Lights, Winter and egg laying

[CackleFan]

Hi Roosmom,

How many hens do you have? They seem lay very well. Are they all BO?

Thanks!
Holly

 

[Mahonri]

I have a regular white light in our coop.

Goes on at 6AM and stays on until 8PM.

We have 18 hens. We average about 10 eggs a day. I'm thinking that a couple of my hens aren't laying... this is the weekend we check to see and those who don't lay go to the freezer.

They are 7 months old today.

 

[roosmom]

Cacklefan, We have 38 hens. At least at last count lol. Cant think of how old right this minute, it is in the thread somewhere tho.

11-27-08 15 eggs
11-28-08 20 eggs

Yes CF they are all BO's.

 

[UP_Chicken_Lover]

So many people from MI and I see another person from the UP! I'm near Houghton.

A friend that raised chickens for years told me to keep the birds warm - that they don't like cold at all - so we have a "red" heat lamp that is always on and she told me the same thing, they can't see that color red) and we have a 60 watt bulb on a timer - for "daylight"- 7 am - 9 pm (14 hours). When the light goes off you still have that soft red light that is on, so it's not pitch black in the coop.
The coop is not really insulated but it is draft proof. We put plastic on the walls and then put up plywood over that. So, the coop stays nice and cozy. No windows here either - just their little door to go out if they want on days that are above 30 and not snowing! LOL

My girls are 19 weeks old - soon to be 20 weeks and just starting to lay.
Other than talking up a storm - any time they hear my voice - my chickens are just great - all busy doing their chicken thing - scratching, eating. I went with the Black Stars (Black Sex Links) because they are a hardy bird for cold weather - and that seems to be true so far.

I went with the wisdom of someone that had raised chickens for years... so far it seems to be working!

 

[digitS']

I have a light that really provides zero heat - compact fluorescent, 11 watts. In years before, it was a 40 watt incandescent but that didn't do much either. It's up to warm little chicken bodies . . .

I have never heated the coop but it is fully insulated and even the chicken door is closed during sub-freezing weather - no windows during the Winter, either. It is actually a small insulated room in a larger coop but it gets cold enuf in there to freeze water when outdoor temps get down in the teens. They'll go quite a bit lower than that soon enuf.

I really see an up-tick in their feed consumption as the temps go down. They seem comfortable enuf and lay well but (dang !) they are already eating quite a bit more. Feed costs - heating costs . . . feed costs - heating costs

Steve

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

I really see an up-tick in their feed consumption as the temps go down. They seem comfortable enuf and lay well but (dang !) they are already eating quite a bit more. Feed costs - heating costs . . . feed costs - heating costs

Steve




It would be interesting to find out what the difference is between the cost of keeping our coop at 50 degrees F. and not having to feed them so much food (although they are majorly spoiled when it comes to food) versus keeping it colder and feeding them much more food? Anybody ever kept records of something like that?

 

[roosmom]

Hi UP CL, So is this the first year for you with the chickens? Have you had them long? I ask because, When I go outside with watermelon they will scarf it. Anything red, they are on it. I do firmly believe they can see red. You will notice it too eventually, lol. I think different chickens react differently to cold. we chose the BO's because they are more cold hardy than some of the others. I have the light go out completely at 8.15pm. So they can get a good nights sleep, LOL. NO WILD Parties for you chicky poos.
DigitS, we have not had our water freeze yet.....we have had some days the temps didnt climb above 25. We do put ACV in it, but I dont think that is what makes the difference.
LuvmygirlsinAK and DigitS, UM yeah on the feed, holy cow. That would be a topic for someone else to do. Maybe 2 people with same age same sex same breed chickens but in two different states? LOL



24 eggs today 11-29-08

 

[beckysuzp]

Hi there! I just read through this whole post... came on to look for hints on why my chickies aren't laying, I'm averaging 2-4 eggs a day out of 6 71/2-mo old WLH's and 18 assorted 6 1/2-mo old hens (and a 2 yr old banty and a few roosters) The banty's haven't laid in over a week. One WLH (Cherry) is laying every single day with no problems, every body else, forget it. I'm in upstate NY and the avg temps have been just over 30 during the day and down in the 20s at night (I think). I have an 8x8 coop w/no windows so it's pitch black in there with no lights. I've had two white heat lamps going in there 24/7 for weeks now, to keep it warm, thought they needed it. After reading thru this post, I'm going to pick up a timer today. Going to set it for 14 hrs a day and let it go black in there at night. I bought one of those water heater thingys to keep their waterer from freezing, so I'm not worried about that. I'll keep you posted with what happens now... And food, wow, I'm feeding twice as much as I was a few months ago and they all act like they're starving when I get in there at 5-6pm every night. After finding out that chickens don't mind the cold, the only thing I'm worried about is the 5 pigeons that share the coop - they're friends with the bantys though so maybe they'll shack up to keep warm... Does anyone think adding a fiberglass panel to the roof (intead of the metal roof that's on it) will help? Like natural sunset, instead of pitch black when the timer goes off? Or will they get used to the light turning off at a certain time? Will keep you posted, anyone with any advice, I'm open to hear it - have only kept chickens since May.

 

[Fudgie]

All our chickens are housed in the barn. We have a brooder in there that has heatlamps over the 2 sections. Evidently that is enough light to make the hens and call ducks and geese and ducks lay. We have been getting eggs from all for the last 2 weeks.

 

[curliet]

Just wanting to update on how my method is working. Have my chickens in a coop that's inside the garage, so it's dark there all the time. But, with a brooder light rigged up with 2 little 40 watt appliance bulbs, and also a red heat bulb on a timer, they get light from 6 am to 7 pm. It seems to be just what they need, they are giving me an average of 7-8 eggs a day (there are 9 hens) and am having no problems with water freezing so far. I know that some of you don't feel that heat should be necessary, but the garage floor is concrete, and that stays cold and damp. We did put plywood down over the concrete for the floor in the coop, but that cold still seeps thru. I sort of thought that the red lamp would help with the dampness.