The power of a light program?? Stops molts? Starts laying?

I've looked around for an answer to my question and haven't seen anything that actually addresses it, so I humbly come to you ALL for help! ...

My chickens are just now 22-23 weeks old & with the day getting shorter, I started seeing more feathers around the run and coop, as well as some bald spots on two birds' throats, on one's back of the neck, and yet another was losing wing feathers. They all were losing the cute "fluffy butt" feathers as well... (I only have 4 birds and they all were losing feathers)

Also, at nearly 23 weeks old...frankly, I was wondering if they were ever gonna lay! (They don't believe me when I threaten them with the soup pot... *sigh*)

So, of course, figuring the shorter days was the problem, I put up an LED strip of lights in the coop and a 180 watt overhead light in the run--all on timers to produce a 15 hour day. VOILA! They now have pins coming into their bald spots & no new feather loss. I have no feathers in the coop or run anymore. Also, two have come into lay, starting the egg squat about 3 days after the light went in and producing eggs within one week after that.

My question to anyone who has any knowledge (or educated guesses..haha):
1) Can a light program really stop molting AND jump-start egg production like that? It appears to be so, but sometimes coincidences happen. For instance, maybe I had a feather picker who stopped, and coincidentally, two birds finally came into lay. Dunno what reeeeeaaaally happened here...

Thanks for your replies!
Pam

 

I probably could, but the bulbs I use (either LED or florescent) hardly use any energy and I can see better when I'm out there with the birds. And, I already had the 180 watt fixture, so decided to use it.