stopped laying eggs

[CET]

My RIR's stopped laying so I put a light on them for 14 hrs/day about a week ago. I'm also seeing feathers on the floor. Have I caused a problem with their cycle? Should I shut the light off until they done molting?

Thanks

 

[jhm47]

Did they molt earlier? It's late for molting in this area, but I don't know where you live, so maybe it's the natural time for them to molt. If they are indeed molting, leave the light off, and feed them a ration high in corn to replace the carotenoids that are lost during the heavy laying period. It's also helpful to feed a higher protein source to help them replace the feathers that they will lose.

 

[CET]

I live in Michigan. They had molted at about 14-16 weeks old. It was after that when they first started laying There are only a scattering of feathers, not like before. I've had other RIR's as well as Golden Banties and those girls never let me down. It's been 3 weeks since the last egg.

Lay in the coop or lay in the freezer?

Thanks for the tip about the corn.