Artificial light

[Jazzilox]

Hi! I’ve got 10 18 week old chickens today and want to get them laying before winter. Is there a general rule for supplemental light as the days get shorter? Can someone help me set up a good light schedule going through winter? Thanks!

 

[Debbie292d]

Most of us don't use supplemental light for a few reasons, such as winter being their rest time. In my case, they lay all winter anyway, just less. Many also believe that a chicken has a preset number of eggs it can lay, and if we rush it more than Mother Nature intends, they'll stop laying sooner in life than usual.

The few I've heard of that do that have lights on a timer so they have as much light in the winter as they had in the summer, so say the sun came up there at 5:00 a.m. back in June, and now it's coming up at 7:00 a.m., you'll want your lights on a timer that comes on at 5:00 a.m.

 

[Possum-Pie]

I tried supplemental light the first year I got hens. Didn't work at all. Had LED lights on a timer, it was soft light, but enough to see by. I was scared of a fire, they didn't lay anyway, so I just quit using it. I agree with Debbie, let them rest in the winter, then late winter they will begin laying.

 

[Apis mellifera]

There's no such thing as a rest for hens at the equator. Hens in Alaska must really get a rest!. Go ahead and add light in the morning your hens will be healthier and more productive in the long run.

 

[red horse ranch]

Hens need 12 to 14 hours of light to lay consistently. In Wyoming there may only be 7 or 8 hours of daylight in the winter so all the girls get a rest. I do have a light on a timer that comes on at 6 am but that is just so they all get to eat and drink before free ranging at 8 or 9 am.

 

[Possum-Pie]

There's no such thing as a rest for hens at the equator. Hens in Alaska must really get a rest!. Go ahead and add light in the morning your hens will be healthier and more productive in the long run.

Your knowledge of astronomy is flawed. The equator gets a steady 12hrs sun/12hrs dark per day year-round. This would actually be great for chickens. Far northern Alaska, the arctic, (and Antarctica in the south) get almost no sun during their winters, but almost no dark during their Summers.
I would agree that if you lived in Alaska, artificial light would be a benefit, but it takes a lot out of a hen to lay an egg every day all year. It is cruel and unnatural to force this for the sake of a few scrambled eggs in the winter...

 

[aart]

Your knowledge of astronomy is flawed. ..... Far northern Alaska, the arctic, (and Antarctica in the south) get almost no sun during their summers, but almost no dark during their winters.

As is yours..... you have this reversed.

 

[Possum-Pie]

As is yours..... you have this reversed.

LOL, I'm dyslexic. you are absolutely correct Light all summer, dark all winter...Corrected it to prevent confusion. Thanks.

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I use an LED rope light that is stapled to the inside of the coop's ceiling joints. It is 25 feet long, unbreakable and impervious to dust. It's connected to a timer that has 15 minute increments. I begin adding 15 minutes of light at the end of August. I add approximately 15 minutes of light each week until I've got the time up to 5 hours, turning on about an hour before dusk and shutting off at 11 pm. You have to do it in increments for it to be effective, otherwise it won't work at all. I've been doing it this way for several years and it gets results each time. Most first year pullets will lay through the winter here regardless of light (I've experimented).

 

[aart]

LOL, I'm dyslexic. you are absolutely correct Light all summer, dark all winter...Corrected it to prevent confusion. Thanks.

So just a lack of proof reading, eh?