Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Minnie&Moose]

Yesterday Mavis laid an and today's she's laid another These are the first eggs we've seen from our 7 hens since the middle of October! Not bad for a hybrid who's at least 4.5 yrs old.

[Minnie&Moose]

Great news! What breed is Mavis?

 

She's a Columbine.

[mimi5]

Congrats and enjoy

[Luvachicken]

Yay and before the Valentine's deadline too

Clever girlie.

[Cynicalsod]

Hmm don't have a problem with a drop off of eggs in the winter months because we have low wattage lighting in the hen runs. Hens need 14 hours of light a day to lay normally. Even through this awful weather we are still getting 90% of summer volumes. We have the lighting in the feed areas the hens can access at any time. Yes I stayed up several nights running when we first started to try and understand their natural behaviour. They seem to have no night sight at all so are easy prey for the occasional polecat - because they can't see they don't try to run.. With a glimmer of light outside the henhouse they will socialise, feed and drink at night and create merry hell at a passing predator so our predation losses have gone down too. Far less competition for the feeders too at first light.