Took me three months to figure out why my hens stopped laying in the coop

I got eight hens back in April, and they were laying great until late June when production just dropped off a cliff. I spent weeks checking feed, lighting, stress levels, even started thinking they were sick. Turns out the heat from July was baking the coop interior to like 95 degrees inside, and they were all just hiding under the bushes instead. I installed a small solar fan on the roof vent and a shade cloth over the run, and within a week I was getting eggs again. Has anyone else had heat mess with their flock's laying schedule so suddenly?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliviabennett26d ago

That solar fan setup sounds like a total lifesaver.

hannah_price7926d ago

Hold on a sec, I gotta push back a little on that. I live in a place where the sun just bakes everything for months straight, and my neighbor went all in on a solar fan setup last year. Thing is, the battery bank died on him twice during the hottest stretch because the fan ran all night and the panels couldn't keep up with charging. Plus, the whole thing cost him almost a grand to get installed with decent panels and a controller, and he still had to run extension cords for his actual AC unit on those 100 degree afternoons. It works great for light use, like taking the edge off a stuffy shed or a tiny camper, but I wouldn't call it a lifesaver for a regular house when the heat really hits.