Artificial light and egglaying

Pump Hill Peeps

Chirping
9 Years
Aug 3, 2010
29
0
90
Jordan, NY
Does the color of the artificial light make any difference? I don't have any light in the coop now, and our egg production is next to zero with 14 layers ( 5 BSL and 9 Golden Comets). Last year we put a red heat lamp in the coop and it was almost like they never missed a beat laying. I could put a light out there again but was wondering if the red or regular white makes a difference from the chickens perception.
 
Was last year those layers first winter? If so, pullets lay well their first winter, as a rule. If these hens are now a year and a half to two years old, it stands to reason they'd slow down this winter.

I've wondered myself if "bright white" vs "soft white" vs "day light" bulbs makes a big difference in influencing their laying. I don't know yet, but I do know that red lamps are calming and I cannot imagine it having the impact of a whiter light.
 
Last year was the golden comets first winter, this is first winter for bsl. I put a heat lamp (red) in there last winter cause i felt bad. thought, after having a year and a half under me, knowing a little more they would do just fine without the little bit of added warmth. now, almost no eggs. i read on some posts about how light affected egg laying but maybe it's a combination of things. i might try that red light again and see what happens. thanks for the input.
 
I have 17 hens in Fairbanks, Alaska. My current coop has no window, and current daylight (though it doesn't matter without a window). The birs are shut in as we had -45 degrees this week. These are mixed birds that I picked up as the owner got hurt and could not care for them anymore, so I can't tell you about breed or age or anything. I have a heat lamp on 24/7, and a white light on a 16 hour timer. I am currently getting 9-12 eggs daily.

There is a farm in Palmer, AK (6 hopur drive from here), that produces 30,000 eggs per year. The folks there tell me that the advantage to having a red filter on your white light, is that blood is not visible under red light, so your canabalism decreases. My light is white and I'm not seeing signs of pecking.
 
If you're using a flourescent bulb, I've been told that it needs to be a "soft" or "warm" bulb. These have wavelenths in the red/orange end of the spectrum, which mimics daylight. The "daylight" flourescent bulbs have the blue/green wavelengths, which supposedly does not trigger their hormones to lay eggs.
 
I've heard that a white/plain light can stress them out. They go to the coop for privacy/calm and the white/plain light can be harsh. We use a red bulb and our girls are starting to lay for us!
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welcome to byc eggs in alaska! -45.... that's COLD! We had 0 degrees this weekend and our first real snow of the season. it is late, but ok with me. the chickens had it easy here so far. last year we had 8 or so feet by now. looks more like red light might be a way to go. give a bit of heat and calm them a bit. tame the cold stress maybe a little. i can't run much more on my electric out there with 2 water heaters. might have to make some changes or just deal with low production.
 
I've always just made my red heat lamp do double duty, and my girls respond by laying well all winter long.

Just for the heck of it, a few weeks ago during a warm spell, I substituted a yellow bug light for the red heat lamp. This color agitated the girls and they seemed to get no rest at all with it. I went right back to the red light the next night, and everyone settled right down.

I've also experimented with adding the extra light at the early part of the night, following roosting, and adding the light to the three hours before dawn. The girls do much, much better with the light added to create an early dawn. It's also when it's coldest so it ends up working better in every respect.
 

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