Chicken Coop Lighting

[Calima]

Okay, I think I've been doing this all wrong! My girls are 23 wks old now! They're all laying eggs! But once sun goes down, they'll go into the coop, I lock the pop door and turn the lights on inside the coop, which stays on until sun up the next day. Should I not leave the light on all night?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I don't know why they would need light at night. All animals evolved with circadian light - a light and a dark period.
Do you prefer sleeping with the light on? I had a friend from Hong Kong that couldn't sleep if it was dark but he was the exception to the rule.

I just posted this info a couple days ago on another thread.

I know that many people use a nightlight with their chickens but it isn't a good idea.
Darkness exposure is extremely important for chickens.

Studies show that poultry and most animals do best with hemeral lighting. A light period and a dark period each day.
Birds given a dark period will be more active during the day. That activity contributes to leg strength.
Birds kept under 24 hours of light will panic with a power outage.
A dark period is necessary for proper rest and to better digest their food.
Birds given the longest dark period in studies were the most efficient at feed conversion.
Bird welfare is best with between 14 and 17 hours of light.
An official directive published by the Council of the European Union (2007) has regulated the minimum amount of darkness required for broilers. They regulate that a minimum of 6 hours of darkness in every 24 hour period are required for poultry welfare.
Lack of darkness in a broiler photoperiod program has been shown to have a number of negative implications based on biological or physiological processes - particularly due to skeletal and metabolic disorders. (Classen and Riddell, 1989; Lewis et al., 1996; Brickett 4 et al., 2007b).
If melatonin is important, then exposure to darkness is a requirement for bone health.
A diurnal pattern of light and dark exposure plays a major role in the formation of the bone matrix.
Circadian rhythms have been suggested to be important in the growth of the eye. Eyes grow during the light period and stop growing during the dark. This is related to the production of melatonin and the expression of the melatonin receptors related to eye growth. The exposure to constant light disrupts the rhythm of eye growth, resulting in eyes that are abnormally large with an abnormal shape (Li et al., 1995).
Exposure to darkness also improves immune response and reduces stress.

The following is an excerpt from a document by ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture.

"Birds need a dark period for good health. They only produce melatonin—a hormone important in immune function—during dark periods. Welfare programs usually require at least four to six hours of dark daily, with some of the organic programs requiring eight hours of darkness. Many alternative poultry producers use only natural light and therefore have a long dark period. Dark periods can be especially helpful for fast-growing broilers in the first weeks of life to slow growth, build frame, and reduce leg disorders. (Baby chicks, however, need 24 hours of light the first three days to ensure that they learn to find food and water.) In contrast, the conventional poultry industry uses long light periods to encourage feed consumption and weight gain by fast-growing broilers, because birds do not eat in the dark. When birds have a dark period, they are more active during the light period than birds that have continuous light.
Light intensity is measured in foot-candles (fc) in the U.S. (the amount of light emitted by a standard candle at one foot away; lux is a metric measurement). For example, a brightly-lit store may be 100 fc while a home is usually 10 fc. Alternative poultry production tends to use a higher light intensity than conventional. Most welfare programs require at least 1 fc. Light intensity above 1 fc leads to increased activity, which can reduce leg problems but results in decreased weight gains. A curtain-sided house may have a light intensity of 200 fc or more when the sun is overhead, but depends on cloud cover. The conventional industry typically keeps light intensity low in poultry houses to reduce activity and gain weight more efficiently. The conventional industry uses about 0.5 fc or less, similar to a moonlit night, for broilers and layers.
Both conventional and alternative egg producers use artificial lighting to stimulate production during days of declining natural light, resulting in a more constant supply of eggs. Small-scale producers often use 14 hours of light for layers. Generally the light period should not be longer than the longest day of the year. Day length should not be increased for young growing pullets or they will begin producing eggs too soon; likewise, day length should not be decreased for layers and breeders in production or they will stop producing eggs."

http://umaine.edu/publications/2227e/
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs14.htm
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/pfs13.htm
http://www.poultry.msstate.edu/pdf/extension/home_floks.pdf
http://ecommons.usask.ca/bitstream/handle/10388/ETD-2011-11-209/SCHWEAN-LARDNER-DISSERTATION.pdf?sequence=3
http://www.hyline.com/aspx/redbook/redbook.aspx?s=4&p=23

 

[TerryPy]

The only time you would want to add light would be in the winter so that they get 12 hours in order to keep laying. So unless you are in Australia they need to be able to go to bed in the summer at dusk. I would only add light in the winter if they are slowing off laying and the laying is important to you. Ipersonall like to give them time off; however the roof on our coop and run is clear poly so that they get the winter sun.

 

[Calima]

Thank you all! No more light in the coop at night. I hope that I didn't harm or stress them out in any way.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Some of those links I posted talk about stress from excessive lighting and recovery time so they should answer your questions.

 

[Calima]

Thankyou! Thankyou!