went from 20 Eggs a day to 1, is this how it is going to be all winter?

[Joe.G]

Should I use a Heat lamp or just a Regular bulb?

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Regular bulb. We use one 100 watt bulb for our hen house, but our hen house is 10' x 16' and has 14' high ceilings. For a normal sized hen house for like 5 hens, you could use a 60 watt bulb easily. The point is light, not heat.

Oh, and we have 65 hens. We didn't get our bulb and timer up and running early enough this season, and we were down to three eggs a day. Bulb's been on for two weeks, and we're at 11 eggs per day and climbing. It will help, but you have to be patient.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Oh, and you want to put it on a timer to come on around 4am and then off again around 8am. Don't supplement light at night because it makes it hard for them to perch properly--they are walking around and then the light goes off suddenly, so they can't get to bed. Also, in our experience, it's a waste of electricity. We don't get much out of evening light, but we get a LOT out of supplementing light in the morning.

 

[Den in Penn]

Most sex links are Rhodie Island Red crosses, RIRs are a winter laying breed. So the sex links that are RIR and BPR crosses are winter layers.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

The leghorn Is a nice Layer it lays the perfect looking egg, the EE's and the Ameraucans will stop in the winter? how about the sex links and the others in my sig?

If you provide supplementary light, your EEs and Ameraucanas may lay in the winter. I have had my lights on for just under two weeks, and had a green egg last night for the first time in two weeks.