Chickens & Winter Egg Laying and Lighting

I don’t believe in encouraging people to use heat. It’s a fire hazard (especially the kind shown in the picture in the article) and it’s dangerous for the birds if the power goes out and they’re not accustomed to the temperature. I prefer to see encouraging proper winterizing.

It gives you the pros and cons of atificial lighting added in the winter months.

This is an excellently written article. It lays out both sides of the article in a fairly straight forward way. Not too much judgement.

We only have a light on after dark to keep away predators, not for extra eggs.

How about you just let chickens be chickens and do what they do? Does everything an animal does with their reproductive organs need to benefit you?

Which hens have a better life - commercial hens kept in a 9in X 9in cage with 24hrs of light and noise their entire life or my free range hens with 13 hrs of natural and artificial light. If I don’t supplement light in the winter I don’t get enough eggs and must buy commercially produce ones. I feel I am being more humane by not needing a few hens kept in horrendous conditions to supplement the too few eggs my hens would lay in winter. The little extra my hens have to work pales in comparison to the cruel life of the commercial hens that would be needed to produce eggs for me.

I have raised chickens inside and outside the barn since 1998. Inside the barn, they have light in the winter. Outside, in their own coops, they don't. Here are the things I have noticed, which differ from the article.

1. The article mentions that keeping the lights on can provide both light and heat. True. However, lights can also provide safety. Sleeping chickens in the dark won't be able to wake up and see well enough to stay away from a predator, whether the predator has broken into the cage or is just reaching in through the wire to grab them. A small amount of light (I have four bulbs in a 25x120 foot barn) can provide enough light for chickens to alert each other and stay away from a predator. BTW, this is also enough light to stimulate egg production.

2. Hens with combs/wattles, or roosters who have bigger combs/wattles than hens, can be susceptible to comb/wattle frostbite damage if their roost or living areas are overheated in the winter, particularly if there is not enough air circulation and the combs/wattles become damp. The chickens will most likely survive even if parts of their combs and wattles are frostbitten and fall off, but why put them through it? And you definitely will not want to lose the extra points for comb or wattle damage if you have show birds.

3. This is a lot of birdseed: "If you force a bird to lay during the cold months by triggering her endocrine system with extra light, you can also shorten her laying longevity." Both human females and chicken females are born with a finite number of eggs in their systems. However, both stop producing eggs long before they run out. My outside (no night light) hens and inside (24/7 light) hens both slow down in their laying as they get older, and, depending on breed, stop laying altogether around 7-11 years old. Breed by breed, there has been no difference between the inside and outside hens' final egg date in my flocks. This suggests that light plays no role in how many years a hen continues to lay.

4. More birdseed: "The article goes on to talk about the potential health hazards of forcing your chickens to lay during the winter, especially if you are forcing them to lay when they really need to rest, for example when they are molting." Eggs and feathers are both made of protein. In my experience, adding light for a molting hen does not make her lay. Factors such as the protein level of the feed, and whether the bird is a fast or slow molter, have far more impact on laying. (Hens who are slow molters, replacing just a few feathers at a time, are more likely to lay during their molting cycles.) Adding light for a hen in the winter will make her lay more, but she needs to be able to eat the same layer ration as she does in the summer to produce eggs, plus enough additional feed for "fuel" to allow her to stay warm in the winter.

However, the comments about mites and worms affecting lay are really apropos. Remember that if you are treating for worms and mites, you may want to take a break from eating the eggs until the worm- and mite-killing stuff is out of their systems. That said, while you are waiting, you can hard-boil or scramble the eggs for the chickens to eat, so they won't go to waste.

Also, it's true that heated Teflon coatings put off gasses that are hazardous to birds and all pets, and to us, too, although it would take more to affect someone our size. Ok, my size...don't want to offend anyone!

I cannot vouch for the red vs white light comments, since I have used both (based on what's on sale) and have not noticed any differences.

Thank you for this wonderful article. You underlined what I think I already knew: Let them slow down or stop laying for a few months to allow their egg laying years to go further.

My chickens are my pets, for sure. Yes, I love their wonderful eggs. No comparison to store bought. And, I do miss them in the winter, but I'm more interested in my "girls" to lay longer than lay in the winter.

We just have to deal with it, but the bottom line for us is to be good stewards for my pets.

Had no idea that our hens are pre-programed to lay a certain number of eggs. Right now, I am getting more than I can use, due to the red light. We live in the south, and it is coming out. We are giving the girls a break.

Great article. I learned a lot. Thank you!

It hasn't been possible for Nature to take its course with domestic chickens for eons: All you have to do is look at the natural production cycle of wild birds -- no more than 2 or 3 clutches of eggs per summer -- to appreciate how the birds we keep have been bred to be production machines. The very least we can do for them in regard to artificial lighting is to at allow them the winter hiatus we have not (yet) bred out of them to suit our own purposes. The quality of their lives matters more than getting every possible egg out of them.

If I need to heat the coop during winter, I use an oil-filled radiator, which is safe and does not emit light. You can get them for about $40 at most big-box stores.

As a new backyard chicken farmer I found this extremely helpful. I am choosing to let nature take it's course and give my lady's a break.

Enjoyed reading this and hearing good ad bad of light or no light

I didn't think about the fact that chickens have all the eggs they'll produce already inside. Makes sense to me to let them lay eggs naturally. Interesting article on both sides

This is a very helpful article. I think I'll let the "girls" rest during the winter!

Entertaining and informative.

Nicely written debate about adding light to your coop .