I have always heard that a night time light in the hen house is a plus. So for years I have had a light on in the coop at night. On April 1 2024 I got 25 ISA Red pullet chicks. Last September (2025), 2 were being picked so I separated them into a small pen in my barn. This location had only natural light, no night time light whatsoever. Those 2 hens laid almost every day thru the winter and still lay to this day. The other hens (with the night light) laid into March but by April 1 all 23 had stopped laying eggs. I will no longer have a light on at night in my coop.
Before someone roasts me over it: I humbly apologize for not posting something trapping related.

That is very interesting. I never had a light for my chickens or Guinea's in the summer, only in the winter for heat. I believe Patrice uses a rock fire place, lounge chairs and a big screen TV in hers in the winter.

Laying hens are programmed to slow down or stop laying once the period of daylight is reduced to a certain level.......it may be around 8 to 10 hours of daylight. Make sense if you think about it as that would normally be in winter, so if they went to roost at dark, it would be another 14 hours of so of darkness. No food, no water and no heat and perhaps sub zero cold for 14 hours. They would have to make up for that in what few hours of light they did have. Consuming enough feed, water, etc. to get them thru the night. So shutting down egg production takes one huge level of stress off them. Egg production being secondary in importance to simply surviving.

But commercial houses.........that can be lighted, started the practice of turning lights on in the barn to extend period of daylight to keep them laying. That may be what some people try to do. They do not need, nor should they have light on all night long. They need a roost period to reset. Next mistake people make is to put in timers.........and do the light at dusk. Lights come on, then after 3 or 4 hours they turn off......catching chickens off guard and running around, now in the dark. Did not go to roost. So if you do use the lights, have them come on in the morning. Birds are on roost, lights come on......they start their day. Then let them go to roost in the PM using normal dusk and dimming light.

First year pullets may continue to lay thru the winter. But one year later........birds now about 18 months old.........they will molt feathers going into winter. Once they do that, they shut down completely for about 2 tro 3 months........which also corresponds to dead of winter. Next eggs will show up around March 1st.