Keeping up winter egg production?

[Acre4Me]

For eggs through winter you need to add light on a timer so it is consistent. Most often, it is turned on in the morning, then off once full daylight, or kept on for 12-14 hours a day. I add light in the fall/winter. No added light late spring/summer, but they get the first morning light as their coop faces east.

no, not harmful bc chickens have thousands of ova, they never lay all of them. They take a natural break with their molting.


I add light to the coop, I’m getting eggs. I have some 1st year pullets, so they are laying. My older ones are molting (no eggs). My birds are heritage breeds, so they don’t lay every day anyway.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I light the way I learned in the article that started me with chickens. You add it when your daylight drops below 14 hours which is Aug 15th here. I have always done it that way since 1993. Guess I have been lucky, because my 2nd year birds always molted at their own pace. Not saying any way is right or wrong. I just never experienced the birds not molting with lights on. @aart obviously did, so I would add, make sure your birds go through a molt!

 

[aart]

You add it when your daylight drops below 14 hours which is Aug 15th here.

Do you put it at 14 hours and leave it there until natural light gets back to 14 hours?

 

[Cindy in PA]

I start it at about 20-30 minutes before sunrise & turn it back every week or two until I get to the max in December. I am not real exact about it, can't be with a manual timer. It always stays on until 8 am