leaving the light on 24x7?

[branston]

I'm in Virginia and have 12 10 week old chicks segregated from my main flock. They are all fully feathered but I also worry about them being warm enough. I prefer to do things the natural way and not light my coop to keep the layers laying but I do put on a red heat lamp in the babies side of the coop an hour before they make their way inside for the night. I also do the deep litter bedding, about 6 inches of Swift horse bedding. Hope that helps

 

[scooter147]

Quote:
Your grandfather's "burn out" is correct. Laying is largely controlled by light. Shorter days equals less eggs and as the days get longer (starting today) egg production increases. Therefore his thought process is correct in that a hen as only so many egg folicles when she exhausts them she's done. So if artificial light is used the hen will lay more than if no artifical light is used and therefore become "spent" sooner.

 

[KandiandJerry]

I have to agree with post #6 I leave a light on 24/7 and never had any problems they put a good supply of eggs down.......... my brother in law does the same and has a 10 year old hen that still lays just not as much as a young bird but still lays eggs

 

[Fred's Hens]

Quote:
Your grandfather's "burn out" is correct. Laying is largely controlled by light. Shorter days equals less eggs and as the days get longer (starting today) egg production increases. Therefore his thought process is correct in that a hen as only so many egg folicles when she exhausts them she's done. So if artificial light is used the hen will lay more than if no artifical light is used and therefore become "spent" sooner.

The fact is we just don't know. There's been no studies done on this, of which I am aware. A hen is born with thousands and thousands of eggs in potential. Far more than she will likely ever develop or lay. Since the commercial laying industry, which foots the bill for poultry research, usually, even if it is done at a State Ag school, doesn't keep hens for more than two laying seasons, the research is simply incomplete. We simply do not know. What we do have is testimonial evidence and what each of us experiences.

I do not light 24/7. Yes, they would take to roost and yes, they would "sleep", but it simply strikes me as unnecessary. To what end? The natural state of restful sleep occurs in nature when it is dark, at least for me.

A few nights of sleep deprivation and I am completely out of sorts. Sleep deprivation or sleep disturbance is a known torture tool when employed upon POWs and the like. I don't know if one can extrapolate from that to chickens or not, but I suspect so.

There is much we do not yet understand about sleep, rest, and productivity. Until we know more, I allow my hens lots of hours of total darkness in which to sleep and rest.