EGGS IN WINTER

When natural lighting decreases in winter, it's natural to get fewer eggs from your chickens. But adding artificial lighting can keep production going strong.

- ANA HOTALING

Layers require 14 hours of light per day to produce eggs. This naturally occurs each spring, as the days begin to lengthen and a hen's reproductive system responds to the increase in light.

As daylight wanes in early fall, egg production also diminishes, nature's tidy way of preventing chicks from hatching - and perishing - during the harshest time of the year.

This off season also allows hens to recuperate from months of almost daily egg laying, which depletes the protein and calcium levels in their bodies. To alter a layer's natural production cycle, artificial light must be introduced.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The simplest way to extend a laying flock's production season is by installing lights in the coop. While this seems straightforward, there are many factors to take into consideration. Foremost among these is that additional lighting needs to be timed in such a way as to not to disrupt your hens' regular roosting.

Accomplish this by illuminating their coop in the early morning hours rather than at night. As daylight shortens, increase the length of time that your coop lights run so that, together, natural and artificial light total to 14 hours of exposure.