Is it *really* unnatural to add light?

[digitS']

Quote:
I'll probably regret asking this but . . .

Would you say the same thing to a person keeping chickens in Fairbanks where they had sunrise today at 10:31 am and sunset at 2:52 pm with a night darkness that was 19 1/2 hours long. . . . soon, there will be 21 hours of darkness out of every 24?

Steve

 

[Beekissed]

If I lived in Alaska, I would choose breeds that are cold-hardy and lay productively in that sort of environment. If not, I would plan on storing my eggs for long-term usage so that I would have eggs in the slow times.

Adding light or not adding light, chickens have been living in these areas of the world for quite some time and, I'm sure, have learned to adapt accordingly. Winter is a time of slow down for all of nature, even humans.

It really comes down to preference in the long run. Do you want to provide light and keep your hens alayin' or not, it doesn't really matter in the broad scheme of things.

 

[ole-crone]

The more I think about it - it can't be healthy to sit that long in the dark. I know that I get cold unless I'm moving around now that it is below freezing out daily - not to mention it drives me crazy to be stuck in one area. If your coop has the room for your girls to move around and scratch through the bedding, I bet that is more healthy in the long run than huddled together keeping the mites and lice happy. I don't think HOURS of fake light is the complete answer but I don't see anything wrong with a few extra morning hours. Forcing them to play around in the coop might also be a great way to keep the bedding all stirred up, rather than piles of poo building up under the roosts.

 

[Beekissed]

I know that I get cold unless I'm moving around now that it is below freezing out daily - not to mention it drives me crazy to be stuck in one area.

Well, now that we've established that YOU would do better with some extra lighting......

Chickens, on the other hand, are not humans.

On cold and snowy days, my chickens actually prefer to roost, even in the middle of the day, with their warm feathers cozy over their feet. Unless your added light is also added warmth, I can't imagine their behavior would change much.​

 

[ivan3]

momo wrote: I've seen posts suggesting that chickens will live longer and lay longer if they're allowed to take time off in the winter. It also seems that production strains are given added light far more often than your average backyard flock, and that production birds are more prone to reproductive tract problems, internal laying etc, tending to "burn out" more quickly than a heritage type chicken, so would this have something to do with the impression that added light shortens their lives? Just curious, trying to find out if anyone knows the science behind it ...

I've posted the link to this report before (so forgive the repeat) on research focusing primarily on how to decrease length of photorefractoriness in turkey hens (another gallinaceous bird) so as to trigger laying on `schedule', i.e., responding more rapidly and predictably to change in lighting schedule.

Some quotes from the article:

Siopes has found that photoperiod plays a pivotal role in regulating quail and turkey immune systems. Exposing birds to 24-hour periods when the dark period is considerably longer than the light period boosts the birds' immune systems.
"We've developed a way to regulate the immune system of an animal in a simple, inexpensive way without pharmacology," says Siopes.

The immune response to the light-dark cycle occurs quickly. "We can see effects in one to two weeks," Siopes says. The immune systems of birds kept in short-day conditions are much more robust than birds living under longer light regimes.

Siopes explains that exposing turkeys to the light equivalent of short days stimulates the pineal gland, which produces melatonin, a hormone that is a powerful immune system enhancer. The more daily darkness, the more melatonin.

It seems that 3 to 5 percent of turkey hens develop spontaneous ovarian tumors. Siopes first noticed the cancers a number of years ago when doing necropsies on turkeys. When he confirmed the masses he found in some of his birds were cancerous tumors, Siopes decided to see whether photoperiod had any effect on the cancers.

What he found was startling. By adjusting photoperiod for a shorter day length, Siopes was able to eradicate tumors. When he put the turkeys whose tumors had completely disappeared back on longer days, the tumors returned.

"We can literally make these cancers disappear and reappear by manipulating photoperiod," Siopes says. He's also found that melatonin injections will slow tumor development.

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/spring05/night.htm

Some lines of production chooks are more prone to reproductive problems that are genetically mediated, along with problems triggered by manipulating photoperiod one might experience increased losses. However, if maximizing egg production is the primary goal, then the hens should be `taken out' of production and processed for meat after 1.5-2yr.s.

Our production RSLs & BSLs will be 5yr. old in 3/10. They were excellent producers (with no added light) from 8/05-10/06, then the numbers dropped and the laying shifted to a more seasonal schedule (from late May- early Aug. this yr.).
We lost one Gold Sex Link to internal laying and a BSL to a large ovarian tumor that impinged on her respiratory tract (causing build up of fluid and secondary infection - pretty much drowned).​

 

[digitS']

They would eat and drink . . . but those are very basic biological needs.

Still, something that is very difficult for a chicken to do in the dark, I would imagine.

 

[ella]

Yes, they keep plenty warm while sleeping. Go out and feel their feet, cold chicken=cold feet, warm chicken=warm feet. It's pretty cool. And I can assure you they don't have mites or lice. And they are in no way unhappy while sleeping.

Digits I would say excatly what I said to anyone. It all depends on why and how long you have your flock. If you don't plan on replacing them in a year or two don't add light. If you do plan on raising replacers go ahead and add light.

My horses are sitting around in 17 hours of dark too, I don't think they're unhappy or unhealthy. Same for every living creature up here, domestic or wild. That's just the way it is living in Minnesota.

If someone in Fairbanks or anywhere else wants to add light go for it. But if you have your chickens for pets, be prepared to pay. As I said that's my experience.

 

[digitS']

So, you are saying being able to see to eat and drink for only a few hours each day is just a matter of preference for the person who keeps chickens and allowing them longer to do so would be shortening their life.

. . . okay, I give up.

 

[HLAC]

We keep chickens in little pens, selectively breed them to be layers or meat machines (not to mention the selective breeding for varieties with short legs, extra toes, mutant feathers or lacking feathers etc...) We feed them food their wild ancestors never saw.
And we're worried about 14 hours of light being unnatural? I'd raise jungle fowl if I wanted to keep things natural.

You want to give a laying hen a rest, that's one thing. But the 'natural' label is just funny too me when it comes to modern chickens.

 

[greathorse]

That is so correct.