Do chickens need dark to lay eggs.

[perchie.girl]

Hi, we just put a heat lamp in our very drafty 4' x 8' chicken coop. We have 14 chickens that are 18 weeks old. The heat lamp that we put in has a 125 watt bulb, instead of the standard 250 watt. We do not have a timer on it or anything fancy. We are expecting a winter with below zero temps this year again, and since our coop is quite drafty and we are not really sure how to remedy that, we figured that a heat lamp might help our chickens to stay a little bit warmer and keep our water from freezing. The lamp is in and on, but what I am wondering is if the full time light will prevent them from laying?

Should we put in a dimmer switch? Will a dimmer switch affect the heat output? My grandfather raised chickens before my time and my dad says that they need some dark to lay eggs; he also said that my grandpa would put a light on a timer and have it on from midnight to 2 a.m. and then again in the morning and that he got two eggs a day from each chicken. What do you think? It really is quite bright in the coop, is there a way to diffuse the light a bit? I'm just not sure what to do. I know that a lot of you will say that the chickens don't need the heat, but with cracks all around the entrances and windows, I just don't see how they won't be cold. Thanks.

I read through all the posts.... I can only add.... Keep it simple. staple some plastic over the openings you think might allow snow in... but leave as much ventilation as possible..... Believe it or not Snow is actually a good insulator... My only concern would be that when they do get out into the yard they could actually walk up and over the fence and get out.

chickens them selves put off a tremendous amount of BTUS and having 14 in a single coop would be more than enough to keep everyone warm at night. One of the objections to heating a coop is the birds dont acclimatize to their outside environment. that being said there are limitations... But even up to Alaska keeping birds without heat is done.

too many times we judge environments according to our own personal needs... For example I have a horse, in the winter time shes a happy camper... people ask me why I dont bother to put a blanket on her to keep her warm..... then I show them how my hands disappear in her winter coat.... She is so self insulated accumulated snow on her back just rests there till she moves. I have seen it...

The MAIN concerns are DRAFT... not ventilation... Draft is when the wind blows through and removes All the heat the chickens make.... Ventilation allows stale air moisture and ammonia out.... the other concern is to keep water available and unfrozen at all times. that is the hardest one to accomplish. There are water bowl heaters that are up to the job.... some are a heated cylendar you just rest the bowl on some have it built right in the waterer...

Then you can plug the waterer heater or even ceramic heater if you want in to one of these thermo cubes. Originally used in pump houses they are designed to come on when the temperature inside a room goes below 40 degrees... and go off when its above. then you can plug what ever you want into it.

Farminnovators.com has a large selection of stuff.. here is the link to Amazon....

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_l...-brandtextbin=Farm+Innovators&node=2972638011

Drafts First
Good ventilation
Keep the water liquid and the coop inside dry.

they can handle the cold down to below 40 most definitely.

Have fun....

edited to add another link:
http://www.farminnovators.com/specialty.html
this shows which thermocube does what.... there are three kinds for heating and one for using with an exhaust fan or air conditioner....
deb

 

[perchie.girl]

@Mflood I love your use of a car ramp for your chicken ramp..... LOL.

hey I have a friend whos last name is Flood who has horses in Michigan...

deb

 

[MeepBeep]

The whole premise of 'heating the coop' and/or 'holding heat' with a low ceiling or insulation is faulty in that you can't heat a space that is open to the kind of ventilation chickens need to stay healthy.

Not faulty at all, it most certainly can be done, commercial chicken farms and egg farms do it all the time, as do I...

Warmer air actually holds more moisture than colder air

This is one of those myths that keeps getting repeated but is only half truth... Warm air 'can' hold more moisture but it doesn't necessarily mean that warm air is more moist... Don't confuse the two concepts...

Just look at a heated house in the winter, in almost all cases if there is no humidifier in the house the humidity in the house is far below the humidity outside in the cold...

Ironically the normal humidity in many areas is higher during the cooler or cold winter months, so that pretty much debunks any generalization trying to correlate air temp to moisture (humidity)...
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/us-outdoor-design-temperature-humidity-d_296.html

But also allowing the birds to acclimate to warmer temps inside can be disastrous if the power fails and the heat that they are used to is now gone.

IMO another half truth, a temporary power outage is little different then a sudden temporary natural drop in temp... If the birds are in a heated coop at night an in an unheated run during the day they will acclimate just fine to the cooler temps... Also consider this, if you have a small coop, chances are during the day with the sun shinning on it's heated already for most of the day, and heated at night by the birds heat lose, so if it's the sun, birds, or an artificial heater heating what is the real difference as long as it's only a moderate heat? There is a huge difference between heating a coop to say 35° vs heating it to 65°, IMO there is little 'sudden exposure' risk as long as you only take the bite out of the air heating to just above freezing and don't heat the coop to summer temps that could pose a shock acclimation...

I just think it's a very important issue that has so many misconceptions.

I agree, thus my corrections to your misconceptions... Too many try to make this a black and white answer with black and white fact, it's just not that simple...

I do agree that with cold weather tolerant chickens heat is generally not needed and can cause more problems then it might fix... But, that is only a generalization it's not an absolute one size fits all answer, there is absolutely instances where heat can be beneficial if done properly without any ill effects...

 

[traceyj]

It gets below -30 here in central bc and stays there for months so I've set up a lamp and 125 bulb and timer switch but it's staying off til I see some serious weather and chooks are suffering, then I'll fire it up. Bit worried about melting the plexi panel of the roof with the heat tho.

 

[Beer can]

I used to leave a light 24/7 on my chickens water, one to keep it thawed out,two to give them light to keep laying, not to keep them warm. It was not close to their roost, only by their water and food. I have heard it isn't good for the chickens, insomnia? But I had no probs, all my RIReds laid a egg a day, every day right through winter.

 

[Mflood]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Good ideas. You have given me a lot to think about.

 

[aart]

Quote: This is one of those myths that keeps getting repeated but is only half truth... Warm air 'can' hold more moisture but it doesn't necessarily mean that warm air is more moist... Don't confuse the two concepts...

Just look at a heated house in the winter, in almost all cases if there is no humidifier in the house the humidity in the house is far below the humidity outside in the cold...

Ironically the normal humidity in many areas is higher during the cooler or cold winter months, so that pretty much debunks any generalization trying to correlate air temp to moisture (humidity)...
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/us-outdoor-design-temperature-humidity-d_296.html
Quote: IMO another half truth, a temporary power outage is little different then a sudden temporary natural drop in temp... If the birds are in a heated coop at night an in an unheated run during the day they will acclimate just fine to the cooler temps... Also consider this, if you have a small coop, chances are during the day with the sun shinning on it's heated already for most of the day, and heated at night by the birds heat lose, so if it's the sun, birds, or an artificial heater heating what is the real difference as long as it's only a moderate heat? There is a huge difference between heating a coop to say 35° vs heating it to 65°, IMO there is little 'sudden exposure' risk as long as you only take the bite out of the air heating to just above freezing and don't heat the coop to summer temps that could pose a shock acclimation...
Quote: I agree, thus my corrections to your misconceptions... Too many try to make this a black and white answer with black and white fact, it's just not that simple...

I do agree that with cold weather tolerant chickens heat is generally not needed and can cause more problems then it might fix... But, that is only a generalization it's not an absolute one size fits all answer, there is absolutely instances where heat can be beneficial if done properly without any ill effects...
You've quoted parts of my post, taking them out of context, to make them 'black and white' when they were not.

 

[ggeorgas]

Hi I just joined. Love your question! We are reaching freezing here and I am wondering should I put a heat lamp out there? The light give them no rest, so is there heating options with out light?

 

[Crow hop]

Well ggeorgas, yes! Their are other ways of heating without giving light. There are tube resistors, pad heaters and even ceramic bulbs that do not give off light. (Although I have never seen one of those bulbs in use)
I used to be a field supervisor in the poultry industry and currently I work in the HVAC field. I'd like to comment on your post as well as touch on a few others...
First... Ventilation is critical, moisture and ammonia will harm birds long before sub freezing temps will! As a kid growing up I remember my granddad in Oklahoma never heated his coops. They were dry and ventilated. Old school... No power.

Also, it is important to note for every 20 degrees of temperature increase, the water holding capacity of air doubles. So if you heat it is good to remove the air with the moisture and ammonia that is present... This is the modern way of raising chickens.
Also, Light does cause stress... But the Romans taught to "Live as you fight so when you fight you will live!" The same works for chickens. If you rest them they will be happier and be productive longer. Pets vs Egg layer machines.
That being said.... The industrial chickens of today are not as tough as the birds of 50 or 100 years ago. As far as toughness goes, and that is very breed specific as well.
Now I haven't raised chickens for about 8 years and this will be my first flock in Alaska. I plan to start this spring and I intend to go with Dominiques and Icelandics.... I plan to heat and ventilate (off grid) minimally, because they are to be pets that my kids will show and a little experiment for their education. I will run some electric lights but definitely not full time.
Anyway, just my thoughts... I don't know the age, condition, or breed of your birds, much less your coop design or region where you live.
I do know this.... Every year I hear of coops burning down and sometimes they take homes with them. My granddad never worried about that
I also grew up in Oklahoma raising fighting chickens for a neighbor. We had lone roosters out on tie cords roosting on frosty poles....well below freezing.
Birds are tough and can handle cold... If it is dry cold and they are happy and healthy while doing so....
Just a comment... I wish you all our best!
Keep in touch and let us know how things work out for you!

 

[MeepBeep]

I do know this.... Every year I hear of coops burning down and sometimes they take homes with them.

Every year in the US about 50,000 - 60,000 house fires are caused by heating equipment, and many more by cooking equipment...

Most will agree that the risk of a house fire is not a viable reason to totally avoid heating and cooking in your house... Instead most will agree that steps should be done to do both safely in a house to mitigate the fire risk...

And I can't see why that same 'mitigate risk' logic appears to be lost by many when heating a coop...

There are ways to heat your coop safely and have little to no fire risk at all negating the burning down concern almost entirely...