Sponsored Post Let There Be Light: Ensuring Egg Laying During the Darkest Days of Winter.

[luvmchicks]

we have 7 leghorns they have heated waterer got farm store and my husbun put on timer light comes on 330am and goes 14 hrs day my concern is what is best bulb?? have 60 watt led in and all is good no molting getting 7 eggs daily but worry about safety of this for my girls also when is best time for using heat lamps ?? just concerned about cold? they have awesome shed insulated hubby built but first year with my chicks and not sure how to care properly for winter any helpful advice and tips would b so helpful

 

[bruceha2000]

we have 7 leghorns they have heated waterer got farm store and my husbun put on timer light comes on 330am and goes 14 hrs day my concern is what is best bulb?? have 60 watt led in and all is good no molting getting 7 eggs daily but worry about safety of this for my girls also when is best time for using heat lamps ?? just concerned about cold? they have awesome shed insulated hubby built but first year with my chicks and not sure how to care properly for winter any helpful advice and tips would b so helpful

Need more info, like where you live. Chickens have natural, personalized, form fitting down coats with insulating feathers on top. Near as I can tell (and not YET from personal experience) they don't need heat in the coop no matter where you live. Especially since yours is insulated. The only exception would be if they are really young.

So, how old are the girls? If they are not yet of laying age, cut the light, it isn't going to do anything but waste electricity even 13W plus whatever the timer uses adds up after a while

.

The really important thing isn't heat but DRAFT FREE ventilation. They are more likely to suffer from cold wind blowing through the coop or too much humidity and stale, ammonia (natural byproduct of chicken poo) filled air. So make sure there is a way for fresh air to enter the coop and exit above the level of the chickens heads on the roost. Also, check out this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/421122/think-its-too-cold-for-your-chickens-think-again

People in Alaska don't heat their coops and their chickens are fine.

Bruce

 

[Yukonchick]

Ya, leghorns are not a real winter hardy breed but I think an insulated coop will be fine. Mine is not insulated but I got Red sussex crosses and I've fattened them up by giving them whole wheat and multi grain bread every day

 

[somadlyinlove]

Wonderful information! My hens continued laying right through last winter but this winter I'm barely getting any even with 6 new pullets who just began laying in early November. It's colder earlier here this year. I suspect that's made a difference.

 

[3Gbabies]

hi great post,i am having problems with my hens,i have 8 rir,a rooster and 2 ducks and have had no eggs worth this last 4 weeks,they have finished moulting 2 weeks ago fed layers pellets free choice,water free choice and oyster shell free choice,have a large caravan for coop,fenced secure area 25 ft x 20 ft and free range quater acre from 9.00 till they go in to roost at evening ,have put in light on timer but i have the light coming on from 3.30 afternoon till 10.00 at night giving them 15 hours light and since i have done this i have had not one egg for 7 days now,should i have the light coming on in the morning ? help please

we are having same problem. chickens not laaying for a while now. dont know what to do to get them laying again.

 

[jandlpoultry]

Chickens have cycles in laying.They lay clutches of eggs, and sit on them, or lay clutches, and stop for a while, with out sitting. If your birds are not laying now, even with the added light, it is because they need the time off. Research your breeds, and see the average amount of eggs they will lay in a year. If your birds are over a year old, expect less eggs per year than the average. Hens that average only 160 to 180 eggs a year will not magically produce more eggs a year, by adding winter light. They might lay more now, but will slack off at other times during the year.

 

[aoxa]

I am not a huge fan of this post. Chickens should take the winter off. They should not be tricked into laying by human interference in adding light. There is a reason they don't lay naturally in the winter, and that reason is to reserve the energy they get from feed on keeping warm and not producing eggs.

It's unnatural.

Our ancestors did not heat or light the chicken coop in the winter, so I believe we shouldn't either.

You can run in to all sorts of issues with adding light.

• Poor condition
• Inability to handle cold temperatures
• Higher feed bills
• Hens are spent much earlier than necessary
• Tack on some $ to your power bills

Among other things.

Chickens are not vending machines. I've learned this from Speckledhen.

 

[jandlpoultry]

I am not a huge fan of this post. Chickens should take the winter off. They should not be tricked into laying by human interference in adding light. There is a reason they don't lay naturally in the winter, and that reason is to reserve the energy they get from feed on keeping warm and not producing eggs.

It's unnatural.

Our ancestors did not heat or light the chicken coop in the winter, so I believe we shouldn't either.

You can run in to all sorts of issues with adding light.

• Poor condition
• Inability to handle cold temperatures
• Higher feed bills
• Hens are spent much earlier than necessary
• Tack on some $ to your power bills

Among other things.

Chickens are not vending machines. I've learned this from Speckledhen.

I agree with you, and am not a fan of this thread either.Egg production slows down in the winter, for a reason, and it benefits the birds (turkeys, quail, ducks, chickens, etc.), to take a break in the coldest months of the year.

 

[CovertChickOps]

Not to pick a fight, but most of the statements of the previous two posts are not backed up by any research conducted by the top agricultural universities in the U.S. or Canada. That research says artificial lighting does the hens no harm, provided they get proper nutrition and are allowed to molt every 12-18 months. If you want to get specific about what is and is not natural, then you should let your hen lay a clutch of eggs and then allow her to hatch them instead of tricking her into laying more eggs by taking them for yourself. By the way, most chicken breeds originated from junglefowl on the Indian subcontinent, so it can be argued that humans have bred (tricked) them to sustain cold, dark winters in Canada in the first place, so who's interferring now? Chickens stop laying in winter because in the natural world, there is less food available for survival - not an issue for our chickens.

Bottom line: chicken keeping and breeding is human interference. The arguement should be what is responsible and irresponsible interference - for me, I rely on actual scientific research to determine that. That being said, every individual has the responsibility to do what they feel is best for their chickens. I agree that up in Canada, allowing the hens to take a break due to severe cold may be the way to go. Here where I am, we have yet to get below freezing, and my hens are happy, healthy, and laying.

For those who would like futher education on small flock health care, I found this link to a manual produced by the Canadian government:

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/ahc/poultry/small_flock_manual.pdf

 

[aoxa]

Not to pick a fight, but most of the statements of the previous two posts are not backed up by any research conducted by the top agricultural universities in the U.S. or Canada. That research says artificial lighting does the hens no harm, provided they get proper nutrition and are allowed to molt every 12-18 months. If you want to get specific about what is and is not natural, then you should let your hen lay a clutch of eggs and then allow her to hatch them instead of tricking her into laying more eggs by taking them for yourself. By the way, most chicken breeds originated from junglefowl on the Indian subcontinent, so it can be argued that humans have bred (tricked) them to sustain cold, dark winters in Canada in the first place, so who's interferring now? Chickens stop laying in winter because in the natural world, there is less food available for survival - not an issue for our chickens.

Bottom line: chicken keeping and breeding is human interference. The arguement should be what is responsible and irresponsible interference - for me, I rely on actual scientific research to determine that. That being said, every individual has the responsibility to do what they feel is best for their chickens. I agree that up in Canada, allowing the hens to take a break due to severe cold may be the way to go. Here where I am, we have yet to get below freezing, and my hens are happy, healthy, and laying.

For those who would like futher education on small flock health care, I found this link to a manual produced by the Canadian government:

http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/ahc/poultry/small_flock_manual.pdf

You missed my point entirely. If you want to have eggs in winter and spend your hens up by year two, go ahead. I want my birds to last me many years, and be useful during that time.

I'm not going by research here. I lit my coop last year and all of those points were experience I had by lighting.

Any serious breeders of show birds do not light in the winter. They want them to be productive in the spring for breeding season and save their eggs for when they are hatching. Roosters are also less fertile this time of year.

Also, I do let my hens go broody. They will go broody on one egg or none at all. When they do, they are given eggs and allowed to hatch.