops during fall and winter, I can only find that it does either drop or stop completely.
Also, the weather has started to get pretty cold here, so I just turned on a heat lamp in the chicken run to keep their water from freezing. It isn\'t \"too\" bright in their run, I think they can still sleep, but could this improve their rate of lay?
Thanks in advance for any information you more knowledgeable types can give me :)
Liz in Utah
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I put a timer and light in my coop during the winter. I set the timer to turn the light on at 3:00 am. With your chickens it would be best to add 1/2 hour of light a week until you get to 14 hours of light. The hens egg production should increase. You will have to adjust the timer in the spring. As the day gets longer subtract the am time from the timer.
I always wait and add time later in the fall. Birds that need to molt will go ahead and start to molt. I then add time until I get to 14 hours. You can add time to 16 hours but my hens do well at 14.
It does not take much light to effect the chickens.
If you have had the light on 24/7 and then drop the light down to eight hours then gradually increase the amount of light over a 20 day period, this can cause the birds to molt.
I would drop the light down to 14-16 hours and mantain 16-14 hours of light.
Tim
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Thank you :)
Liz
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I used to live at 5000 ft on the Western Slope in Co about mid-state and my Ameraucana Easter Eggers did not drop in production much. You are probably wasting your $ heating the run and should heat the water only; cheapest way is a heated water bowl from a pet store. If your hens can get outside and your pen faces south, then they probably have enough sunlight unless you are in the very northern part of the state. However, giving your birds 14 hr.s of light will also slightly heat their space and make you feel better!
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Wow that\'s good to know. I\'m pretty sure what I have are Easter Eggers, (including what was supposed to be a Buff Orpington, lol) but it\'s nice to know that for you there wasn\'t much drop in production at 5000 feet in winter in the Rockies. I\'m at about 4500 feet or so, in the Salt Lake Valley.
My chicken run does not face south unfortunately, because I\'m using one of the stalls in my steel barn for my chicken house right now, which is why I feel better keeping a heating lamp in there. Working on getting an actual coop, which WILL face South if at all possible.
It looks like right now I have ONE laying, she started last Friday and has only missed today laying, she seems like she\'ll be a good little producer. No one else has started yet, but I hope they do. We had Green Eggs and Ham for Sunday breakfast and wow! I have never grown my own eggs until now and they are awesome!
Thanks again for your reply,
Liz in Utah
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PS I think the girls get enough sunlight anyway because I let them free range. They are closed in when they roost at night and then let out in the morning, meanwhile they can go in and out as they please.
Liz
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My birds egg production drops off this time each year, as the days get shorter. That is fine with me since I\'m not in the egg business and we still get plenty for our own needs. In February I segregate the birds, by variety, into breeding coops/pens and start adding artificial light to get the most eggs from them. As Tim said 14 hours is ideal according to most sources. My lights are on a mechanical timer and go on at 4am, when set for 14 hours per day. I use a few different types of lighting. Most light is given by some 8\' cold temperature - high output fluorescent lights. I also use 40 watt incandescent lights in the bantam condos. Something that I just tried last year, and like, are \"rope\" lights. They are low wattage, but can be ran into small breeding coops so the birds get the most benefit.
Before putting time and money into lights for poultry you should do some research. Of the visible light spectrum red light (not red colored bulbs) is the most beneficial to increase egg production. You can go with less wattage and save on electricity if you use the right kind of lights.
Check out this website:
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/light.html
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Hi John,
Thanks for the information and the link. How much does your egg production drop off? For instance, is it a half, a third, a quarter, of what it was? I have one little girl who is giving me an egg a day, but the rest of mine haven\'t started yet. I hope they\'re all like her...I\'m getting to like Green Eggs and ham! :)
Liz
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I have used lights with timers and not had much luck with improving egg production artificially with Ameraucana. In my experience the wheaten/blue wheaten bantams and silver large fowl lay the best for the breed overall. I suspect that artificial lights are dependent on one\'s latitude. I am sure that Paul Smith doesn\'t artificially light, but he has temperatures and latitude on his side!
I tend to hatch the early eggs and winter eggs in the hope of continuing to improve egg production. My ideal find is a cockerel that hatched in the fall/winter from a perfect blue egg . . . I enjoy dreaming!
One of my \"old timer\" neighbors swears by using soybean meal as a winter feed to encourage the girls to lay. I have had good luck with the tests I have done with a switch to soybean meal in winter. That being said I think more can be done by not supplementing high protein feed and selecting for those birds with early and late production characteristics . . . it is cheaper in the long run and makes Ameraucana into what they are supposed to be - a duel purpose breed.
Michael
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That\'s good information, thank you. Did your hens stop laying or drastically reduce their laying in winter? I didn\'t get ANY eggs today :(
Thanks for taking the time to write, appreciate the info!
Liz
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selecting for those birds with early and late production characteristics . . .
Selective breeding for egg production is the way to go.
How much does your egg production drop off?
I don\'t keep any notes or records on it, but 1/2 wouldn\'t be too far off for hens. Depending on the age of pullets they seem to start laying around late summer/early fall and then take a break or at least cut back until mid to late January, when the days start to get longer again.
I\'m in Michigan and as Michael said climate is a factor.
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That\'s terrific information, thank you :) I don\'t know how much actual \"Ameraucana\" mine are since I bought them at our local livestock/farm supply store. 6 of them seem to be gold-laced with muffs, while one (named \"Slick\") is still gold-laced but has no muff at all. They all do seem to have pea combs and slate colored legs/shanks. One of them is more of a grey color than the gold laced girls are...I\'ll have to post pictures when I get my cam back, it\'s in for repairs right now...
Thanks again everyone for the information. This is the first year I\'ve kept chickens so any information that anyone could share with me would be most appreciated :) I have the \"Storey\'s guide to raising chickens\" book and it\'s great, so I have the basics as far as food/water/coop etc but now I\'m thinking BLUE eggs instead of blue-green would be a great goal to achieve
Thanks again all!
Liz in Utah
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I had one egg today out of about 70 hens and pullets. Of course it is December, 10 degrees in the morning and 25 during the day currently in Missouri . . .
Michael
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Hm maybe I shouldn\'t feel too bad then, lol...one egg out of 70...guess I can\'t complain about none from 12...but we had 2 today :) When does it start to pick back up again--Jan, Feb?
Thanks everyone!
Liz
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Here in central Missouri I notice production picking up in mid January - after about three weeks of natural light increases. We normally have a \"winter\" thaw in January before the cold returns and the thaw seems to help everyone think it is spring. My production chickens used to really stop laying . . . when I was selling eggs December was impossible . . . more demand for eggs than I could meet.
Michael
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You should not be seeing much of a drop in production in Utah. One of the blessing of the west is light. They will react to by climate conditions, such as drinking less because water is cold or using too much energy because their pen is drafty, or if over heated, but it is a form of stress.
Here in northern Arkansas, I\'m at peak egg production now with no additional lighting. August is my slow month, THE HEAT, and it drops to about 1/2 to 1/3. All in all, it is less than normal for no more than 2 mo.s But of course I breed for the egg ...
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I have not noticed a drop in egg production at all so far here in Kansas. No artificial lighting, just the usual. We had a snowstorm here last week, and that day, I got 27 eggs out of 27 hens (both chickens & ducks) , 21 today, at 40 degrees. I wonder if diet has more to do with it than lighting? I keep expecting them to drop off, but every day they continue to lay...??
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Wow thank you all for the personal perspective information. I was getting a little concerned because I bought my birds as new chicks in May...and here it is December and they haven\'t really started to lay. My one girl has been laying for about 2 weeks now, and one other just started about 3 days ago. I guess mine are just slow! :) Maybe the low amounts of light was bothering them too, don\'t know. I sure appreciate all the info from everyone though!
Take care,
Liz
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The one thing we like best with the Ameraucanas is the winter eggs!!
we have a light in the shed 24/7, 365
our spring hatches are usualy just beginning to lay november/december, and most will continue throughout the winter. the older hens usualy molt and come back into production about now. we don\';t seperate into breeding pens until jan/feb, but the extra eggs come just in time for holiday baking!
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I\'m so excited, I got an actual BLUE egg instead of the greeny ones! :) I have no idea who laid it but I know it was one of the Ameraucanas...the ones that are supposed to be Orpingtons lay the greeny ones...lol...
Thanks to everyone for writing! I\'ll post pix later when I get my cam back from the shop.
Liz
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I have a flock of 6 hens and haven\'t had an egg now for over a couple of months! They are just completing their molt, and hopefully will give us an egg soon. I\'m tired of buying eggs! but even during summer, they started slowing down. we\'d maybe only get 1-2 eggs a day. they are about two years old now. Does that mean they are too old to lay any more?
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I find that light is the factor for my birds egg production.
I have a light, and red brooding lamps for heat in the coop,
and they continue to lay in their normal cycles.
Also if their routine is not messed with, just my experience.
phil
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they are about two years old now. Does that mean they are too old to lay any more?
Generally speaking they are not to old. A female chicken will only lay so many eggs in her lifetime. She can\'t lay more than what she started with and once they are laid that\'s it. The eggs she starts with develop and most will get laid during her lifetime, but she doesn\'t produce any new eggs. Under normal conditions (no added artificial lighting) she may lay for several years, but if she is subjected to longer days by artificial lighting she will lay her quota of eggs in just a few years.
Knowing that my hens can only produce a limited number of eggs I only use added artificial lighting when I want the most eggs and that is in February and March. I start adding hours to their days as soon as I move them into their breeding pens about a month before I start collecting eggs to hatch. I increase the lighting to give them 14 to 16 hour days o get the most eggs in that two or so month period.
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14 hours per day
A month or so ago I read that commercial Leghorns lay best with 16.5 hours of light per day, so this year I have increased my light system to 16 hours. The lights come on at 4am and off at 8pm. It seems to be working great.
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we keep a light in the shed 24/7, not a bright lite, but enough so that at night preditors don;t have an advntage on sleeping fowl, they will wake up and move away from then
I too was worried about \"burn-out\" with the hens..but we have 2 that are 7 years old and and still shelling out the eggs
When we were on the poultry farm our lights cam on at 4am and off at 9pm, but that was about 25 years ago now, maybe they have changed their recomendations?
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The lights come on at 4am and off at 8pm.
I\'m wondering why you leave the lights on during the day? Mine come on at 4am and go off at 8 am. I figure the daylight take over then. Maybe some of your birds don\'t go outside?
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some of your birds don\'t go outside
Right, some don\'t get outside. Even those that do go in and out stay in on nasty days and come in at dusk and roost. This way they are absorbing light rays for the full 16 hours whether they are in or out and that it what promotes the egg production.
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Ok, more newbie questions....
What type of light is best? Halogen? Flourecent? Incandecent? Is it better to have the light come on in the am before dawn or in the evening before dusk?
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Oh, also, if you provide winter light, do you have to force a molt? If so, when is the best time to do this? I\'m located in south Texas, and my birds are in an easterly facing side of the bard (open). I used no light this past winter, and I noticed they ceased laying right about the time daylight savings was (October?) and they commenced after Valentine\'s Day. They all looked a little unkempt for several weeks in the mid winter... how long does a molt typically last? Does forcing a molt make everyone go at the same time?
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I have never forced a molt myself, but I have read about. I tend to let the chickens around here molt when it is natural for them. I think 6 weeks is about normal.
As far as lights go I have used both incandecent and flourecent . . . Since one is really only supplementing light I would think the light type is less important the time the light is on. As John state elsewhere - 16.5 is optimum if you are going to use lights. Others might have experiences to share in regards to using lights.
Michael
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What type of light is best?
Before putting time and money into lights for poultry you should do some research. Of the visible light spectrum red light (not red colored bulbs) is the most beneficial to increase egg production. You can go with less wattage and save on electricity if you use the right kind of lights.
Check out this website:
http://web.uconn.edu/poultry/poultrypages/light.html
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Thank you so much!!
I guess that means I get to install a \"red light district\" at the barn? :o