Down from a dozen a day to maybe four. I’ve heard people put a light on a timer to keep them laying through winter, and I’ve heard that’s hard on the birds. What do you all do?
That drop is completely normal — hens read daylength through their pineal gland, and once you’re below about 14 hours of light, production just falls off. Your birds aren’t broken, they’re just doing what chickens do.
On the light question — both sides are real:
Adding a light does work. Most keepers use a simple timer to kick on a low-wattage bulb (LED is fine) in the early morning hours so the hens get 14–16 hours of combined light. Morning light works better than evening because it tapers off naturally at dusk rather than cutting out abruptly.
The “it’s hard on the birds” concern comes from this: hens are born with a fixed number of follicles. Pushing year-round production uses that supply faster, so a hen under lights may lay well for 2–3 years and then drop off sooner than one who rested. Whether that matters depends on your situation — a backyard flock you keep for years is different from a laying operation where you rotate birds.
What a lot of experienced keepers do is a middle path — add just enough light to hold production at a moderate level rather than maxing them out, and give pullets their first winter off so they go into year two with a good reserve.
A few practical notes if you go the light route:
- A timer is almost essential — consistency matters more than brightness
- 40–60 watts equivalent (LED) is plenty for a small coop
- Keep a routine; sudden changes stress the flock
There’s no single right answer here. A lot depends on whether you need those eggs through winter or whether you can absorb the slower months. What’s your setup like — older hens, a mixed-age flock, or mostly pullets from this spring?