Want to keep those fresh eggs coming during cold weather? More light and attention to diet can help hens produce

(Photo via Successful Farming)

For chicken owners who love their fresh eggs, winter can pose a challenge: "Many hens stop or slow down egg production during the fall and winter. The lack of daylight and cooler temperatures tell their bodies to rest," notes Successful Farming. "If you keep the chickens comfy with light and warmth, they'll reward you with more eggs."

Extension Poultry Specialist Jesse Lyons of the University of Missouri told Successful Farming: "It takes about 12 hours of day length to get the birds stimulated to where they start laying. Up to about 16 to 17 hours or so, somewhere in there, is probably the maximum day length that will stimulate the birds."

To add heat and light to a hen house, Lyons said, "Many poultry houses use the relatively inexpensive incandescent light. One light bulb would keep 15 or 20 chickens happy to where they can see, and walk around and eat, and be stimulated by the light . . . You can also use an infrared heat lamp for a couple of hours to warm them up. . . . You can use some of the fluorescent lights, but in cold environments, some of these lights will not come on."

A balanced feed plan can also help, Successful Farming advises: "Provide a diet that is balanced for protein and calcium. More feed may be required to give them the extra energy they need for maintaining body heat and egg laying."

David Frame, an extension poultry specialist at Utah State University, told Jodi Henke of Successful Farming that free-range chickens find plenty to eat other times of the year, but you have to help them with their diet during the winter: "Offer them some table scraps from your salads, or as you trim them. Save those carrot peels and save the ends of the lettuce and the spinach, and things like that. Throw out there, let them peck around at them, and get some greenery. Another idea that works pretty well is to cut a pumpkin or a squash open and just let them peck around at that. Those squash-type plants are very rich in vitamin-A, plus it gives them something to do."