Light for eggs

[newchickens2009]

I have a flock of ISA Browns that I keep just for selling eggs. I want to add light and think it would be best for me to add it in the evening and not in the morning for the sake of my neighbors. How do I dim the light gradually instead of just turning it off instantly so they can go to their roost as normal as possible?

 

[Mum]

I am not a fan of adding artificial light and I will give you a few reasons why.

1) I keep hens because I respect the "back to nature" aspect of it - so, I don't want to meddle with nature.
2) There is talk that hens *need* 14hrs of daylight to be able to lay; this is poppycock! I'm experiencing 10hrs max daylight now and they are laying.
3) Very recently, I had a fox attack one of my girls. As a consequence, for recuperation purposes, she was housed in a pet carrier in my home; this also meant she was on human time = artificial lights between my waking and sleeping. Did it make her lay? Well, it could be argued that, as she was injured, she wasn't going to lay anyway! But, by that same token, once she was returned to her flock, she was back to nesting. In human time, the lights either went "On!" or they went "Off!", no dimming involved.

Light dimming would involve some kind of dimmer switch; I don't see how this would impact on your neighbours one way or another - only your utility bills

 

[OldGuy43]

I am not a fan of adding artificial light and I will give you a few reasons why.

1) I keep hens because I respect the "back to nature" aspect of it - so, I don't want to meddle with nature.
2) There is talk that hens *need* 14hrs of daylight to be able to lay; this is poppycock! I'm experiencing 10hrs max daylight now and they are laying.
3) Very recently, I had a fox attack one of my girls. As a consequence, for recuperation purposes, she was housed in a pet carrier in my home; this also meant she was on human time = artificial lights between my waking and sleeping. Did it make her lay? Well, it could be argued that, as she was injured, she wasn't going to lay anyway! But, by that same token, once she was returned to her flock, she was back to nesting. In human time, the lights either went "On!" or they went "Off!", no dimming involved.

Light dimming would involve some kind of dimmer switch; I don't see how this would impact on your neighbours one way or another - only your utility bills

Same here. I'm not buying into the length of day theory. I'm getting 8/day from a flock of 12. Temp and weather do seem to have an effect though.

 

[darin367]

can't argue with tried and proved science........ i guess every egg production company in the entire world is just wasting electricity, wasting money on lights etc...... doesn't sound like a amart way to run a business....

 

[darin367]

i should add.. they do this to MAXIMIZE egg out put!

 

[Mum]

can't argue with tried and proved science........ i guess every egg production company in the entire world is just wasting electricity, wasting money on lights etc...... doesn't sound like a amart way to run a business....

They are using hybrids which have been specifically bred to be high egg producers and they use that technique *because* they are a business and want to maximise their profits as much as they possibly can.

We're talking about BYC. It's not comparing like with like.

 

[darin367]

i realize we are back yard chicken owners......... what i was trying to say is if you want more eggs,, use a light in the winter!!!! i'm in the pacific northwest and can say from experience,, no light= 1/3 the egg out put..

 

[newchickens2009]

I am not a fan of adding artificial light and I will give you a few reasons why.

1) I keep hens because I respect the "back to nature" aspect of it - so, I don't want to meddle with nature.
2) There is talk that hens *need* 14hrs of daylight to be able to lay; this is poppycock! I'm experiencing 10hrs max daylight now and they are laying.
3) Very recently, I had a fox attack one of my girls. As a consequence, for recuperation purposes, she was housed in a pet carrier in my home; this also meant she was on human time = artificial lights between my waking and sleeping. Did it make her lay? Well, it could be argued that, as she was injured, she wasn't going to lay anyway! But, by that same token, once she was returned to her flock, she was back to nesting. In human time, the lights either went "On!" or they went "Off!", no dimming involved.

Light dimming would involve some kind of dimmer switch; I don't see how this would impact on your neighbors one way or another - only your utility bills

I think there was a miss understanding, I need to dim the lights at night as much as possiable for my chickens to have some way to see to get to their roost when the bright light goes off not for the sake of my neighbors. For my neighbors, I don't want the light to come on at 3am and my roosters start to crow. The reason I want to light is because I have a flock of ISA Browns that I use for selling eggs that have dropped production by more that 50% since November/December and it's hurting my business.
I do as well have other breeds that I keep as pets and do not want to use light in their coop, just the production birds.

 

[Eggcessive]

Actually from my own experience 12 hours a day is plenty of light to keep the girls laying well in winter. My light timer comes on at 5 AM and goes off at 8 AM. They go to roost now around 5:45 PM, so I will probably be adjusting my timer to 6 AM soon. As far as a gradually dimming light I don't know of one like that.

 

[newchickens2009]

Actually from my own experience 12 hours a day is plenty of light to keep the girls laying well in winter. My light timer comes on at 5 AM and goes off at 8 AM. They go to roost now around 5:45 PM, so I will probably be adjusting my timer to 6 AM soon. As far as a gradually dimming light I don't know of one like that.

How much light do they need? What watt bulb should I use in my 8x15 runs?
I was thinking of having a very dim light stay on (just enough to be able to see their roost) for 15 minutes after the bright light goes off so they will go to their roost and not be left on the ground in total darkness. Is this necessary?