Supplemental Lighting in the winter

[Cindy in PA]

I have used lights for the entire 25 years I have had chickens. Chickens are going to lay less each year regardless. I do often replace mine every 3 years, but have kept pets that laid until their deaths at 8-10 years old. I start my lights around August 15th when the light here goes below 14 hours & ramp it up every couple weeks. The girls don't all molt at the same time, so some are laying & some are molting. YMMV

 

[Mosey2003]

I want to try lighting mine this year, I guess I really ought to have the lights on already. I do feel kind of bad that they'll have light on and be awake 4 hours before they are fed, though...

 

[Cindy in PA]

I want to try lighting mine this year, I guess I really ought to have the lights on already. I do feel kind of bad that they'll have light on and be awake 4 hours before they are fed, though...

I have my feed & water in the coop, so the added benefit is that they have more hours to eat & get their calories to keep warm. not sure I would use a light for 4 hours if the food & water is not in the coop.

 

[Mosey2003]

Yeah, my setup keeps the feed and water in the run. I might do a couple hours early light and a couple hours late.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I don't add supplemental light, but I installed a full length sky light in my coop.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I have lights in the coop - year round. My coop is very dark without them because it is a concrete building with a single window that faces east. What changes is the timing of the lights. Always turns on at 6 am so I can see when I go do morning chores before work, it turns off at 7am. During the winter, the lights come on again at 4pm and go off at 8:30 pm - once again for me to have light to do chores by. During the summer, the lights go on at 7pm and turn off at 9, to lure them into the coop so I can close the pop-door when I do evening chores. My chickens know the rountine so they know to go into the coop when the light turns on and grab some chow before going to roost.

 

[aart]

not sure I would use a light for 4 hours if the food & water is not in the coop.

NoWay!!
If they are awake, they need to have fed and water available.

I don't add supplemental light, but I installed a full length sky light in my coop.

That's not going to help with laying

 

[rebeccabrown72]

Careful consistent timing is the most important aspect.

Hi there! When you say this, what exactly do you mean? Is it important to gradually introduce the light? The sun rises here in Ohio around 7:45 right now and sets at 5:15. We just noticed a girl or two from our 6 stop laying so we wanted to introduce light. We set the timer to turn a light on at 6:30 am—is this too abrupt?

Also, we usually leave the coop door open at night unless it's really cold (only a few nights so far) so do we need to light the run as well?

 

[aart]

When you say this, what exactly do you mean?

Duration of the time the light is on(~14 hours) should be the same every day, that is why the light should be controlled by a timer.
Whether to increase the 'daylight' hours all at once or to ramp it up more slowly is up to you, not sure that it really matters.
But if you reduce the light drastically and abruptly, laying will stop and it could trigger a molt.
Not sure about lighting the run, my birds are confined to coop with light/feed/water until the sun comes up.
If your birds feed/water is out in the run, it should be lit too.