extra light for laying

[abhaya]

This is not gonna be popular but here goes.

I believe that giving a hen light to get then to lay when their body is telling them to take a break is not in the best intrest of the birds. Nature gave them the winter shut down for a reason. I do not know what that reason is but who am I to mess with it. As long as my gals have proper food and water I let nature take care of the rest!!
Go ahead and take your best shot lol This is just an opinion.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know why this would be unpopular. We all have different goals and different reasons to keep chickens. There is no one right or wrong answer for everyone. I don't provide extra light either. That does not fit in with my goals. I'm not going tio criticize anyone that does. They simply have different goals that I do.

 

[Kathleen1115]

I actually started giving my girls extra light for warmth and to keep their water from freezing during the night and on cold days. It's their first winter, they're late summer chicks (just 21 weeks now)and I'm new enough at this that I worry a lot about their comfort. It wasn't until much after I started giving them light for warmth that I found out it also stimulates laying. I understand your point and I'm not sure that I'll do it again next winter. But we're having an extra cold and snowy winter down here in Georgia and the chickens are doing better with it than either the humans or the canines in our house!

 

[Thousand Oaks Family]

If you lived at the equator the hens would naturally have more light all year long. So should people there shut them up and blacken the coop to give them a rest? But hey if you want to feed them and get no eggs that's up to you.

 

[NonnasBabies]

That's why opinions are like what???? Everyone has one!!

I give extra light cause I sell eggs!!

And I agree with Thousand Oaks! I'm not feeding 50 chickens all winter without getting any eggs!! But I surely don't hate on those that don't give extra light!!

 

[Momo]

Since our chickens are descended from tropical fowl that never experienced the prolonged periods of darkness that we get in northern latitudes, I'm not sure that Nature ever "intended" for them to have a winter shutdown. For that matter the original stock laid only a few eggs a year, in the spring, and artificial selection by humans has produced birds who lay for extended periods. So properly speaking, a "natural" chicken should have long periods of natural light and should spend most of the year not laying.

 

[pinkyglory123]

I am not sure how much "nature" is left in today's chickens. They have been bred for egg production and specific physical characteristics for centuries so most breeds are far from the original jungle fowl type bird. My chickens live a life as "natural" as I can provide for them-free range on 100 acres. Of course I do provide them with a safe coop from dawn to dusk and unlimited unfrozen water and food. (won't find those accomodations in the jungle!) I do provide them with supplemental light to equal fourteen hours which I started when I realized egg production would drop to zilch with the time change. Because I too depend on the income from the eggs they produce. Once we get fourteen hours of natural daylight the lights will go out.They can moult and take a rest from laying but not everyone at one time please!

I would like to live a more natural life myself-maybe eating a big old meal every so often and spending the rest of my time sleeping it off and scratching myself. But unfortunatly I have to go to work too. sigh.

 

[teach1rusl]

Hmmm...what I find interesting is that while people will defend supplementing light with "the birds originally were tropical and would not have taken a break." But when anything is brought up about adding a little warmth to a coop to make birds more comfortable, the "originally tropical" thing is quickly discounted and frowned upon by many

Other than that, as the others have said, it typically comes down to how folks view their birds - their purpose. When I worked full time, I extended my birds day so that I could "visit" with them in the evening (it was dark by the time I got home in late fall/winter). Now that I only work part-time, I don't extend. I certainly don't think badly of people who do though, as it comes down to economics for many.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
most of the time heat is frowned upon because it can be very dangerous, when the lamps fall or break it can cause a fire, with light most use a low watt twist bulb on a timer, the risk is alot less and produces an egg. generally

 

[swimmer]

What ever floats your boat. If you want light, then light, if you want it dark, then turn off the lights. I could really care less what others do.