Is it ever too late to start lighting (for egg laying)?

[JayByrd]

As fall took over from summer I was cavalier about egg production.

My birds were all laying so consistently I had more eggs than I knew what to do with, so I didn't bother setting up winter lighting for them. Now production is very low, and I'm worrying I won't have any eggs to keep me fat and content till spring.

I have 3 small flocks of chickens: 22 month old marrans that just stopped laying last week, 14 month old ameraucanas that haven't laid for months, and a mixed flock of 8 month old pullets that are just now slowing down. Out of 11 pullets, I'll get 2 eggs one day, 5 the next, then back to 2 eggs.... With only about 9 hours of daylight, I'm not surprised, but I'm wondering if I needed to have started the lighting back when egg production first started falling. Is it too late for lighting to help? Are the pullets the only ones that I should bother with, or would the marrans benefit too, since they just stopped laying? Are the ameraucanas lost causes till spring? Should I jump in and make sure they have 18 hours of light immediately, or work them up to that gradually, over a week or two?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Imp]

Mostly it is posted that 14 hours are enough.
1-2 weeks and you should see an improvement.
I don't think it matters if you add it gradually or not.

Good luck,

Imp

 

[blueberrychickens]

I dont see how adding light would hurt them, its worth trying. My girls have a light on a timer & have been laying pretty well. One girl has decided to go broody though, silly girls' gonna have a cold belly for the winter!!

 

[Judy]

Some people do their worming first, because of the wait period, then turn on lights about now. Go for it. It's just now the shortest day.

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

you only need aprox, 14hrs. and you can do it now. I need to, but I keep procrastinating..silly me! I have aprox. 30 in the refrig..and that will not last long at all...maybe another 2 weeks..IF....

 

[pederson3]

Anyone have any ideas if I have been doing artificial light for about a month now, and production just completely dropped off. 21 hens laying 0-2 eggs/day. It just happened within the last few days and I don't know why or what to do. I have a couple of old girls who don't lay much anyway, but the rest are all 1-2 years old.