I’m tempted to have fun with LG and Aart this morning but I’ll behave. There is nothing magic about a 14 hour day for chickens laying. A lot of commercial operations that control the light environment use 14 hours because it fits there management methods, but there is nothing that makes it right for all of us.
What caused the general molt in the fall north of the equator and in the spring south of the equator is the days get shorter, or technically the nights getting longer. Feathers wear out and need to be replaced. The spring and summer are the best months for chickens to raise chicks. We’ve domesticated them so the cycle is messed up a bit, that’s why pullets and some hens lay so much in winter, but they still follow a general pattern. A typical year for a hen is that they lay eggs in the spring and summer, then quit laying eggs and molt in the fall, using the nutrients they were using for egg production to grow new feathers. Then when the days get longer in the spring they start laying again. It doesn’t matter if you are in Nova Scotia where there is a huge difference in length of day and night or so near the equator that there never 14 hours of darkness, chickens generally follow the same pattern. The nights start getting longer after the summer solstice where you and I are.
What triggers the molt is not a specific number of hours of darkness, it’s the nights getting longer. Some chickens start the molt earlier than others. I don’t know what it will be for your flock, you may find that different chickens start the molt at different times. September seems normal for mine but I occasionally have one start earlier (especially broody hens raising chicks) and sometimes they wait until later. It’s fairly common for pullets just coming into lay in late summer/early fall to skip the molt entirely their first fall/winter and continue to lay until the following fall. But not all do that, some molt their first fall/winter. Some hens start laying right after they finish the molt, even in the dead of winter. Some wait until the spring days when the nights are getting shorter and the days are getting warmer. About the only thing consistent with chickens is that they are inconsistent. They don’t all do the same thing.
Since you want to stop the nights from getting longer and keep them laying this winter, you need to pick a time then provide lights that will keep the day length the same until the natural lighting in the spring matches your chosen length of day. If you stop the extra lights before that you risk triggering a molt in the spring when production should be climbing toward a peak. I know I’m using weasel words like “risk triggering a molt” or “might”, but you are dealing with living animals, their behaviors don’t come with guarantees. We can tell you typical behavior but there are always exceptions. Whether you decide to extend daylight at the start of the day, end of the day, or both is up to you. As you can see from LG and Aart different people do it differently for their own reasons. Any way can work. What’s easiest for you?
I do not use lights to extend the laying period, I let them molt. I usually have pullets that lay through the winter so I’m getting eggs anyway without lights. That didn’t work last winter but it usually does. I will put lights on after the winter solstice to help kick-start them laying in the spring. I want hatching eggs in February so it’s nice if some of the older hens are laying eggs to go in the incubator. I’ll add about 15 minutes every two to three days in the morning until I’ve added about an hour and 15 minutes, then leave the timer working until sunrise matches when they come on. Then I turn the lights off. There is nothing magical about the way I do it, it’s just the way I do it because it’s easier for me. It doesn’t always kick start all of them either. The effect is not instantaneous. They have to make changes to their internal egg making factory, taking it from dormant to production mode. This can take a month or so.
Chickens can lay for a long time without a break, but eventually they get worn out. For commercial operations with their hybrid egg laying machines that is normally around 13 to 14 months. I suspect it will vary for out flocks. After a certain amount of time production drops and the egg quality declines. The hens need to molt to recharge their systems. When the production or quality eggs drops to a certain level where it is no longer profitable, the commercial operations have to decide if they will molt their flock and feed them through that period with no egg production or get rid of them and bring in new pullets.
Even if you maintain the lights you may find that eventually production drops. You may find them molting at strange times of the year. You will sometimes see posts on here about production dropping at peak times of the year or chickens molting out of season. Often those are chickens where light was provided in the winter to keep them laying. Not always, but often. I know I’m using weasel words again but chickens really aren’t that consistent. I’m not opposed to people using lights to keep their hens laying in winter. For many people it’s the right decision. But I think you should be aware of this so you may understand this production drop if you see it.
There are many different ways to do any of this. Good luck in the way you choose.
