My chicks are 9 weeks old. I was looking for a different feed company and on the BUckeye Feed site it says this: . Provide clean, fresh water and grit free-choice at all times. Restrict lighting, if possible, to less than 13 hours per day when pullets are less than 20 weeks of age (some strains of leghorns will reach sexual maturity at 18 to 19 weeks of age) to discourage premature egg laying and the possibility of blowouts I turn a light on once it gets dark and shut it off in the morning! Do I need to get rid of the light for now since it doesnt get dark until 9?
I use a light in our coop to avoid the chickens getting scared by a noise or disturbance and injuring themselves. Ive yet to hear anyone on here say that I shouldnt use the light. The light I use is pretty dim. From what ive seen, chickens seem to have less low light sight then humans, so in the dark they seem completely blind. My pullets are 16 weeks old as of today and starting to show signs of maturity. If I have any "blow outs" I'll let you know. In the mean time, I'll be watching this thread , i'm interested in reading the responces you get.
I thought I have read where they need light since they are blind in the dark??? Maybe I will go to a night light, right now I am using a 25w bulb.
I know light stimulates the hormone they use to produce eggs. Although every animal need a sleep cycle, or a certain amount of daylight and dark hours. I do know that to many hours of light can also cause overstimulation, featherplcking and fighting. See what everyone else says, but I would think some hours of dark are healthy.
They do not NEED the light. It's true that they are basically blind in the dark and after they are laying some people put in a light on a timer to come on before dawn and stay on awhile after dusk to make the 14 hours or so they must have to stimulate them to continue laying in the winter. They naturally slow down in the winter or stop altogether if there is no added light and they do need a break. If you keep them going unnaturally during winter, that has been proven to cause reproductive cancer and they will have a shorter laying lifespan. The first winter I had my flock I kept a light on a timer, but this year, I am not going to do that. They always have a nightlight just so they have a tiny bit of light to see by if someone moves around on the roost.
I've never used extra light. I have a 4 year old hen and she's still laying. It slows down in the winter or when she's moulting, like right now.
I have the coops set up behind the garage, and a motion light on the garage. This way, they can sleep without being bothered by light, but if a predator comes in the yard the motion light will theoretically scare away the predator, and allow my chickens to see.
Quote:Speckled - I was doing a search and came across this post. I trust your judgement 100% so please help I need your opinion. My chickens were born in May so from what I understand they won't molt this fall/winter. Is that right? Heres the tricky part. There is only 1 window in my coop so it is really dark in there if I don't have a light on during the day. The light is on a timer. What should I set the timer for so I don't stress their bodies? I have all sex links BUT I don't care if the are meant to be production egg layers I just want them to be happy and not stressed- egg production aside. Should I just have it come on at the normal sunrise/sunset in my area?
It is cold and raining here today. (I am not complaining! We have been in a 4 month drought!) My barn is dark, very dim, and there is no sunlight at all, just a gray light this morning (and yesterday, too). I do not like going out to the barn when everything is dark. I have the lights on in my hen house. If I can't see well in there in these conditions neither can they. The light serves no other purpose for me at this time other having a clear visual when I go in there. It will remain on all day long. When I close up tonight I will turn the lights off. As far as setting a light for the egg production here is a thread we started a couple weeks ago. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=18717