Lighting a chicken house at night

[nrieff]

I installed rope lights in my coop and around the perimeter of the run. I have the lights on a timer to turn on at 1am, this will give them 15hrs of light. The sunrise is usually around 7:30 am and sunset is arpund 5 pm.


First question is will the rope lights work to trick them into thinking it's daylight.

Second question is how long should it take till I see eggs?

Any help would be awesome!!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

This time of year adding extra light can do more harm than good. We are already experiencing increasing daylight which should get most hens laying in the next month or two.

Adding extra lighting is actually more complicated than turning on a light as it needs to be slowly increased in a controlled manner.

Chickens also need the dark time as well. I wouldn't be turning on a light at 1 am, that could be stressful and cause troubles.

 

[kat6225]

This time of year adding extra light can do more harm than good. We are already experiencing increasing daylight which should get most hens laying in the next month or two.

Adding extra lighting is actually more complicated than turning on a light as it needs to be slowly increased in a controlled manner.

Chickens also need the dark time as well. I wouldn't be turning on a light at 1 am, that could be stressful and cause troubles.

Agreed. It won't be long before the girls naturally start laying again without the help of a light in the house. Letting them rest for the remainder of the winter is what I would do.

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

Coming on at 1am would give 16 hours of light.....that's overkill, as 12-14 is plenty.
Changing the light that much that abruptly could indeed cause problems.
It also takes times for the light to do it's thing, can be up to a month or so.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

 

[dgh]

my experience with lighting a coop, full time at night, is that it will cause vent gleet in the older birds. Vent gleet is as bad as it sounds. Not worth it. I think they need the darker months off to recoup. BUT my 7 mo old birds are not laying. Usually my new birds kick in one week after Xmas when the days start getting longer. Not this year. I am going to try a timer- adding a few hours of low light toward the morning and a higher protein feed, no more corn or sunflower seeds, sorry girls !!! Get to work.

 

[3riverschick]

my experience with lighting a coop, full time at night, is that it will cause vent gleet in the older birds. Vent gleet is as bad as it sounds. Not worth it. I think they need the darker months off to recoup. BUT my 7 mo old birds are not laying. Usually my new birds kick in one week after Xmas when the days start getting longer. Not this year. I am going to try a timer- adding a few hours of low light toward the morning and a higher protein feed, no more corn or sunflower seeds, sorry girls !!! Get to work.

 

[dgh]

thank you. I am glad to have the measurements for molasses and vinegar. I would suggest that forcing egg production might be one of the stressors producing vent gleet. (per my vet) but this forum has more information than any vet I have been to. Thanks again.