Artificial light for laying in the winter

[Naser]

I don't do it but I don't think there is a problem doing it, even in nature countries vary so much in the length of day and night during winter and summer, very little difference near the equator and huge difference near the north pole and south pole, if you use light, time it in a way that it starts early in the morning, if you start the light in the evening they got caught in the dark when the light goes off.

 

[bobbi-j]

If your girls are from this year's hatch they will most likely lay through the winter even if you don't add light. Mine always do the first winter. Chickens molt at about 18 months old, just about the time of their second winter will start. That is when you can add light if you want them to lay through their second winter. I don't add light, preferring to let the girls have a rest if they need one.

If you want eggs year round a good solution is to always have some first year pullets. I have a friend who gets 10 new chicks each spring. He rotates between Red Star, Black Star, and Barred Rock. As the new pullets start to lay he culls the chickens that are oldest. With him getting a different breed every year it's easy to tell which ones are the oldest.

That did not work for me. My first year pullets from spring of last year did not start laying until the other hens started again after their molt. They were hatched in March, so you'd think they would have had plenty of time to get started.

@TheChickenGirl0816, as you can see, this is a topic with varied opinions. It all boils down to your own personal flock management style. You need to decide if your chickens are pets and you are willing to feed nonproductive animals for a time, or if they have a job to do. I go back and forth. Sometimes I'll add light after the fall molt (not all at once - just adding 1/2 hour a week or so until I'm up to 14 hours of light on them), and sometimes I don't. I probably will this year. I had several pullets, but they all got killed by a predator (long story), so I'm down to a 3-year old hen, and two 2-year old hens. We are getting 1-2 eggs a day right now, sometimes 3. DH and I both eat eggs almost every morning for breakfast. Good thing the neighbor has eggs to sell...

 

[lazy gardener]

I don't do it but I don't think there is a problem doing it, even in nature countries vary so much in the length of day and night during winter and summer, very little difference near the equator and huge difference near the north pole and south pole, if you use light, time it in a way that it starts early in the morning, if you start the light in the evening they got caught in the dark when the light goes off.

Your last statement is one of those statements based on the mentality, "We do it this way because we've always done it this way, or because someone decided this is the way it should be done." If I did it the way "they say" it should be done, my light would come on at 2:30 AM. My rooster would start yelling at 2:30 AM. My girls would be down off their perch and looking for their FF at 2:30 AM. They would be laying their first eggs at 2:30 AM. Now, I don't know about every one else, but for myself, and my family and my neighbors, a rooster crowing at 2:30 AM is not a good thing. I am not going to get up at 2:30 AM to feed my flock. And, there is no way I would be letting them out into their winter time run at that hour. Night time predators are still on the prowl. Those 2:30 AM eggs would be frozen by the time I get out to gather them.

I start ramping my light up in late Oct or early November. Add about an hour/week. By the time I get it to the 14 hour plan, my schedule looks like this: On 6:30 - 10:00 AM. Off until mid afternoon. On again 2:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Off for the night. I have a little solar light (the cheap landscaping kind) very close to the LED bulb. So, when the light goes off at 8:30 PM, there is a bit of a night light for a while. I started the night light last year, but even before using the night light, my birds never had an issue with being caught off the perch when lights go out. They are very smart, and figure out the lighting system. Always on the perch before lights out.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I'll throw in my 2 cents too...

I don't add light or heat. I figure if they need a break they can have it. I want a vacation sometimes, so they can have one.

My other concern is alway fire. As much as I try to keep everything safe and dust down you never know. My heated waterer is enclosed and only comes on when needed. I have a light out there if I need it and could always put a heat bulb in it if necessary. I had read when I first started this adventure that the concern about heating a coop is not only fire but power loss. If they go from a nice toasty coop to teens or single digits they could freeze. They haven't acclimated to the cold. But that's a whole second thread of opinions!

 

[bobbi-j]

I'll throw in my 2 cents too...

I don't add light or heat. I figure if they need a break they can have it. I want a vacation sometimes, so they can have one.

My other concern is alway fire. As much as I try to keep everything safe and dust down you never know. My heated waterer is enclosed and only comes on when needed. I have a light out there if I need it and could always put a heat bulb in it if necessary. I had read when I first started this adventure that the concern about heating a coop is not only fire but power loss. If they go from a nice toasty coop to teens or single digits they could freeze. They haven't acclimated to the cold. But that's a whole second thread of opinions!

Adding light doesn't mean a heat lamp. I just use a regular bulb. It's safely attached in my coop, ceiling height where it won't get knocked around by the chickens. My "coop", though, is a shed type building with 8' ceilings and rafters. I don't know how I'd handle it with one of those little "doll house" coops they sell at the farm supply stores.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Adding light doesn't mean a heat lamp. I just use a regular bulb. It's safely attached in my coop, ceiling height where it won't get knocked around by the chickens. My "coop", though, is a shed type building with 8' ceilings and rafters. I don't know how I'd handle it with one of those little "doll house" coops they sell at the farm supply stores.

I have a regular bulb out there for my use. My coop is a converted building with an unknown original purpose. Electric is an extension cord. My lovely dears roost in the rafters! (Tried stopping that with no luck) I was meaning I could use a heat bulb if we hit sub zero temperatures.

 

[Cindy in PA]

@EggSighted4Life. I did use layer feed most of the time over the years & the chicken was a hatchery Barred Rock.

 

[bobbi-j]

I have a regular bulb out there for my use. My coop is a converted building with an unknown original purpose. Electric is an extension cord. My lovely dears roost in the rafters! (Tried stopping that with no luck) I was meaning I could use a heat bulb if we hit sub zero temperatures.

A heat lamp is unnecessary in sub-zero temps if they are in a well-ventilated coop. They do very well in colder weather. More so than hot.

 

[Frazzemrat1]

In general I agree with you about letting them use their energy where needed which is definitely what happens during molt. But I don't really think it's about needing the energy to stay warm. Laying is hormonal and those hormones are triggered by light. Probably how God set their bodies up so they would not be trying to hatch dead of winter. But even then, some hens didn't get the message.

True, but what kicks off egg production is hormonal. I'm more concerned about the actual process of creating eggs. That takes energy, and while in CT we don't always have cold winters, but they can be wet winters... which means you need more energy in heat to keep warm. Just like baking a baby for mammals takes energy, fats etc to create... If they're hormones and bodies tell them to make eggs, then I'll enjoy them... if not, then I'm not really going to be upset either.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

A heat lamp is unnecessary in sub-zero temps if they are in a well-ventilated coop. They do very well in colder weather. More so than hot.

I've never had to use it. I have it if I thought they would really need it. They seem to do just fine.
It's another one of those things that everyone has to decide on, on their own. I see four options:
*No light or heat
*Light but no heat
*Heat but no light
*Light and heat
I know people who do different things. One who plays classical music for his hens. It's a choice everyone has to make.