Light or no light

If you want eggs. You will get a "day" light and put it on a timer.

Goes on at 5:30AM. Goes off at 7:30PM.

 

Hi Lee. I've debated the same question with myself. I've decided not to add artificial light in the winter. My chickens are more pets than egg laying machines and I want them to have as natural a life as possible.

 

I read somewhere that sex-links were such a production breed that supplemental light was not necessary and they would still lay without interruption.

I've yet to find any scientific data concerning burnout.

 

If you lived in the tropics you would get pretty much 12 hours of light a day all year round. If you lived in the north your prime egg season would be 6 months or less.

It depends on whether or not you want continued egg production. If you want to go "natural" you might have to double or triple your amount of hens to keep getting eggs.

I don't know of any studies on "burnout" either. If anyone knows of any it would be nice to have them referenced.

 

Our production RSL's/BSL's/GSL's kept punching out the eggs during their first winter with no additional lighting (heat lamps when below zero, but negligible addition). Pretty much slacked off during second year and more so the next. We get about one egg per five hens a day (4th summer).

You can probably google studies on additonal lighting+molting+stress in laying hens and find out plenty.

There is a lot to be learned: (following is an outline of one researcher's work with turkeys and quail and photoperiod - interesting info. about induction/reduction of ovarian tumors by altering photoperiod)

http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/spring05/night.htm

 

Personally I decided to let nature take it's course and not add lighting. We did, however, add clear plastic to the top sides of the chicken coop and lots of window light to give the maximum amount of daylight inside the coop.

With nine laying hens last winter I averaged 5 - 6 eggs a day all winter.

 

When I had sex links they continued to lay all winter long without extra light.

 

I have several different breeds in my laying flock, and I never use artificial light.

Some of the breeds lay like clockwork on even the shortest day of the year, other breeds slow down production, but they do still lay.

We never are completely without eggs, and though I doo sell my extra eggs I'm not treating it as a business, so I'm not going to stress my hens for the sake of a few more eggs.


Just my