elizalisaj wrote:
>".... the 14 hours of daylight conversations don't make any sense at all.
>I track all my daily egg production and our production peaked in mid November. We certainly didn't have 14 hours >of daylight at that time. The daily production seems to be very strongly correlated with the outside temperatures >which is almost always in the 50's and 60's in the winter but when it drops to the 30's, the egg production drops with >it.
>I found an interesting website and found that in my neck of the woods, 14 hour days happen between June 11 and >June 30. Yep, that's right. If the chickens actually did require 14 hours of daylight, I would have just over two weeks >of production each year. If it just influences egg production, I would have a peak in June, not November. "<
>I track all my daily egg production and our production peaked in mid November. We certainly didn't have 14 hours >of daylight at that time. The daily production seems to be very strongly correlated with the outside temperatures >which is almost always in the 50's and 60's in the winter but when it drops to the 30's, the egg production drops with >it.
>I found an interesting website and found that in my neck of the woods, 14 hour days happen between June 11 and >June 30. Yep, that's right. If the chickens actually did require 14 hours of daylight, I would have just over two weeks >of production each year. If it just influences egg production, I would have a peak in June, not November. "<
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There are several factors at work regarding egg production and the length of exposure to light in 24 hours (photoperiod) is only one factor - albeit a major one.
Depending on the photoperiod during growth to maturity, the threshold for initiation of lay is 8 to 8.5 to 9 hours and can be as low as 7 - 7.5 hrs. for some breeds/strains of industrial birds.
The industrial photoperiod has been arrived at by extensive testing and represents the best balance for sustained production for the greatest number of birds - I.e. the longest clutch with shortest between clutch rest period.
As an example suppose under 14 hrs/24 the breed/strain has an average clutch of 12 eggs (1/day for 12 consecutive days) with 2 day rest between clutches thus yielding 12 eggs every 14 days. Reducing the photoperiod to 10 hrs/24 reduces the clutch to 10 eggs in 14 days = 17% reduction. This amounts to 1,700 dzn in a 10,000 bird house.
Prof.
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