12/06/2024
For my lovely egg customers that ask why Chickens lay fewer eggs in the winter it’s for a number of reasons, including:
Shorter days: Chickens need at least 12–16 hours of light per day to lay eggs. In the winter, there are fewer hours of natural daylight, so chickens' pineal glands don't sense enough light to trigger their reproductive systems.
Colder weather: Chickens may slow down or stop laying eggs to conserve energy and stay warm. It takes a lot of calories to produce an egg, and those calories are needed to keep warm.
Molting: The end of the fall molt can disrupt a chicken's laying cycle.
Some breeds stop laying: Some breeds are adapted to stop laying in the winter.
With that being said I have put a daylight lamp in the coup to help with the extra missing daylight hours and it is helping.