Extra Light

[Mary's Farm]

How old are the chickens and what breed?

The 14 hour thing is to keep hens laying through the winter months, if they have not started laying at all they will start when ready no matter the light. My pullets laid right through last winter and did not start to decrease until this fall. Extra light will not make them start laying early if they have never laid before.

My egg study
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/rir-egg-size.1216453/#post-19419865

JT

Aha, good to know. Also, thanks for posting the info about egg size. I posted age/breeds above, but they are all about 17 weeks now and a mix of RIRs, barred rocks, couple of light brahmas. I think a black Australorp (I got a mix from Cackle Hatchery called "Preppers Special," so I don't know for certain the breeds but that's what they look like.)

 

[MaryOos]

"As a side note I noticed my infrared lights on my camera was waking the hens up way too early so I now turn them off at night and they sleep right up to lights on time."

The infrared on my camera is but a tiny red dot. It's visible to the girls but it doesn't actually cast any light. My girls could care less about it. I like the idea of the lights in the pen. My heated waterer is indoors but the feeder is out in the pen. Their auto pop door is photo cell operated so should go up with a light out there. Few worries about predators getting into the pen. My pen is built like fort knox and we are in the burbs.

We had a hawk attack in October while I was standing 20ft away. Luckily they all escaped. But only 1 of the 6 has laid since. First the trauma and then the molt started. I have been considering lighting. Glad to learn I should wait until the molt is over for the last 2 stragglers.

 

[steveneggs]

I have light 24/7 in three of my coops

 

[GC-Raptor]

I got this portable solar LED light from Amazon:

Do you think that's enough to stimulate egg production?

The light needs to be bright enough to read a newspaper in the area furthest from light. 14 hours is minimum suggested, but I have a 32 month old Golden Comet laying 5 eggs a week.
I only add light in the morning at 5. Sunset today is 4:21. So less than 11 1/2 hours. Could be because she is a sex-links chicken? I have 2 other Comets same age. One retired from laying at 24 months, the other quit laying when sunset happened at 4:30 and is molting. . GC

 

[aart]

what do you do far as light?

12+ now, for older birds to molt, will bump it to 14-15 near solstice.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

What a nice little coop and run you have JT.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

My hens are just 7 months old now. They started laying in early September. I turn on an LED light at 5:30 am, then let them out in the run at sunrise - around 7 am right now. They have been producing over 2 dozen eggs per week. They go in the coop at dusk to roost which is around 4:30 pm. So I'm guessing their productivity is due to their age? I don't use the light in the coop in the evening because I heard that it's best for the sunset to guide them to their roosts for the night. Feedback?

 

[aart]

So I'm guessing their productivity is due to their age?

Their age and the extra light.

 

[feathermaid]

I have light 24/7 in three of my coops

A period of darkness (8-10 hours preferred) for the pineal gland (which regulates the release of eggs into the oviduct) to even register that there is light present. Without darkness, you're likely just making your chickens neurotic. Please refer to the link that aart gave earlier to learn how to offer additional lighting correctly:
Supplemental Light in the Chicken Coop: Why and How
@aart has an interesting system in allowing for a molt, a little complicated (for me) but it does serve a good purpose.

New to chickens [...]all about 16-17 weeks old, still waiting for the first egg.
I thought I needed to supplement light [...]
I turn it on when I put the chickens up in evening to coop area from outside tractor area. If it was a sunny day, the light stays on for about 4 hours and fades out as battery charge fades. If it was a cloudy day, the light only stays on for about 1-2 hours and fades out. It's not a very bright supplemental light, but does allow chickens to see inside the coop in the evenings.
Do you think that's enough to stimulate egg production? Currently sun rises about 6:30 am and sets at 4:30 pm (southern AL) so we are only getting about 10 hours of daylight. I don't have electricity to my chicken tractor, so if it isn't enough will my hens not lay until spring when days are longer?

Please see my following post...

My hens are just 7 months old now. They started laying in early September. I turn on an LED light at 5:30 am, then let them out in the run at sunrise - around 7 am right now. They have been producing over 2 dozen eggs per week. They go in the coop at dusk to roost which is around 4:30 pm. So I'm guessing their productivity is due to their age? I don't use the light in the coop in the evening because I heard that it's best for the sunset to guide them to their roosts for the night. Feedback?

My first flock (hatched in April- started laying in August) laid eggs all through their first winter with no supplemental lighting at all. It wasn't until their 2nd winter that egg production finally slowed and quit for a bit until spring. My newest batch of pullets (hatched in May) are just now starting to lay even though the day's are short. So adding light for your first-year pullets is probably pointless, but usually eliminating additional light suddenly will push birds into a molt (which you don't want in the middle of winter)... but I'm not sure what that would do to yours - as most chickens won't even experience their first molt until after 18 months of age. But Sarah, you are correct that adding light in the early morning hours is best.

Anyone adding supplemental light to their coop should be able to answer exactly what they expect to get out of their birds... what's your end goal? There is no right or wrong answer. Everyone keeps birds for a different purpose -whether it be for meat, eggs, companionship, entertainment, the list is endless.

But please know the facts, understand how a chicken's body works, and go from there.

I personally prefer to let my chickens experience the natural cycle of molting and diverting their energy stores into recharging their bodies and surviving the cold. This article also explains the other side of the coin:
Dangers of Supplemental Coop Light

If anyone is interested in different system of flock management to keep yourself in eggs all through the winter, you could also try this:
Chicken Rotation- Optimizing for Year Round Laying from the Backyard Flock

 

[Mary's Farm]

My first flock (hatched in April- started laying in August) laid eggs all through their first winter with no supplemental lighting at all. It wasn't until their 2nd winter that egg production finally slowed and quit for a bit until spring.

Thank you for that info, FF.... I actually have more pullets (9) than I will need for egg production, once they start laying (I didn't think they would all make it to henhood! But glad they did.) If we get 8 or 9 eggs per day, I'll be making a lot of quiche, I guess. So I won't worry about supplemental light this year. By next year, our barn will be done with a special new chicken coop room, and then we will have electricity to run extra light.

When you say "egg production finally slowed"... how many hens do you have who were 2 years old and how many eggs would you get, on average, each day? Was production cut in half, or what? Just curious. If I don't find a couple of neighbors to take eggs off my hands, I might just prefer lower egg production by that point.