12 hours minimum for egg ?

[SA gardener]

I read that chickens need a minimum of 12 hours of daylight to lay eggs.
Where I live, only 6 months (summer) of the year have days with greater than 12 hours of daylight, does that mean my hens will only lay during those 6 months ? Or ?

 

[Flockincrazy]

no but you may have to supliment there sun light for the other 6mths of the yr with a lamp

 

[SA gardener]

no but you may have to supliment there sun light for the other 6mths of the yr with a lamp

My chickens are 6 months old, currently getting 10 hours 43 minutes of daylight, can I put a lamp in for 2 hours a day at sunset. That means a sudden change in daylight of 2 hours ? Would that suddenly stimulate egg laying ?

 

[Acre4Me]

Yes, additional light will stimulate egg laying, however, it would take approx 2 weeks to see an upswing in egg production if they have stopped laying. Your pullets are young and should lay through their first winter even without light.

They will not lay eggs when they molt. I’ve had 11 month olds (Feb hatch) molt and stop laying eggs for awhile, even with supplemental light.

When providing supplemental light, it should be applied the same every day, so a timer is useful here, but if you are able to 100% of the time to turn on/off their light, that’s ok too.

 

[Folly's place]

Actually they need 14 to 16 hours of light daily to stay in production, and a small light turned on with a timer early each morning will do it. Mine goes on at 3:30 to 4:00 am every morning, and off at 8:00 am, from fall to early spring. It helps keep some egg production happening all winter.
Your other choice is to not use extra lighting, and have no eggs, or very few, during the winter.
Having a light out there sometimes doesn't work either.
Mary

 

[aart]

so a timer is useful here

Timer is essential!

Managing supplemental lighting can be tricky .....
....it's not like 'flipping a switch' on the egg laying machine.

It's also about whether day length is increasing or decreasing.

 

[Acre4Me]

Timer is essential!

Managing supplemental lighting can be tricky .....
....it's not like 'flipping a switch' on the egg laying machine.

It's also about whether day length is increasing or decreasing.

Day length (increasing its decreasing) seems to impact them even with supplemental light -in a backyard setting. We supplement light on a timer, but still see a reduction, overall, in productivity. However, we still get eggs, rather than months without.

 

[aart]

Day length (increasing its decreasing) seems to impact them even with supplemental light -in a backyard setting. We supplement light on a timer, but still see a reduction, overall, in productivity. However, we still get eggs, rather than months without.

Yep, it's a balance.