Coop lighting?

[ohbella]

Hello
iam hoping this is the right place for this topic, but here it goes.

i have five hens, 2 SLWs, 1 welsumer, 1 EE, 1 blue americana. four i got this spring and have not started laying yet. one is older, got from a friend, she is laying, but getting less and less
my question is, iam thinking the problem might be the season and shortened daylight, so i added a light in the coop
i'm just hoping i did it right and have the timers for the right amount of hours
right now i have the light go on at 5pm off at 9pm
its a florescent "grow light" from home depot.
other then at night, my girls are out in the yard, free range.
they eat layer pellets, mixed with a bit of DE. they also get a handful of scratch in the morning and a plate of "yummies" (leftovers, kitchen scraps, yogurt, etc etc).

did i do the right the right way?
any suggestions?

thanks!
paula and girls!

 

[math ace]

You have done everything correct. I am running my light from 4 to 8 because they are out of the coop in natural light by 9.

So, you might want to back up your timer an hour . . . . run it 4 - 8 or 4 - 9.

Some people spilt it up and run 2 - 3 hours early and then 2-3 hours late at bed time. . . .

 

[woodmort]

Try this thread--it is one of many but the information is there. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=410218

 

[BWKatz]

They need 14 hrs of daylight to lay best and if adding artificial light, it is done best in am. Also hens molt in spring and fall...are urs losing alot of featrhers? They don't lay when they're molting. Hope this helps. BTW