Question about lights for egg-laying in winter

[winekntrychicks]

Very interesting........I see all points. As for me I originally got my chickens for pets. Even as I prepared for them eggs didn't even cross my mind. Then one day my light came on, duh...we're gonna have eggs... then I began to consider the lights no lights thing. I really love my girls. They each have such unique personalities. I think with my existing girls I will not use a light. If on the other hand decide to go into the egg business a light would be of value. It's just my DH and me and neither one of us eat that many eggs. Just some of my thoughts.

 

[countrygirl4513]

Here's what I discovered last winter... I always kept a red heat light on the roost for heat. It was very cold. I kept thinking the red bulb wouldn't affect them as far as forcing egg production but I was WRONG! Eggs kept coming. I don't have electric at the coop, so I string a cord from the house to use. But they had to have the heat. So what to do this year? Don't know yet. But my egg production is way down since the days are getting shorter. I looked at the clock last night when I went to close them up and it was pitch dark at 6:45pm. So the reduction in eggs is extreme. I was sitting on 7 dozen a month ago, now I'm lucky to get a dozen a week.
I've also got another light that I use through the year for security purposes, it's a solar light that I keep in the coop by the door pointed away from the flock. It's just one of those cheap sidewalk lights from Lowes. So it doesn't put out much but it's enough to have incase an emergency pops up.
I've been trying to decide myself if I should give them an extra couple of hours of UV light to boost my egg production. We eat the heck out of them and buying store eggs...yuck, no flavor plus they are expensive! But I'm still gonna have to have that heat bulb come winter I have no other way to keep the kids warm.

 

[kmom246]

If you don't want to use the infrared heat bulbs, you can buy "ceramic heat bulbs" that will plug into your heat lamp socket just like a lightbulb. They emit heat, but don't emit light at all.

I purposely got my girls late in the season - by the time the day olds arrived, our day time temps were in the low 90's, so I didn't need to heat them except for at night. I raised them on natural daylight during the summer. Since they grew up with hot, but decreasing daylight, I was hoping that would help them to not mature too quickly. Also, I let them aclimate to the declining temps so now they are good with down to freezing. My girls should start coming into egg production in midNovember, so I am starting to increase their light now. Next year, as fall approaches, I will let them stay on natural light through that winter. Kind of a compromise. It's my first time with chickens "from babies," so we shall see what happens.

 

[Lee]

Quote:
Yes, my thinking, too! LOL I decided against using lights to let my girls do things naturally.

 

[Sissy]

no heat or light for my ladies.
but I do put down 2 sacks of
wood shavings.over thick layers of newspapers
when getting ready for the cold months
and plenty of wood shavings in
their nest boxes,

 

[tillymay78]

I know this post is very old, but what you are describing is exactly what I did with my girls, and I live in Reno, so we did the no heat except for evenings and let them acclimate to the winter (no heat) but now I am to where my girls should be laying... Mid November, they are 20 weeks now and I am thinking artificial light the first year, and none the following winters... Just as you described. So, I was wondering, how did that work out for you?? if you can remember, lol!

If you don't want to use the infrared heat bulbs, you can buy "ceramic heat bulbs" that will plug into your heat lamp socket just like a lightbulb.  They emit heat, but don't emit light at all.


I purposely got my girls late in the season - by the time the day olds arrived, our day time temps were in the low 90's, so I didn't need to heat them except for at night.  I raised them on natural daylight during the summer.  Since they grew up with hot, but decreasing daylight, I was hoping that would help them to not mature too quickly.  Also, I let them aclimate to the declining temps so now they are good with down to freezing.  My girls should start coming into egg production in midNovember, so I am starting to increase their light now.  Next year, as fall approaches, I will let them stay on natural light through that winter.  Kind of a compromise.  It's my first time with chickens "from babies," so we shall see what happens.