You may have noticed that the chickens at NRT’s Sheep Pasture slow down their egg production dramatically during the winter months, but have you ever wondered why this change happens? Do other birds do this?
All animals, including humans, follow a circadian clock, which is an internal schedule guided by the 24-hours of the day and how many hours of light and dark there are. Throughout the year, the ratio of daylight hours to hours of darkness changes. We see the most hours of sunlight in the summertime and shorter days with less hours of daylight throughout the winter. These changes in light-dark transitions cause chemical changes within animals’ bodies.
For mammals who become inactive during the winter, either by hibernating or going into a state of torpor, shorter days indicate that it is time to start collecting food and upping fat storage within in their bodies. For many birds, the transition of shorter days in the fall is often a cue to start migrating, however; even before birds begin their migration journeys, their bodies have already picked up on the light-dark changes and many birds will begin molting and getting a new set of feathers for optimal flight conditions.
Although we miss fresh eggs in the wintertime, we also know it’s an important process in a bird’s life so that the energy that would normally be used for egg production can be used for molting, migration and keeping warm! We look forward to longer days in the spring and delicious eggs from our happy, healthy chickens when the time is right!
1 Comment
2/5/2024 01:58:06 am
I can tell that your website is incredibly educational, and each post is superior to the blog and articles on any other website. There is more information on your blog than any other. You are undoubtedly one of the most informative article writers, in my opinion. Somehow, I came onto another educational blog with similar content to yours. You can visit the website farmingplan.com to learn more about farming.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorNRT's dedicated staff are responsible for the content of the NatureTalk blog. Questions? For more information on any blog post, please contact us at any time. Archives
December 2021
Categories
All
|