Extra Light

[GC-Raptor]

I don't use the light in the coop in the evening because I heard that it's best for the sunset to guide them to their roosts for the night. Feedback?

My coops are dark at sunset, so I use a nightlight so they can see to get on the roost. I shut off at lockup.

So I'm guessing their productivity is due to their age?

Yes, my Golden Comets (early spring chicks) didn't slow down their first winter and slowed slightly their second. I only have one hen laying out of two, but still laying 4/5 a week. The other is molting. GC
ETA; I turn on a light at 5 am.

 

[Stacyoung13]

Actually they don't move much when the lights come on, they just kind of stretch a bit then hop down after a few minutes. Of course you know they are on camera...

JT

I have chicken tv too!!!!

 

[feathermaid]

I have light 24/7 in three of my coops

A period of darkness (8-10 hours preferred) for the pineal gland (which regulates the release of eggs into the oviduct) to even register that there is light present. Without darkness, you're likely just making your chickens neurotic. Please refer to the link that aart gave earlier to learn how to offer additional lighting correctly:
Supplemental Light in the Chicken Coop: Why and How
@aart has an interesting system in allowing for a molt, a little complicated (for me) but it does serve a good purpose.

New to chickens [...]all about 16-17 weeks old, still waiting for the first egg.
I thought I needed to supplement light [...]
I turn it on when I put the chickens up in evening to coop area from outside tractor area. If it was a sunny day, the light stays on for about 4 hours and fades out as battery charge fades. If it was a cloudy day, the light only stays on for about 1-2 hours and fades out. It's not a very bright supplemental light, but does allow chickens to see inside the coop in the evenings.
Do you think that's enough to stimulate egg production? Currently sun rises about 6:30 am and sets at 4:30 pm (southern AL) so we are only getting about 10 hours of daylight. I don't have electricity to my chicken tractor, so if it isn't enough will my hens not lay until spring when days are longer?

Please see my following post...

My hens are just 7 months old now. They started laying in early September. I turn on an LED light at 5:30 am, then let them out in the run at sunrise - around 7 am right now. They have been producing over 2 dozen eggs per week. They go in the coop at dusk to roost which is around 4:30 pm. So I'm guessing their productivity is due to their age? I don't use the light in the coop in the evening because I heard that it's best for the sunset to guide them to their roosts for the night. Feedback?

My first flock (hatched in April- started laying in August) laid eggs all through their first winter with no supplemental lighting at all. It wasn't until their 2nd winter that egg production finally slowed and quit for a bit until spring. My newest batch of pullets (hatched in May) are just now starting to lay even though the day's are short. So adding light for your first-year pullets is probably pointless, but usually eliminating additional light suddenly will push birds into a molt (which you don't want in the middle of winter)... but I'm not sure what that would do to yours - as most chickens won't even experience their first molt until after 18 months of age. But Sarah, you are correct that adding light in the early morning hours is best.

Anyone adding supplemental light to their coop should be able to answer exactly what they expect to get out of their birds... what's your end goal? There is no right or wrong answer. Everyone keeps birds for a different purpose -whether it be for meat, eggs, companionship, entertainment, the list is endless.

But please know the facts, understand how a chicken's body works, and go from there.

I personally prefer to let my chickens experience the natural cycle of molting and diverting their energy stores into recharging their bodies and surviving the cold. This article also explains the other side of the coin:
Dangers of Supplemental Coop Light

If anyone is interested in different system of flock management to keep yourself in eggs all through the winter, you could also try this:
Chicken Rotation- Optimizing for Year Round Laying from the Backyard Flock

 

[Mary's Farm]

My first flock (hatched in April- started laying in August) laid eggs all through their first winter with no supplemental lighting at all. It wasn't until their 2nd winter that egg production finally slowed and quit for a bit until spring.

Thank you for that info, FF.... I actually have more pullets (9) than I will need for egg production, once they start laying (I didn't think they would all make it to henhood! But glad they did.) If we get 8 or 9 eggs per day, I'll be making a lot of quiche, I guess. So I won't worry about supplemental light this year. By next year, our barn will be done with a special new chicken coop room, and then we will have electricity to run extra light.

When you say "egg production finally slowed"... how many hens do you have who were 2 years old and how many eggs would you get, on average, each day? Was production cut in half, or what? Just curious. If I don't find a couple of neighbors to take eggs off my hands, I might just prefer lower egg production by that point.

 

[feathermaid]

Thank you for that info, FF.... I actually have more pullets (9) than I will need for egg production, once they start laying (I didn't think they would all make it to henhood! But glad they did.) If we get 8 or 9 eggs per day, I'll be making a lot of quiche, I guess. So I won't worry about supplemental light this year. By next year, our barn will be done with a special new chicken coop room, and then we will have electricity to run extra light.

When you say "egg production finally slowed"... how many hens do you have who were 2 years old and how many eggs would you get, on average, each day? Was production cut in half, or what? Just curious. If I don't find a couple of neighbors to take eggs off my hands, I might just prefer lower egg production by that point.

Haha! Too many eggs is never a bad thing, you could always give some to your family or sell some, but I'm sure your neighbors would be happy to take those extras! Unfortunately, the natural cycle of eggs is either feast or famine, but I've heard they can actually be frozen! (I've never tried it though). Here's how to Freeze Fresh Eggs. Your new barn sounds amazing!

I only had 3 pullets to start with, just enough to feed our small family of 3 and still have enough to give away a dozen every so often. The 2nd winter they probably reduced to about half -I can't really remember for sure, and there was about 2 months with no eggs at all. I've since lost 2 of those original hens and now have 3 more new girls -and only one just started laying this week. These ones are really slow in my book! Anyway, my remaining original girl stopped laying a couple months ago and completed her worst molt ever, so I don't expect her back to laying until maybe mid-March? Hmm... that makes it seem like 6 months on and 6 off... wonder if that's right.
Well, I guess that's why using additional light is so popular.

I don't really mind for myself though. Just a seasonal food like my garden veggies!

 

[jthornton]

When I click on a link and it's more advertising than content I don't bother reading it just because it's there for revenue only and not to help spread good information. But that's just me...

JT

 

[Stacyoung13]

When I click on a link and it's more advertising than content I don't bother reading it just because it's there for revenue only and not to help spread good information. But that's just me...

JT

x2

 

[612Chickens]

Hi Sue,
I'm in the process of re-writing the code for the Raspberry Pi 3 that controls the lights and door to be a bit more bullet proof.

JT

Do you have your code posted anywhere, like Github?
(For context, I have been meaning to put my Pi coop monitor code out there, but I haven't cleaned it up to the point where I want to publish it...)

 

[612Chickens]

I am curious to see how this all works out for us. We have 4 pullets that are about 6.5 months old. Two started laying 3 weeks ago, and two have not yet started. I have a supplemental light that goes on at 5:30am, but at 45 deg N, today which is the earliest sunset at 4:31pm, they are only getting 11 hours of light. I wonder if the other two will start laying once they hit "maturity", or if they will now wait until there is a long enough photo period.

 

[aart]

I am curious to see how this all works out for us. We have 4 pullets that are about 6.5 months old. Two started laying 3 weeks ago, and two have not yet started. I have a supplemental light that goes on at 5:30am, but at 45 deg N, today which is the earliest sunset at 4:31pm, they are only getting 11 hours of light. I wonder if the other two will start laying once they hit "maturity", or if they will now wait until there is a long enough photo period.

Some pullets will lay their first winter without supplemental light....others will not.
11 hours is not enough, need ~14.