Do you use artificial lighting during the winter?

[mikki717]

I have a question to pose. I currently do not add light to increase egg production, although with 16 hens now, and only six eggs a day...

The reason light is added is to simulete or prolong the summer sunlight times. When the days grow shorter, the birds moult and egg production goes down. If light is added, will the birds still moult? Is there an health issues from having a hen lay year round, as opposed to a part of the year? Don't they need the Fall moult time to replenish their "stores" so to speak and get healthy again to lay in the Spring?

I know in dogs and cats, breeding them every heat cycle wears them down... puppy mills, etc. I don't know about chickens, as this is my first year, and my oldest bird is only a year old.

 

[lorrir]

I just added a light to my coop extending daytime to 7pm and starting daylight at 6pm. I let the girls slow do for a while and then add the light. I'm using a 60watt twirly bulb (not the correct name but you get the drift) In a month I'll exchange for a regular florescent bulb that will throw a little heat.

I also installed R-Max board in the ceiling and am going to finish off the wall this week. Keep the coop warmer in the winter with out a heat bulb and cooler in the summer.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
You're going to get two sides to this argument--I'm on the adding light side since I've done it for 25 years with no ill effects that I've noticed. My birds moult normally and lay normally. In this area we go down to about 8 hrs of sunlight by midwinter and I feel that isn't enough to keep them healthy and active so I supplement it. Maybe if you're in a latitude where there is a fairly constant amount of sunlight, you don't need it. Also, my birds are kept for eggs not as pets so I try to keep production up without overdoing it. I figure if they are still laying into their 5th year--and some are--they're doing ok by me.

 

[TigerLilly]

I don't use artificial light at this time, but since my hens have TOTALLY given up laying eggs for a few weeks now, I think I'm going to have to go that route. I have a small flock, but I was starting to rely on them for eggs--it was nice not buying them at the store. The cayenne pepper didn't work for me, so I gave that up after about a week. The light is my only other option, short of waiting until next spring!

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

Hmm. We have electricity to the coop. We have the light in the form of a heat lamp coming on at midnight and on until morning. So, as soon as the time changes, they'll be
getting a little over 6-7 hours of dark, before midnight. We could make the heat lamp temperature sensitive, but then the light would be random. I could also change the timer.
I know you can leave it on full time for baby chicks, but do the adults need a certain amount of dark and does it matter when? My own schedule is such that they usually get into their
run about 11 AM, so they are time-shifted no matter what. I'm on top of a mountain just southwest of Chattanooga. Sometimes we get weather below freezing for a week or two.
Sometimes it's moderate. There are lots of hawks and critters, so the coop is sturdy with ventilation at the top and a window that can be shut.
Have you ever known of anyone else who has chickens whose days are shifted?

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
I wouldn't use a heat lamp for anything other than chicks--feathered birds can take a lot of cold--try 20 below for a week or two--as long as the are out of the wind in a well ventilated coop. Too much danger of fire from the heat lamp plus I feel the birds should be allowed to get used to the cold in case they are forced into a situation where the lamp goes off. Light can come from a 40w lamp or larger for an enough extra time to get them up to 14 hrs a day. Where you live, you might be cold but your chickens will be happy at those temperatures--now heat in the summer will be another thing.

BTW, I would never advocate 24/7 lights--that is what commercial producers use but they only plan on 2 years per bird as it burns them out. 12- 14 hrs seems optimum.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

Thanks for the tips. I'll see if hubby will go with just a light bulb on a timer for the 12-14 hours. The chickens do seem to huddle together on the
roost when it gets cold, though. They don't look too happy, but others have also told me they'll be OK.

 

[JRchickchick]

I saw a neat trick of putting the light bulb in a socket that has a light sensitivity eye, that you then screw in to the regular light socket. The person set the timer to come on at 5 in the morning, and off at 6 pm. Then, natural daylight turns the light off (saving energy) during normal daylight hours.

I am putting together a solar panel set-up (should have done it a month ago, I know!), and setting the light to run from a battery. We'll see if it works out well by this time next week.

BTW my 16 hens started laying in late August, I'm sure the variety of hens start laying at different times. My White Leghorns were first, then a few days later, my Golden Sex Links started coming into production, then a month later, my Black Australorps, and finally my Araucauna. I have been averaging 14+ eggs daily with no light so far (we live close to the 45th parallel), but I do want to start them on a light schedule. Darker days are coming, and I want my eggs to keep coming too.

I also read that naturally, most hens hatched in the Spring will lay through the first winter, and then the following winter you can expect them to go through their molt for 2 months or so. Seems a bad time to be dropping feathers if you ask me! I'm sure variety, lighting, etc... all affects that though.

Lighting adds eggs and keeps some of the chill out of the air. Incandescent adds the most heat besides a heat lamp. A 40 watt - 60 watt bulb is sufficient to light a building up to 200 sq feet (per Storey's Guide to Chickens). The hens would probably do just fine without it, but if you want more eggs, I'd add light.

 

[Cluckminster Fuller]

We have our light coming on to give a total of 12-14 hours of light. They go out in the run during the day, too. We are putting up a timer for a heat lamp to come on if the temp drops
to near freezing. But I think I agree that it's good to let the chickens get cold hardy in case of power interruptions. The nesting boxes jut out a bit, so that even thought they're covered, they could get cold and I don't want frozen eggs. ;-)
Our Easter Egger was the first to lay, and just today we got our first brown egg, but we don't know who gave it to us. A neighbor came by today and said since they'd seen our coop, they're
planning to build one, too. Love my chickens.

 

[dolly85]

Thanks for all the responses, I loved reading them! I ended up using a flourescent bulb to allow for 16 hours of light a few days after posting my question. I am now getting 3-4 eggs from my four chickens daily! I am more than thrilled!!!!!!