Artificial light for laying in the winter

[EggSighted4Life]

True, but what kicks off egg production is hormonal. I'm more concerned about the actual process of creating eggs. That takes energy, and while in CT we don't always have cold winters, but they can be wet winters... which means you need more energy in heat to keep warm. Just like baking a baby for mammals takes energy, fats etc to create... If they're hormones and bodies tell them to make eggs, then I'll enjoy them... if not, then I'm not really going to be upset either.

Gosh, it's been 19 years since I was pregnant with my daughter... but I remember being exhausted and sleepy before I found out.

@bobbi-j your stories emphasize how different situations can get and having the need sometimes to do what you might not others. And how flock dynamics (predator attacks/illness) can effect things. Also that chickens don't know the rules about when they SHOULD start laying. Guess you can't count you chickens before they hatch but don't count your eggs before their laid either. And honestly even after your chickens hatch your count might be thrown off by predators...

 

[bobbi-j]

Gosh, it's been 19 years since I was pregnant with my daughter... but I remember being exhausted and sleepy before I found out.

@bobbi-j your stories emphasize how different situations can get and having the need sometimes to do what you might not others. And how flock dynamics (predator attacks/illness) can effect things. Also that chickens don't know the rules about when they SHOULD start laying. Guess you can't count you chickens before they hatch but don't count your eggs before their laid either. And honestly even after your chickens hatch your count might be thrown off by predators...

People and chickens are quite different. The biology of growing a little human inside you is way different than that of a chicken growing an egg.

You're right in that we always have to be flexible and be able to adjust to unexpected flock changes. Every year brings something new.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

When it gets cold enough for me to turn on a red heat lamp, or when it is dark by 6 or so, I also start a light for a total of about 12 hours/day. I only have 12 chickens now and some aren't still laying much. Eventually I also have to have a little heater pad to keep the water unfrozen. Mine have always molted and seem to like having heat lamps even though I know they would survive without them. So, I compromised between a full winter "day" by adding a little time to it but not keeping them in light 24/7. I figure chickens close to the equator have longer days, and chickens in Alaska shorter ones. Seems to me they could adjust a bit to how long there is light as long as there is time for rest.

 

[RonP]

I use a lighting system 365 days per year.

It mimics my summer solstice. I use LED lights, lighting the coop AND run.

As discussed, if chickens thrive at the equator, where there is no change in the length of daylight throughout the year, my birds will and have done just fine with the artificial lighting.

And yes, they do molt naturally.