To light, or not to light?

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

I want to hatch some chicks in February, so that by the time they are out of the brooder, it will be Spring. But the problem is getting the eggs out of my hens in December. I have one hen in particular that I want chicks from, so it's really important that she lay as many as possible in a week's time. What should I do to maximize winter egg production and fertility? I have heard that lights can be dangerous. What do you guys do?

 

[Kusanar]

Lights would be about the only way to make them lay in winter, or lay more than they normally would. Animals that shed seasonally are affected by the photoperiod, as are chickens and slowing down or stopping laying in winter.

 

[barred2rock]

Heat lamps can be dangerous, energy saver bulbs are relatively safe due to not producing a lot of heat.

 

[Kusanar]

Heat lamps can be dangerous, energy saver bulbs are relatively safe due to not producing a lot of heat.

To add to that, I believe that they need "natural light" which means broad spectrum or "grow light" to trigger the light cycle. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't hurt. To do broad spectrum easily, you need a "cool white" bulb and a "warm white" bulb to give all colors of light. I successfully grew plants in my dark basement by getting a fluorescent light fixture and 1 of each of the above mentioned bulb types. You MAY be able to even do LED lighting and those produce NO heat on the actual bulb, we do have one downstairs that the base of the bulb heats up pretty bad though, so something to research.
In order of danger from fire, it would be heat lamps, Incandescent (old style light bulb with filament), CFL, LED. Also, the safest ones will cost the least to run due to being better technology and less heat.

 

[ronott1]

To add to that, I believe that they need "natural light" which means broad spectrum or "grow light" to trigger the light cycle. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't hurt. To do broad spectrum easily, you need a "cool white" bulb and a "warm white" bulb to give all colors of light. I successfully grew plants in my dark basement by getting a fluorescent light fixture and 1 of each of the above mentioned bulb types. You MAY be able to even do LED lighting and those produce NO heat on the actual bulb, we do have one downstairs that the base of the bulb heats up pretty bad though, so something to research.
In order of danger from fire, it would be heat lamps, Incandescent (old style light bulb with filament), CFL, LED. Also, the safest ones will cost the least to run due to being better technology and less heat.

Yes, cool white led bulbs will keep them laying.

All bets are off during molt though. If they molt at the time you want eggs, you(The thread starter) will have to wait up to 6 weeks even with light.

 

[Kusanar]

Yes, cool white led bulbs will keep them laying.

All bets are off during molt though. If they molt at the time you want eggs, you(The thread starter) will have to wait up to 6 weeks even with light.

It is possible to force them into an early molt to be sure that they won't be molting when you need the eggs. I'm not sure of the details, but I know that the big egg factories will force thousands of hens into molt at the same time so that they will all resume laying at the same time and not be molting while they are supposed to be producing.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

Heat lamps can be dangerous, energy saver bulbs are relatively safe due to not producing a lot of heat.

Oh, an energy saver bulb would be great! I have to use a car battery with converter to power the coop, so the less I have to charge it the better. Redneck ingenuity.

To add to that, I believe that they need "natural light" which means broad spectrum or "grow light" to trigger the light cycle. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't hurt. To do broad spectrum easily, you need a "cool white" bulb and a "warm white" bulb to give all colors of light. I successfully grew plants in my dark basement by getting a fluorescent light fixture and 1 of each of the above mentioned bulb types. You MAY be able to even do LED lighting and those produce NO heat on the actual bulb, we do have one downstairs that the base of the bulb heats up pretty bad though, so something to research.
In order of danger from fire, it would be heat lamps, Incandescent (old style light bulb with filament), CFL, LED. Also, the safest ones will cost the least to run due to being better technology and less heat.

Is that more expensive? Do they come in red? I did read that the color can be important.

It is possible to force them into an early molt to be sure that they won't be molting when you need the eggs. I'm not sure of the details, but I know that the big egg factories will force thousands of hens into molt at the same time so that they will all resume laying at the same time and not be molting while they are supposed to be producing.

Yes, they do force molt, but they do it by starving them.

 

[Kusanar]

Oh, an energy saver bulb would be great! I have to use a car battery with converter to power the coop, so the less I have to charge it the better. Redneck ingenuity.


Is that more expensive? Do they come in red? I did read that the color can be important.

Yes, they do force molt, but they do it by starving them.

Well, Ron said that cool white light will work. I know with horses, that the rule of thumb to make sure the lighting is bright enough to trick the photo-period is that you can sit in the darkest corner of the stall facing towards the light and read a newspaper, so it needs to be pretty bright, but that's not that expensive to run with LED lighting, just a little pricey on the purchasing.

One plus for LED with your setup though, is that LEDS are already DC which is what your battery puts out, so you could get the ones that are setup for vehicles and run on DC and wire them straight to the battery (bypassing the inverter you have on there) and avoid lost power that way too.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

Well, Ron said that cool white light will work. I know with horses, that the rule of thumb to make sure the lighting is bright enough to trick the photo-period is that you can sit in the darkest corner of the stall facing towards the light and read a newspaper, so it needs to be pretty bright, but that's not that expensive to run with LED lighting, just a little pricey on the purchasing.

One plus for LED with your setup though, is that LEDS are already DC which is what your battery puts out, so you could get the ones that are setup for vehicles and run on DC and wire them straight to the battery (bypassing the inverter you have on there) and avoid lost power that way too.

Awesome! That sounds great. But I did read that the bulbs had to be red in Story's Guide to Raising Chickens, so I'm going to try to find a red bulb. I'll stick to that newspaper trick, though.

 

[ronott1]

Awesome! That sounds great. But I did read that the bulbs had to be red in Story's Guide to Raising Chickens, so I'm going to try to find a red bulb. I'll stick to that newspaper trick, though.

Not red--I will see if I can find my notes but you go by the kelvin number on the LED bulb. You want enough lumens so that they can see so not too bright. This link has more information on what the different colors do:

https://www.once.group/wp/wp-conten...ePapers_Energy-Savings-in-Poultry-Farming.pdf

Red is good for egg laying but not so good for rooster fertility. Since you want to hatch eggs, you need more of a blue color for the roosters to be fertile. Fertility is a big issue in the winter. One of the off white colors towards red is better.

3000 to 5000K led should work.