turned lights off too soon

[endo12]

This has probably been asked a thousand times - sorry. We tried using lights in the coops this winter for the first time to keep up egg production, which it did. Then as the days naturally got longer we stopped using the lights. Now we're getting a rare egg. What should we do? Will turning the lights back on reprogram the laying schedule? Is there anything else we can do?

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Sounds like you "forced" a moult. The chickens think that because their days are "shorter" that it is time to shed their old feathers in favor of new ones...they should be back on track in a few weeks I would say...it takes a lot of protein to grow new feathers. Also, just because they may not look bare doesn't mean they aren't moulting: I had a few hens that looked normal but I found an abundance of loose feathers in the coop when they were re-growing their feathers.

 

[endo12]

OK, We'll hope they'll get back to a normal schedule. Do you leave lights on all the time, or do you never use lights in the winter? Our winter days are pretty short so the non-egg laying season is usually about 3 months. We add a few new girls every year that start laying about the time the others are moulting so we have a few eggs for the holidays.

 

[Sphinx]

-sigh- I think I did the same thing. It SEEMED like we were getting a lot more light. So, when the light bulb burned out, I didn't replace it. All egg production stopped within a week, and 3/7 hens haven't laid in almost 6 weeks. Of course, one of those hasn't laid an egg since November. slacker.

The chickens look a tiny bit rumply, but nothing like some of the molting contest pictures I've seen here. Now, the coop does look like they had a pillow fight with feather pillows.