night light time yet?

[Elly]

how soon does a light need to be turned on in the coop? Right now I have no light on, only what comes through a large window and an opening that is about four feet high by three feet wide. They do go outside in their run. They aren't laying yet...about 19 to 20 weeks old.

 

[gritsar]

If you want them to continue to lay throughout the winter you'll need to have a light on, adjusted so that your chickens are getting light for 12 to 14 hours a day. The actual time will vary depending on where you live. Being that your chickens are near 20 weeks old, you'll likely still get eggs before their production slows down for winter. You may even gets eggs throughout the winter with no additonal light, depending on the breed. If you want give them a break from laying in the wintertime, provide no light and their bodies will naturally adjust to the change of seasons.

 

[Michigan Chickman]

I started turning mine on in the evening about two weeks ago when I feed them. I go out and tuck them in about 9:30p so they're getting about an extra hour of light at this point.

The girls were hatched April 7 and started laying a few weeks ago.

 

[antlers]

My hens hatched April 21. They startd laying at 15.5 weeks. Well most of them did. I have 9. I was getting 2-3 eggs aday and last weekend I started leaving the light on 24/7 (compact flouresent). Production went up to 5 eggs yesterday, 7 today. It makes a difference. I leave i ton 24/7 cause I dont have a timer yet and the coop os a ways from the house here on the farm. As a kid we left it on all the time becasue in the minnesota winters the bulbs added heat to the house to keep the water liquid. May do the same here depending on the weather.

 

[wyliefarms]

To get the best egg production chickens need 17 hours of daylight. We have our light on a timer.

If your pullets aren't laying yet, 12 hours is ample.

 

[Elly]

ok...I get that they need extra light to keep on laying over the winter, but how bright does it need to be...the coop now is bright, but not as bright as it would be with a 60watt light bulb....could that also be the reason that they haven't even start to squat or show any indication that they will be laying soon. My oldest daughter who is leaving for RCMP training the end of this month was really hoping that we would have eggs by then...she is going out several times a day hoping

that there will be a gift for us...and people think Christmas can be hard waiting to open the gifts...this is worse, waiting for that first egg !!!

oh yea, if I decide to not give the gals extra light during the winter will they stop laying all together or just slow down...that is if we will have eggs by then

 

[bigzio]

The size of the light needs to be larger if you indeed have a very large coop. Most coops can get by with a 40 watt or 60 watt.

It's best to use a timer and add the additional time in the AM, so the flock can go to roost with the normal daylight. It's better than the light going off at night and the flock gets caught off the roost in the total darkness.

bigzio

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Depends on the breed and somewhat on the individual chicken. You can read lots of pros and cons on using light to increase/maintain egg production in winter through the use of artificial lighting here on BYC.
My chickens are going the natural way, but to me they're great pets and their egg production is only the icing on the cake.

 

[henmommy]

If it is getting dark outside, will they go in to roost if there is a liht on in the coop? If you left the light on all night, would they still roost/sleep? I live in upstate NY and by mid Oct it gets dark by 6-7. So I am thinking of putting a light on timer to go on @ 5 am and off @ 7 pm. Will that work? I don't think the coop has enough natural light so I might need to leave on all day when it is too cold for them to go outside.

 

[wyliefarms]

My hens don't like to go in at night if the light in the coop is not on

I have it go off about midnight and on again about 8 am. There are no windows in our coop so the light is it, until we open the door and let them out.