Regarding NO light in winter

Why?

  • Light (see other thread)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Don't want to

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No electric on coop

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Birds to young

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Birds lay well without

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • It does harm to the birds

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Health issue in the past with light

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Other (please post why)

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
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i don't, my opinion is they need that down time in the year, since egg laying is hard work, they need some rest- biologically thats how they are naturally without human intervention
 
My pullets started laying this winter with no light. IMHO Nature intended us to have the light that we have. Lights in the coop also present a fire hazard.
 
I choose no light but that requires having pullets of the right age if your looking for egg production.
Also if your birds are under light and its cold outside,it is dangerous if the lights go out.This would trigger
an unwanted Molt and the results could be Horrific as they will lose 90 percent of thier feathers so be careful
if you are running lights you should buy some Battery operated lights for backup.
 
I let Mother Nature decide how much light my chickens get. It's cheaper and safer than artificial lighting. I'm still getting 8 to 10 eggs daily, so have more than we can use. I do have a light in the main coop which I leave on just long enough for everybody to get settled in for the night. I turn it on when I close them up and then go out about 10 minutes later to turn it off, and anybody left still on the ground gets a little help up to the roost.
 
I have no lights in my coop.My coop is 8'x8'x7' high within a run of 12'x24'x7'high.Its covered all around with used billboard vinyl.

They dont get much light,but are still laying 4-5 eggs,which is low,but its just 4 of us in our house so 2 doz eggs per week is ok thru winter.

Also we feed them craacked corn,which makes a chickens body heat climb to 5btu's.Its good heat thru the winter.
 
My goals are more meat than eggs, so I see no reason for me to spend the extra money on the electricity. Just a couple of eggs a day is all I need for my use. There is also the fire hazard.

They look so much better when their new feathers come in after a molt. So bright, clean, and fresh.

Some hens can molt and get back to egg laying in a couple of months. Others may take four or five months. I'd prefer them to get the molt over with in the cold weather so they are primed for peak egg laying in the Spring.
 
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