Today I was so excited to open up my chicken tractor and find four eggs. With three chickens and 24 hours of laying, I got four fresh eggs. With just a few minor changes I have had a 400 percent increase in my chickens laying eggs.
I started feeding my chickens feed my dad made for his chickens and pigs. It was a ground up mixture of corn, wheat, and hay. On this diet of homemade chicken feed I would get about two to three eggs a week. I knew something wasn’t right and this is what I learned.
I knew part of the problem was the feed. They weren’t getting enough calcium in there diet to make eggshells. I upgraded to chicken lay mesh I got from Wal-Mart and that increased my production to one egg per day.
My chickens weren’t happy. When I built my chicken tractor I made them a nice home that had two boxes for laying eggs. What I forgot to add was a perch. I fixed that by putting in a dowel so they could have a place to perch at night. Chickens need to perch.
How I got my chickens to lay eggs by 400 percent more was light. During the winter there are fewer hours of light, which makes chickens lay less eggs. By lighting their nesting box they think it is summer time and lay more eggs. All I had to do was install a simple light inside their box.
So far I have just left the light on all day and night. I want to see if the chickens will still lay well if the light is only on at night. Part of living sustainably is reducing the electricity I use. I plugged in my chickens’ light into a Christmas light timer so I can control when the light comes on and off. I want to maximize my egg production but minimize my expenses. Make sure you use an energy efficient CFL or LED light bulb.
Authored by Steven Cooper Google
Jane Kern says
I’m happy to hear that your chickens are starting to lay eggs now. My reader over at http://www.kernschickenfarm.com/ have been asking me how to get their chickens to lay eggs as well. I usually tell them that chickens do lay less in the winter because there is less light. Chickens need about 12-14 hours of light regular in order to lay eggs the best. When they tell me they gave their chickens more light it usually helped the situation out. This is some good information by the way. Thanks.