light in hen house?

[doright]

I have been told that if i put a light in my hen house that it will make my hens start laying eggs again is it try?

 

[teach1rusl]

Well, there are no guarantees... But egg production DOES drop off w/the decrease of natural light. So installing a light that comes on early in the morning to make the daytime seem longer has worked to help out w/egg production... good luck!

 

[South Hill Chickens]

The general consensus (as if there were such a thing with chickens) is that keeping your hens on a 12 hour day will help keep production up. I put a light with a timer into my coop that turns on early in the morning, giving the girls a good 12 hours of light. However, I have it turn off later in the morning so they get a "natural" twilight and sunset. It seems to have done the trick - one that stopped laying is laying again and they're laying more frequently. We'll see if the 20-degree weather this weekend puts a stop to it.

 

[doright]

thank you guys for your coments i am very new to raising chickens and i am trying to learn the ins and outs!!

 

[rdranch]

South Hill Chickens has it right. We did that with our first flock and it worked well. However with the new flock I am not doing lights just letting things happen naturally. Maybe it will cut down on stress and feather picking when they are cooped up because of bad weather. The goal is to get more eggs come spring after they have slacked off a bit for the winter.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
I've considered this as well... Since my few birds are pets, and they are born w/how ever many eggs they'll ever lay... I'm wondering whether it will extend the years that they will lay if I just accept that I will get less over the winter months???? Mine are not of laying age yet anyhow, but I'm curious for future years, because I will not be replacing my hens; they're keepers.