Protein is part of the equation, as is nutritional profile (amino acids and such), age, breed, and, in fact, light.
There is a pineal gland on a chicken’s head that senses light- increasing light after the winter solstice on Dec 22, and decreasing light after the summer solstice on Jun 22. This tells them to molt and lower/stop production.
Protein benefits the flock, but amino acids profile, vitamins, and calcium content also matter. A flock is often more agreeable/calm when protein is increased bc their needs are met. We’ve seen this in our flock when we were learning the ropes, and went to a 20% all flock - there was less fighting around the food dish (food always available), and less pecking order issues, they resolved faster anyway.
Breed and age: high production layers are in a class of their own. Heritage breeds will produce less per year bc they aren’t high production, but often have a larger body to maintain. You will find that if you always get new spring chicks you will usually have eggs through the winter bc under a year old, they typically lay through their first winter without a big molt.
We use a light on a timer in the coop. This helps, but on its own does not keep production up. The biggest benefit seems to be that we still get some eggs in the winter- production is there, but less. One winter it was heavily overcast for weeks, and we got zero eggs for weeks. We had light in the coop, but only for a few morning hours, since usually the sun is out, or it’s not so gloomy, for them. But, it wasn’t enough light due to the gloom. So, now we have lights on for a longer stretch of the day in winter, and we get some eggs. However, the majority of eggs come from our young high production layers. Every spring we buy HP chicks. They begin to lay before fall, and lay through the winter. The young heritage breed chicks often slow down or stop laying for awhile in the winter, while the HP ones (same age) do not stop.
There is another factor too. Once we bought chicks from an exhibition line. They were leghorns. Hard to overstate how beautiful and gorgeous they were, both M and F. But, they had been selected for beauty and conformation to the APA standard and were terrible layers that took forever, plus a day, to even begin to lay. So, genetics were not selected for egg laying, and it was obvious.
There is a pineal gland on a chicken’s head that senses light- increasing light after the winter solstice on Dec 22, and decreasing light after the summer solstice on Jun 22. This tells them to molt and lower/stop production.
Protein benefits the flock, but amino acids profile, vitamins, and calcium content also matter. A flock is often more agreeable/calm when protein is increased bc their needs are met. We’ve seen this in our flock when we were learning the ropes, and went to a 20% all flock - there was less fighting around the food dish (food always available), and less pecking order issues, they resolved faster anyway.
Breed and age: high production layers are in a class of their own. Heritage breeds will produce less per year bc they aren’t high production, but often have a larger body to maintain. You will find that if you always get new spring chicks you will usually have eggs through the winter bc under a year old, they typically lay through their first winter without a big molt.
We use a light on a timer in the coop. This helps, but on its own does not keep production up. The biggest benefit seems to be that we still get some eggs in the winter- production is there, but less. One winter it was heavily overcast for weeks, and we got zero eggs for weeks. We had light in the coop, but only for a few morning hours, since usually the sun is out, or it’s not so gloomy, for them. But, it wasn’t enough light due to the gloom. So, now we have lights on for a longer stretch of the day in winter, and we get some eggs. However, the majority of eggs come from our young high production layers. Every spring we buy HP chicks. They begin to lay before fall, and lay through the winter. The young heritage breed chicks often slow down or stop laying for awhile in the winter, while the HP ones (same age) do not stop.
There is another factor too. Once we bought chicks from an exhibition line. They were leghorns. Hard to overstate how beautiful and gorgeous they were, both M and F. But, they had been selected for beauty and conformation to the APA standard and were terrible layers that took forever, plus a day, to even begin to lay. So, genetics were not selected for egg laying, and it was obvious.
