Is there a downside to putting a light in the coop for the winter months?

[Cheryl1948]

Dufferchick, congrats on your first egg! Mine won't be laying until Dec. or Jan. I have opened up the nesting boxes, put in shavings and fake brown ceramic eggs, to get them interested. Fun times!

 

[guineafowlSA]

I have owned chickens for 5 yrs. I put a light in the coop to come on at 4:30 am and go off at 9 am. The evenings they put themselves to sleep on their schedule.. I have not had any problems with this. I do put scratch in there when I close the door at night so they will have something to do in the am when the light comes on. Otherwise they might pick each other. It is not a natural process and I am sure in the long run the hens may run out of eggs a bit sooner. Otherwise it will be give you more eggs in the winter months.

I have a light that comes on at 6am and goes off at 9am. I keep my hens in two stables at night (daytime free range) with an interconnecting petdoor left open, they roost in one stable and lay eggs in their nesting boxes in the other although there are roosts in both stables. I do make sure there is a full feeder in the adjoining stable because they are losing feathers big time right now and hens like to eat as soon as they wake up, in my experience. Egg production from my assorted flock is way down right now but that's OK. They deserve a rest.

 

[chickwhispers]

I put a 60 watt light in the coop from Oct through March. It is set to come on at 4:30 am and off at 9 am when the automatic door opens. This gives them 12-13 hours of light. I find this doesn't overwork them, and gives them a more normal day. Our winters tend to be more cloudy than sunny. This worked well for me last year, which was my first year. And I am doing the same this year. I have 4 hens and 10 pullets, all laying. I get 9-10 eggs a day. All 4 hens have molted as well. The only thing I've done different this year is the light bulb is yellow, it gives a good warm glow, I have it hung behind the wire of a door so the girls can't get to it and knock it down. There has been no picking in the coop. Occasionally, one in particular will pick at certain ones outside, but I have yet to see her go at them inside. On the heat aspect, the only thing I do is to add more wattage (60-75 watts more) during a really cold, cold snap. That's it, I want them to be able to handle the cold well. The coop always has one window slightly open to half open depending on the temps and wind. I'm sure you will figure out what's right for you and your chickens. Good luck with your chickens! Oh and yes do plan for more than originally thought, Chicken Math does have a way of creeping in on a person!

 

[Cindy in PA]

Right now I am lighting from 2 am to 8 am and the sun is up by 7. This gives them between 14 & 15 hours of light. I use a 40 watt regular bulb for an 8 by 8 coop.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Around page 9 of this thread there was some discussion about whether a hen could run out of ova to form new eggs. Two different “experts” were quoted, each giving a totally different answer.

I contacted Dr. Bramwell, a professor in the poultry science department at the University of Arkansas. The U of A has one of the top three poultry science departments in United States. Dr. Bramwell is an expert in chicken reproduction. I have absolutely no doubt he knows what he is talking about.

Dr. Bramwell gave permission for me to reference him and use his response. Here it is.

Yes, a young Pullet chick hatches with a determinant number of follicles on her left ovary that are possible to be developed to become one of the yolk or ova in an egg. Only the left ovary develops in most avian species so anything on the right ovary never develops and is of no use. So can a hen theoretically 'run out of' potential follicles? Yes she can and this does occur on occasion. It happens often in parrots that may live 70, 80 or even up to 100 years of age. These hens that run out of follicles are referred to as 'slick hens' as the ovaries are often checked by veterinarians and confirmed that they are indeed 'slick' hens with 'slick ovaries' that have no more follicles to develop.

So does this happen often in chickens? Not really that often because most of our domestic chickens do not live long enough to run out of follicles, they 'run out of gas' in other ways much sooner. This could be some other disease or infection or condition related to extended periods of laying that might either cause death or an inability to produce and develop proper shells on an egg.

So in short, yes it's possible but unlikely for a chicken to become 'slick' and run out of follicles.

 

[Gifa]

So does this happen often in chickens? Not really that often because most of our domestic chickens do not live long enough to run out of follicles, they 'run out of gas' in other ways much sooner. This could be some other disease or infection or condition related to extended periods of laying that might either cause death or an inability to produce and develop proper shells on an egg.

So in short, yes it's possible but unlikely for a chicken to become 'slick' and run out of follicles.

I like the answer... The slick ovary thing is describing the physical appearance of an ovary that no longer has the bumpy texture of an ovary that still has live follicles. I understand exactly what that means and looks like in regard to ovary health... It makes logical sense to me that a hen that does not experience the natural low production in the winter because she is living in a year round summer will consume more of her finite eggs in the same time a hen that experiences the seasonal variation of length of day... and thus become a slick hen long before a hen that isn't pushed the the extreme of her already extreme egg production.

And while it's a great answer as to what happens to a hen at the end of her productive life, it doesn't seem to acknowledge lighting factors directly. The factor seems to be how long the hen gets to live... Just like us human ladies... we can live to around 80 or 100... but we run out of gas around 50... and we only lay one egg a month if healthy. Personally speaking, I ran out of gas around 26 years... I know that one of my ovaries has failed completely, and thus is slick... my other ovary seems to beat once a year or two... So... I'm pretty much a slick woman...

But back to hens... Most hens get harvested around age 2...This is certainly true in the big industrial egg factories... and true in smaller for profit operations... In smaller family farms, where profit is not the primary goal... hens are sometimes allowed to hang around around 5 or 6 years. I think I read that the natural lifespan is something like 10 barring health complications as you mentioned. Some hens seem to kick around for 18 years... I think I read a post on here about someone's beloved bantam living that long... that's a wackadoodle crazy long lived chicken. I think I read that that hen laid 1 egg a year or something like that... sure... not out of eggs... but I wouldn't exactly count her amongst my my laying hens at that point either...

I absolutely did not dispute that production would be lower in either 3rd year scenario... I went into great detail to describe the sequence somewhere back there... The questions was to what degree does the lighting impact production after a 3rd and subsequent years' productivity. A hen that maybe drops 50-75 eggs in her 3rd year is altogether different than a hen that drops 150-175.

Are there any productivity data comparisons between 3rd or 4th year hens that have been lit 14-16 hours a day, every day versus 3rd or 4th year hens that have not been lit by anything other than the sun? Because that is what I think the real focus of this part of the discussion was about in the context of the TS's question.

Can you hit up professor Bramwell again to expound upon artificial environmental factors?

 

[Steena]

Gifa,
How funny!
Slick vs un-slick.
I spent many years in the medical field and never came upon the definition of a "slick ovary".
Wow! I learn something every day on this site.
I feel my hens have led me onto a new and enlightened path.
Thank you.
Steena

 

[Gifa]

Given how I've been piled on here in the last few days on this forum, I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not... I don't want to jump to any conclusions... but my use of that term was appropriated from Prof. Bramwell's use as a cutesy, tongue in cheek analogy. I don't actually believe this is the proper term for humans. I hope you understand that.

 

[Ridgerunner]

No Gifa, no follow-up questions. I’m grateful Dr. Bramwell answered the question when he didn’t have to. I don’t want to push my luck. I may have more questions in the future.

I asked a very basic question, can a hen run out of ova. That’s something that I see a lot on here and I wanted an answer to that specific question. It wasn’t just for this thread but a question for the forum that I thought would be of general interest.

 

[Steena]

I hope you know I was writing with humor, if you're referring to my reply. If I knew how to make those jumping smiley faces, I would have added one or two.
I truly enjoy all that I learn from this site and your reply, I thought was great.
I'm trying to put together a winter formula that one of the members recommended as a supplement for my girls.
Where else could I find a more generous and informed set of members.