Hello from the farm,
One of the questions we're asked more than any other at this time of year is: "How are your hens still laying eggs in winter?"
The answer is... a little bit of management.
If you've got a few backyard chooks, you've probably noticed that winter often brings egg production to a grinding halt. Shorter days mean less daylight, and less daylight tells a hen that perhaps it's time to have a well-earned break.
Our heritage hens certainly agree. They're all seasonal layers and are currently enjoying what appears to be their annual paid leave. Our ISA Browns, however, are a little different. They're a hybrid breed developed specifically for egg production, so with the right care they'll happily keep laying through winter.
The first challenge is the shorter days. Our four chicken caravans are solar powered and fitted with automatic lighting. Before the sun comes up each morning, the lights quietly switch on, gently extending the hens' "day" by a couple of hours. They're not blazing floodlights, just enough extra daylight to convince the girls that winter days aren't quite as short as they seem.
It's all controlled by a little computer in each caravan called the Chicken Master, which sounds like a slightly questionable superhero but is actually a very clever piece of farm technology.
Of course, winter still has a way of reminding us who's really in charge. While the lights come on exactly as planned, the water lines often have other ideas. When the temperature drops into minus, they freeze, so before breakfast can be served, Mark is out before dawn with what has become one of the most unlikely pieces of farm equipment... A camping shower. Not because the hens are particularly fond of glamping, but because portable camping showers produce instant hot water. We built a rather elaborate system of tanks, hoses and valves so we can flush the frozen water lines before the girls wake up and have breakfast.
Speaking of breakfast, another thing people are often surprised to learn is just how much a laying hen eats. Producing an egg almost every day is hard work, so the girls need constant access to feed. Just like the lights and the water, food is available all day, every day, allowing them to eat whenever they need to.
The hens, naturally, have absolutely no appreciation for any of this and they happily get on with their day's work. They simply assume that in their luxury glamping trailers the lights come on, the water works, breakfast magically appears and someone turns up later to collect the eggs.
