Birds stop laying naturally when light hours diminish (and colder temperatures set in) due to higher survival hatching rates, and when food and other resources are scarce..
This does not occur naturally near the equator, where light hours remain near constant. The birds and chickens flourish producing year round without a break.
Ask any Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Colombian... where backyard flocks are very common.
That said,
This topic comes up often, my reply to a previous query, hope it helps:
There are a lot of opinions on supplementing light to keep the chickens laying during time periods where there is less than 12-14 hours of available daylight.
My coop gets 16 hours of light 365 days per year. Birds continue to molt regardless, as they do if living on or close to the equator, where the light hours are consistent all year.
Having had to install electricity for the thermostatically controlled water heater, I took advantage and installed a lighting system.
My system has two timers. The first is set to turn the lights on at 5am, off at 9pm.
Power goes on, passes through a photocell, then to a 300 lumen LED bulb, 4.8 watts, in the coop, and two 4.8 watt LEDs for the outside run.
All bulbs are warm white - 3000K
I light the run because I found the birds huddled outside the coop door in the dark one 5:30am morning... They have access to the run 24/7, as it is as secure as the coop.
The lights are on only when it is dark enough outside to be necessary (photocell).
The time on very closely mimics my Summer Solstice.
The second timer is set to go on at 8:30pm, off at 9:30pm, a diffused 200 lumen LED 4 watt bulb. This dim light allows the birds to settle in before all lights out. No stress as immediate darkness may induce.
This system costs less than $5 per year to operate. My egg production does not fluctuate due to seasonal lighting deficiencies.
Hope this helps.
