HELP ! PLEASE I am new

[shawn133]

Hi all , I am new to this BYC site . I do not know how to use it yet so I will ask my question here after I introduce myself . I am a 52 year old married female and mother of 4 adult children and grandmother of 10 beautiful grandchildren . I have 24 Road Island Reds . I did see answers to one of my questions regarding light 24/7 . One saying chickens should be able to rest at some point to let them lay natural . Would it be ok to give artificial light for like 2-3 mmonths during winter and then stop ? Would that give them a couple months of recouping ?

 

[Snow bunny]

Hi, How dark is it through your winter?

My chickens only have daylight and roost of a night. is this what yours does?

In winter it is just the same.

During a big moult they will not lay, after the moult they rest to get their feathers back. This can take a couple of months.

Yours should be used to your weather patterns and roost as the daylight goes. Then rise as the sun comes up.

They should not need artificial light as that is only going to light whatever they are in, but to no beneficial use.

I hope this helps you.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! Chickens dont need light 24/7, they need to rest so need the dark. If you were wanting them to lay more during the winter you could add artificial light so they have 14 hours of daylight. This is usually best added in a morning. For me I don't like to add extra light as I find its more natural for them just to roost as the days become shorter. I also like to give them a rest from laying as it takes a lot out if hens to be laying all year round.
You might like to also ask in the behaivour egg laying section, here is the link ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/18/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying

Wishing you the very best of luck and enjoy BYC

 

[NickyKnack]

Hello!

Welcome to BYC and the coop! There's a lot of great peeps here! Feel free to ask lots of questions. But most of all, make yourself at home. I'm so glad you decided to joined the BYC family. I look forward to seeing you around BYC.

 

[N F C]

Add me to the list of members that don't add lighting in the shorter months. I figure my girls are born with a certain number of ova and once those are gone, that's it...no more eggs. I'd rather they continue to lay naturally for a longer part of their lives. I'm not in a high production egg business, I just want enough eggs for us to enjoy with maybe an occasional dozen for the neighbors.

Thanks for joining us!

 

[drumstick diva]

 

[trailrider330]

Welcome to the BYC flock! We are glad you joined us!

 

[Blooie]

Welcome! I'm also in the no-light-let-them-keep-to-their-natural-cycles camp. I'll still get some eggs during the winter, just not as many and mostly from this year's pullets. That's okay - I figure the Good Lord made their bodies do certain things at certain times of the year and who am I to argue with it?