Chickens are more sensitive to hot weather than they are to cold weather. Chickens will slow down or stop laying altogether during the winter but this is due to decreased amounts of daylight and not directly due to the temperature. So why and how does heat during the summer months affect laying?
Chickens can slow down egg laying during the summer. Hot weather, especially if it is prolonged or accompanied by high humidity, can affect laying. The optimal temperature for chickens is between 70 to 75 degrees F and this is when they will have the optimal levels of egg production.
Keep reading to find out how heat affects a chicken’s health and what you can do to prevent decreased egg production during the summer.
How Heat Affects Egg Production
Egg production in chickens can decrease during the heat of the summer. Chickens take 25 hours to lay an egg. If their bodies are stressed during the time they are due to ovulate their next egg, they can skip this cycle and try again the next day.
The optimal temperature for chickens is between 70 to 75 degrees F and any extreme variations outside of this range can affect egg production.
In general, when temperatures rise above 85 degrees F, chickens will start to pant. Through panting, a chicken is able to move hot air out of their respiratory system through a system of air sacs. The air moves out of a chicken’s lungs in one direction so it will not mix with the hot air breathed in, which allows the chicken to cool off quicker.
While panting helps cool a chicken from the inside, they also loose water through panting. This has a major impact on egg production since eggs are 65% water. If the chicken does not have excess water to contribute to the production of eggs due to panting, she will slow down her rate of lay.
Another way heat affects chickens is by causing them to eat less and drink more. Chickens transfer heat from their bodies by increasing water consumption. All this extra water will cause their droppings to be more watery and loose than normal.
Similar to panting, the watery droppings cause a chicken to loose any excess water in their bodies and will cause decreased resources for egg production.
In How Chickens Cool Themselves, I go into more detail about how chickens are able to naturally cool themselves in hot weather.
Chickens have a core internal temperature of around 106 degrees F, which is higher than mammals. If a chicken’s core temperature gets above 115 degrees F, they can experience severe illness or death.
My flock of 10 Barred Plymouth Rocks will lay about 9 eggs per day. On very hot days, above 95 degrees F, their egg production per day can drop down to about 4 or 5 eggs. I’ve noticed the day following a really hot day, the eggs are sometimes misshapen and not perfectly rounded and “egg shaped.” I can’t help but think this is due to the stress on their bodies from the heat.
How to Keep Chickens Laying Eggs During the Summer
During extreme heat, a chicken’s body will focus on survival rather than egg production. You can help your chickens by providing them ways to keep cool.
When chickens are laying eggs, they need to have their nutritional needs met through a well balanced diet and plenty of water. Feed your chickens layer feed during the morning hours and late afternoon to make sure they are eating regularly, but not during the hottest parts of the days. Your chickens will naturally rest in a shady spot during the heat of the day and you don’t want to do anything to excite them and cause them to get overheated.
Provide your chickens with plenty of water and have multiple waterers set-up throughout your chicken run. I also keep a waterer in the coop next to the nesting boxes so any chickens in the coop that are laying can get a quick drink without loosing their spot at the favorite nesting-box-of-the-week.
Another way I help my chickens continue to lay eggs during hot weather is by keeping their coop ventilated and as cool as possible. To learn more about ventilation, read The Most Important Aspect of a Chicken Coop.
Steven modified the coop door to replace the solid wood door with a screen door made of half inch hardware cloth. This has really helped with air flow inside the coop, plus the chickens like to look out the door in the morning before we open up the coop door.
In addition, on really hot days (above 90 degrees F) we will position a fan at the screen door and have it running all day. This air flow also gets to the hens who are in their nesting boxes and helps to keep them from getting overheated. When I stand outside the coop by the nesting boxes, I can actually feel the air blowing through a small gap on the nesting box door.
Here are some more ways to keep chickens cool during the summer:
- Provide shade
- Reduce feed
- Eliminate corn
- Feed cool fruits and vegetables
- Set-up kiddie pool
- Facilitate dust baths
For more ideas, read 9 Ways to Keep Chickens Cool During Summer. I live in West Texas were it gets HOT during the summer and my chickens approve of these methods to keep them stay cool!
While it’s natural for chickens to slow down laying during extreme heat waves, there are methods you can engage to help your hens through the heat. Your number one goal should be the health of your chickens, but a by-product of healthy hens is plenty of fresh eggs!
