Supplemental light for winter laying

In Alaska, if you want eggs, you better be smarter than God and give em some extra light. Four hours of dusk isn't gonna make any chicken happy about anything. So, even tho this is my first winter with this batch of birds, I'm going to give them 12 hours of light, and a little extra heat with it. Not much, just a little.
 
this is our first year w/ chickens...we have decided to "light 'em up"....
however only in the morning...that way they still are able to put themselves away for the night w/out getting caught on the floor when the light suddenly goes out
we are going to keep them on a 14 hour daylight schedule and see how it goes...who knows...next year we may opt out
also we use florescent lighting just because all the dust from the chickens can create a fire hazzard when building up on the incandescent bulbs
and we have our timer in a plastic baggie to keep it from being clogged up w/ dust too
 
Well, I've made my decison, thanks everyone for en-"lightening" me. And yes, it is a personal decision, just like any other decision that a farmer makes. And-- since I personally don't like the short days of winter, I'll be adding light, using a florescent bulb and only adding in the morning, so they can find their roosts and get settled down with the sunset.
Thanks again!
 
Quote:
If i was living in Alaska, I would probably supplement lighting to the chickens and myself.
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yea, Alaska gets to do whatever they want- hearty group ya'll are- God Bless ya. I could not take all that darkness, and admire those of you that do!
 
Lots of good information. Up in the pacific n.w. I guess I will let nature do the lighting for our small flock. Besides, they are more pets to us... the eggs are just an added bonus. However, if I lived in Alaska w/ only 4-5 hrs. daylight, I'd be supplementing all of us!!
 
I have noticed that when it gets dark outside, the chickens go to roost even if the left is on in the coop. I really don't think there should be a lot of trouble with having evening lighting. Has anyone had evening lighting that cut off with chickens still not on the roost? It won't be daylight for another couple of hours and I can see my coop from my window. Those silly birds must know it is not tine to get up yet as they are still on the roosts and my retarded rooster who thinks he has to flap his wings to crow is managing to stay balanced as ge greats the "morning".
 
We've wired my new coop for supplemental lighting and heat if/when needed. We're using incandescent light because florescent tubes tend to not want to light very easily when the temps are real low. The light will come on a couple hours before daylight and may increase as winter comes on and we have less daylight hours. My neighbor uses this method because he feels it's easier on his girls if when they go inside when it's getting dark the lights aren't still on/coming back on after they've settled onto their roost to rest. If it works well for him that's what I'm going to do this year.

It never ceases to amaze me how on forums people (everywhere I've been) can be so quick to jump on others for stating their opinions. Eat meat/don't eat meat, breast feed/bottle feed, turn on the light/don't turn on the light, wear underwear/don't wear underwear. It's all personal choice. Once people start taking and stating their exceptions to someone's opinion the thread usually goes downhill fast and turns into one big childish argument. If we have information to share and questions we need answered then put them out here, but let's not let the whole thread go by the wayside just because we don't all agree. I know florescent tubes are hard to light in bitter winter in Kansas because I have them in mt garage and wood shop and sometimes I have to flip them on and come back in a few minutes. That's my experience period. Just a little info to share with anyone who might benefit.
 
When you purchase new florescent fixtures, be sure that they have an electronic ballast, I have them in my unheated shop and they come on instantly in very cold weather.
 

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