Keeping chickens laying during the winter - coop light?

[Toothpick]

About 3 weeks ago egg production all but stopped. 2 a day for the last few weeks now. They slowed down a bit last winter but not by much. I’m thinking it’s the shorter days.

I put a light in the coop that I will turn on at dusk and run till about 8pm ish.

IIRC they need about 12-14 hours of daylight? Is this right?

I put a 60w bulb in the middle of the coop which will provide sufficient light. But what else could I do to keep egg laying up during the winter?

Thanks!

 

[sourland]

How old are they ? It is not unusual for 1.5/2 year old birds to take a break in production.

 

[aart]

How old are they ? It is not unusual for 1.5/2 year old birds to take a break in production.

Yes, let them molt.

IIRC they need about 12-14 hours of daylight? Is this right?
I put a 60w bulb in the middle of the coop which will provide sufficient light. But what else could I do to keep egg laying up during the winter?

That's about right but it's not like flipping a switch(haha!).
Best to let them molt first, I turn up the lights around Solstice, it will help them get going again sooner.
I prefer to light in the mornings.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

 

[Toothpick]

Well shoot! Yeah they are probably molting then. They are about 2-3 years by now. But I do have a mixed flock. 12 are about 2-3 years old. 13 others are about 4 months and then the rest are about 3 months.

 

[Toothpick]

That was a great article to read. Never thought to use Christmas lights or rope lights!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There is no magic you can do to induce laying through autumn and early winter once they are into their second autumn. They will molt every autumn from this point on and laying will cease till they completely regrow feathers and not resume till you start incrementing light or after winter solstice when day vs. dark increases.
One way to produce eggs year round is to do what commercial egg farms do. They start a new barn full of pullets every couple months. Then after 18 months of laying, those hens become Campbell's soup and the next batch are moved into the building. They are in blackout housing with 8 hours of light. At about 16-18 weeks they start increasing light period from that which they've been raised with and all pullets of the same age will start laying within a week or two of each other. That way they never stop producing eggs.
Christmas and rope lights may not produce enough light. It needs to be bright enough at roost height to read a newspaper by. It is better to begin artificial light in the morning so that it will get dark at dusk naturally.

 

[GC-Raptor]

they need about 12-14 hours of daylight? Is this right?

14/15 hours of light.
I add light at 5 am year round. When sunset happened at 6 pm two weeks ago, one of my 14 months old Barred Rocks started to molt. All are showing signs of molt now. Here is my first to molt yesterday. She's got some nice feathers coming in. So with my Barred Rocks, they started to molt when daylight dropped to 13 hours. My 5 Rocks gave me 20 eggs last week, 19 two weeks ago, and 13 the first 5 days this week. GC

 

[rosemarysugar]

About 3 weeks ago egg production all but stopped. 2 a day for the last few weeks now. They slowed down a bit last winter but not by much. I’m thinking it’s the shorter days.

I put a light in the coop that I will turn on at dusk and run till about 8pm ish.

IIRC they need about 12-14 hours of daylight? Is this right?

I put a 60w bulb in the middle of the coop which will provide sufficient light. But what else could I do to keep egg laying up during the winter?

Thanks!

I personly give my chickens a break from laying in the winter, it can expand their life span. But I just make sure they have lots of protein that will help them keep laying.