Indoor chicken light

[Charlieamanda]

I now only have 1 chicken, a leghorn hen approximately 5-6y/o, that I've taken in during the cold months for many years. She's been a very healthy egglaying hen, but recently was very ill a few months after I brought her inside, and I thought I was going to lose her. Thankfully she pulled through and is doing great.
I keep her in my heated garage in a smaller coop, but it doesn't have any natural light, so I've been using a Sylvania Octron 25W 4100K F025/741 3' fluorescent light. Recently that burned out and I wasn't able to find a bulb locally, so I temporarily put a "flood light", ProLume 15W/120v/60Hz/240mA, in her heatlamp.
I then thought it would be more beneficial to put in a plant light bulb, so I now have a LED BR30 Reflector 65WE(actual used 8W)/120v.

My question is this.....
Is a plant light more beneficial to an egglaying hen or simply a bird in general if they aren't exposed to sunlight at all for several months of the year?
or
Would using a fluorescent bulb with the plant light(it's very purple) be better?
or
Does is matter?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on artificial lighting in the absence of any natural light.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and any responses would be greatly appreciated.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

So you primarily want the light just so she's not sitting in the dark? I can't get recommendations on specific brightness levels or wattages, but here is what I do know:

-Chickens benefit from vitamin D just like we do, so in absence of all natural light, a light used to help generate vitamin D is probably ideal (they make them for people, but again, I don't know a ton about it)
-Chickens need about 14 hours of daylight to simulate laying.
-Chickens naturally take a break from laying in the winter when lighting is reduced
-When stimulated with extended hours of supplemental light, chickens can start laying again in winter
-In *general* hens who lay less can live longer
-If you want the most years out of your girl, probably 10-12 hours of artificial light will help her body get a break from laying in the winter, but leghorns are bred for laying, so she could still try to lay anyways.

Did that help at all?

 

[Yakisugi Coop]

One lone hen with no natural light sounds like a sad situation. Can you adopt her out to another flock? Chickens need social stimulation.