Adding light in the middle of the winter *Another question on page 2*

[skyedobb]

This is my first winter with chickens and we, too, put electric out to their barn after it got cold. I was thinking that I was going to give them a natural rest from laying, but my egg orders kept coming in and I didn't want to lose customers. So, I put a light on a timer one day. I went from 3-5/day without the light to 12-18/day with the light. What a difference!!

 

[G Wiz Ranch]

We add light to give them 14 hours. I don't recomend turing a light on and then OFF in the evening. The girls will not be roosted when all of sudden the light goes out. The don't have very good night vision. I think it is best to have the light turn on all of sudden in the morning and then allow the natural day light turn into dark at night to allow them time to roost before complete darkness. It starts to get dark here at 5 pm so I have our lights set to come on at 3am. We use the screw in flourecent lights that give 60 watts of light but use 7 watts.

 

[Bluebellschicks]

I put a light on my 2 chickens a week before Christmas. They seem to be showing signs (red combs, squatting, etc.) but no eggs yet! They are about 22-24 weeks old. The light comes on at 4am (sun goes down around 5:30pm). Is it a problem that they do not come down from their roost until daylight comes? They are awake but just sit up on the roost with the light on them. Could be warmer up there? They also don't seem to eat their "Chicken Feed" but would rather have bird seed/peanuts/banana peels & apples,etc. They have free range in a 40' X 90' greenhouse with lots of greenery/weeds to eat. They have been growing nicely since I got them in mid-Nov. Any other suggestions to get them to lay - I was hoping for a Christmas Miracle.... oh, well - maybe a New Years Miracle!! Thanks for all the info on this site! I love it!!

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
If they aren't eating their layer feed... instead, opting for those treats you mentioned, I'd at least make sure to have a dish of crushed oyster shell for them to eat - they'll need a lot of calcium for making egg shells. Though, IMO, they really shouldn't be given so many treats that they don't eat their regular feed. If you check around BYC, you will see a lot of people recommend treats be no more than 10% of their overall daily food consumption.

It's winter. Hens that start laying in winter sometimes take a few more weeks to get started. Give them time. Free-ranging a greenhouse sounds lovely. I'll bet they're happy! Let them eat a little less of the bird seed/peanuts/banana & apples. Don't stop, altogether. But make sure they're hungry enough each day to eat a good amount of their regular feed in addition to the greens and weeds they get free-ranging. If you give extra treats, emphasize protein over carbs. Good luck! Sounds like they're going to start really soon!

 

[Southerngirl]

The same thing happened to me a few years ago and when production slowed down it was not fun! We installed some heat lamps with clear bulbs. After the chickens go in the coop for the night I leave the light on until I go to bed and turn it off from the house.In the morning when I get up I turn them on again until I let them out between 8am-9am. That gives them a usual minimum of 8-9 hours. When the rains hit really bad this spring I still got eggs I feel because of using the lighting. It really does work !!!!

 

[wordgirl]

Well, the first night I left the light on I got an egg that night.

Yesterday I got seven eggs as opposed to the six I usually get. Hopefully there will be eight today!

I had a dream last night that I went out and I found about thirty eggs out there. At first I thought that the hens had actually been laying regularly but that the eggs had been kicked into the bedding, but they were all warm, so they had had to be laid that morning. Apparently the extra light was really working.

And in the dream I found an egg that was giant – like bigger than a softball. Oh, silly me.

 

[Southerngirl]

Remember the Looney tune cartoons with Foghorn Leghorn when the hens would lay in the nest and all of a sudden the eggs would come out so fast they would reach the ceiling? I have dreamed of my hens doing that!!! Give the lights a week or two and you will see a difference!!! Good luck!

 

[wordgirl]

Well...guess what! Both yesterday and today, we got TEN EGGS! Yay!

It's not top production, but it's almost twice as many as we were getting. Well, not quite, but four eggs more a day makes a really big difference!

Thank you for telling me to add light!!!

 

[wordgirl]

Oh no! I turned the light on an hour later than I should have, and it was already dark. Will it mess them up?

say it won't! I got fourteen today!

 

[Imp]

No you're fine.

Imp