No, no lights. I live in VA now but didn't use lights when I lived further north either. Usually my heritage breeds started around 20 to 25 weeks up there but down here it's been a little different.
When I moved the farm here I brought my older flock with me and found that they went into molt a little later in the fall and started back laying earlier in the spring even though the actual yearly daylight lengths hadn't changed all that much. Of course the summers here are hotter so I would get less eggs during really hot spells. It kinda all seems to balance out for yearly totals.
After being here a while I ordered some Americaunas one spring, about end of March I think....expecting they would start laying by later fall, like normal. However they didn't actually start until Feb of the following year!!
All bright blue egg layers but boy...it sure took a while. I've never had a group or breed of chick to take soooooo long to start laying but hoped it was unique to this batch of chicks. Thankfully it seemed to be as subsequent pullets have started more within normal time frames. This last batch is Sapphire Gems and across the threads here people say they consistently start between 15 to 18-ish weeks, and they have. Little bitty ones like usual but they are reaching near full size quickly. I like to call the little ones cadbury eggs.
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of course, the littles are a little different than LF. Good luck. That’s an exciting time!
22 1/2 weeks! I think it was our silver laced Wyandotte, Who I said weeks ago was going to be the last to lay an egg. She proved me wrong. So incredibly excited!!!!
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