Hens stopped laying eggs

[bjdam2014]

This is my first year raising chickens and seem to learn more and more each day. I live in north central Ohio and about 3 weeks ago my hens stopped laying. I was told to add light to my coop and put them on a timer to give hens 14-16 hours of light. I did this about 2 weeks ago. I got timer set for 15 hours of light. I added about 500 lumens in my 8x8 coop. Is this enough lumens??? How long till they lay again???

 

[birdwrangler057]

Hello, and welcome to BYC,
your hens may have been thrown off by the light, or they are just becoming accustom to the colder weather. The truth is, lights actually aren't good for chickens in the winter, that's what feathers are for. I mean think of it this way, if your heater went out and it was freezing cold, your body wouldn't be used to it, same with chickens, if their light goes out. I don't recommend heat lamps.

 

[bullrunslabs]

How much space do they have? With my chickens, I fin, they do not spend much time in their outdoor runs during the winter. We are in the PNW and they do not seem to like the rain. So whiile they have more than enough coop and run space, they are very short on coop space when they are in it around the clock.

 

[bjdam2014]

The coop is 8x8 and the run is 8x12 and 7 ft tall. Basically a small shed. I got 12 chickens in it.

Also I added incandescent light not heat lamps.

 

[birdwrangler057]

They say that each chicken should have 4 square feet of run to fit comfortably. 8 x 12 = 96 divided by 4 = 24. You should be able to have 20 to 24 chickens in your coop run, but if you count in the housing factor, you should have up to 16 chickens.

 

[birdwrangler057]

If you just have regular lights in your coop, they may be affecting their sleep.

 

[aart]

The coop is 8x8 and the run is 8x12 and 7 ft tall. Basically a small shed. I got 12 chickens in it.

Also I added incandescent light not heat lamps.

Welcome to BYC!

Space sounds OK.
First need to know....how old are your birds?

Drastic changes in light duration can throw them off.
It's usually best to ram the light up slowly...and even then it can take time(more than two weeks) for it to have an effect on laying.
Not sure about lumens...but pretty good rule of thumb is ...'can you read a newspaper at roost height?'
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

 

[bjdam2014]

Ok thanks for your in put. I was told that if I added the lights they would continue laying. Is that true???

 

[aart]

They say that each chicken should have 4 square feet of run to fit comfortably. 8 x 12 = 96 divided by 4 = 24. You should be able to have 20 to 24 chickens in your coop run, but if you count in the housing factor, you should have up to 16 chickens.

If you just have regular lights in your coop, they may be affecting their sleep.

Please slow down and think a bit more before advising.
The rule of thumb(minimal IMO) is 4sqft in coop and 10sqft in run.
Her light is on a timer....12-14 hours is the usual range... 16 is max.

 

[bjdam2014]

Thanks aart
Hens are 7 months old. I bought them last April They was laying great 1 egg each per day. Once natural light started decreasing they stopped laying. They are white leghorns if that makes a difference.