- Feb 13, 2014
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OK so I have been using a a heat lamp light in my chicken coop and I been been in the process of expanding my coop due to the fact its a little to small. I have NEVER had a pecking issue like the one encountered this evening. I read the article posted on this web sight about " Winter Egg Laying and Lighting" and how the the red light is more soothing and to the chickens, helps them sleep.. and reduces pecking problems...so I went out and bought a red light for my chickens because I want to help them out as much as I can in cold weather. I don't leave the light on through out the night it just on for a while in the evening to help keep the coop a little warmer a little longer. So I turned on the Infra Red...NONE of the chickens would go in the coop..and then once they got in the coop and was like a free for all and 3-4 hens in particular were attacking the other hens and drew blood pecking the others combs and the back of the necks. I was modified naturally so I went and turned the light off and walked back out and it seemed as though things settled down..but now I'm stuck with 3-4 bloody hens and 3-4 hens that might continue to attack. What do I do??? I know one thing the red light will being coming to first thing tomorrow!!!
Below is part of the article I read yesterday.
Red or White Light?
In general it is advised to use red light, but there are arguments that either work. Red light is more soothing for a chicken, and helps allow them to sleep. As you could imagine, chickens probably won’t want a bright white light shining on them, especially if you are leaving it on all day/night. I’ll discuss additional advantages of red light in the next section.
Benefits of Using Red Light
There are several studies that show additional benefits of using red light. In general it is said to reduce cannibalism, be calming to the chickens, and reduce pecking problems.
This is one article I found particularly interesting on red light:
What happens when chickens see red?
“A company* that markets red contact lenses for chickens (at 20 cents a pair), points to medical studies showing that chickens wearing red-tinted contact lenses behave differently from birds that don't. They eat less, produce more and don't fight as much. This decreases aggressive tendencies and birds are less likely to peck at each other causing injury. A spokesman said the lenses will improve world egg-laying productivity by $600 million a year.
(Perhaps everything looks red and they cannot distinguish combs, wattles, or blood. Or ...perhaps the chickens are happier because they're viewing the world through rose colored glasses.)” http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-vision/color-and-vision-matters
Below is part of the article I read yesterday.
Red or White Light?
In general it is advised to use red light, but there are arguments that either work. Red light is more soothing for a chicken, and helps allow them to sleep. As you could imagine, chickens probably won’t want a bright white light shining on them, especially if you are leaving it on all day/night. I’ll discuss additional advantages of red light in the next section.
Benefits of Using Red Light
There are several studies that show additional benefits of using red light. In general it is said to reduce cannibalism, be calming to the chickens, and reduce pecking problems.
This is one article I found particularly interesting on red light:
What happens when chickens see red?
“A company* that markets red contact lenses for chickens (at 20 cents a pair), points to medical studies showing that chickens wearing red-tinted contact lenses behave differently from birds that don't. They eat less, produce more and don't fight as much. This decreases aggressive tendencies and birds are less likely to peck at each other causing injury. A spokesman said the lenses will improve world egg-laying productivity by $600 million a year.
(Perhaps everything looks red and they cannot distinguish combs, wattles, or blood. Or ...perhaps the chickens are happier because they're viewing the world through rose colored glasses.)” http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-vision/color-and-vision-matters
