Question for you all....
I live in Michigan, zone 5b, and I was wondering,
what breed of chicken is the most productive egg layer through long cold winters like we have here in Michigan??
My current flock is 100% Buff Orpingtons, and despite having coop temps maintained in the 40's, all the water, feed, oyster they could want, and bright lights that are on 24/7, they are poor winter layers.
What breed of chicken is the best egg layer during winter?
My Barred Rocks, Wyandottes, Buckeyes, and Rhode Island Reds all lay well in our much milder winters and so do the Ameraucanas who are not advertised as winter layers. Many of my two year old hens are molting and therefore not laying just now. None of my white egg layers do well in winter.
We just sorted our hens. The 2 year old Gold Stars are going. Buff Orpingtons that are only a year old are going along. We don't think any of them, the Buff's, are laying.
We Black Australorp's, Silver Laced Wyandottes, & Ameraucanas that are laying decent considering the extreme cold this winter.
I raised orpingtons and was not impressed with their egg laying.The best egg layers are sexlinks
Green is spot on, by far the sexlinks out lay any other breed during the winter months. According to all reports I have read, the Austrolorps come in second. I sure would like to know how the commercial egg producers keep the leghorns laying during the winter...Hay
They never let them sleep or see darkness
Commercial hens live inside - no seasons.
Thanks everyone! Our winters are so long and gray that "winter laying ability" has to be considered from now on. I've never owned a Sexlink before. I'll look them up and do some reading.....
The two I had was golden comets and black sexlinks,both were great layers
My red sex links lay huge brown eggs year round - except when they are molting, like now.