Quitters!

[kathytales]

I have 20 hens. I sprout organic wheat for them and sell the eggs. During the winter II put a light on a timer so they had 14 hrs. They began laying so many eggs I couldn't sell all of them, so I turned off the timer. After a few weeks my demand had grown, so I turned it back on. Nothing happened! Now, it's warm and bright outside and still I only get 3-4 eggs a day. What's wrong!?

 

[Folly's place]

You done it!
Turning the light off was a mistake, and they will get around to laying eggs again when they are ready.
Are they molting? Any mites or lice?
You can make sure they are healthy and mite free, and fed right, and then time has to pass.
Mary

 

[chrissynemetz]

How old are they? Age can also play a role in egg production.

 

[aart]

They began laying so many eggs I couldn't sell all of them, so I turned off the timer. After a few weeks my demand had grown, so I turned it back on.

You can't turn a chicken off and on like a light.
This pretty good article on supplemental lighting might help you understand.

What's wrong!?

You done it!
Turning the light off was a mistake, and they will get around to laying eggs again when they are ready.

Ditto Dat!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not sure how old yours are, is this their first winter laying or are they older? When was the last time they molted? Most importantly, are they molting now?

A reduction in daylight can trigger a molt. If you are seeing a lot of feathers flying around that's what happened when you turned that light off. That may be a partial molt, it may be a full every-feather-on-their-body molt. If that is what happened the molt has to run its course.

A change in lights can cause a hen to stop laying even without a molt. When that happens she makes changes to her internal plumbing and the development of ova to make yolks. It takes time for her to redo her internal plumbing back to laying mode. How long depends on how far she got into shutdown mode. Could be a few days, could be weeks.

I personally do not extend lights but many people on this forum do. There are potential consequences to extending lights as you found out. Like many other things with chickens it is often a learning curve in figuring out what works for you. You are not the first one that has done this.

While it is always a good idea to check on the health of your flock, like checking for mites,lice, or worms, this is highly likely due to your turning off the lights. As long as they are acting normal the lights is almost certainly the cause.

Good luck!

 

[GC-Raptor]

During the winter II put a light on a timer so they had 14 hrs. They began laying so many eggs I couldn't sell all of them, so I turned off the timer. After a few weeks my demand had grown, so I turned it back on. Nothing happened!

What @Folly's place and @aart said.

I add light in the morning, 5 am year round.
I don't add light in the afternoon/evenings.
So when Daylight savings time and Standard time changes happen here. I gradually transition to the new time, over 3 to 4 days.
Starting on Friday through Monday (Spring).
Saturday through Monday (Autumn).
Has worked for me, increasing/decreasing light 15 to 20 minutes a day.
It had no effect on my pullets/hens egg production.
Of course I only changed the available light by an hour.
So to answer your question, changing available light 15 to 20 minutes a day, (up to an hour a week), till you get to the amount of light you desire, will be less stressful for your chickens than suddenly adding/subtracting hours of light all at once. GC