To Light or not to Light?

[speckledhen]

The problem is that commercial hatcheries don't care if their hens suffer and die from egg peritonitis/salpingitis--they cull them at about 2 years old anyway. I've watched too many wither and die from reproductive issues to want to see that again if I can help it. If they are just considered egg machines, pushing them would be fine. Then when the machine breaks from overuse, you replace it. They don't just run out of eggs, they die in pain when their bodies cannot keep up. I'm just not able to think of them that way. My poor hatchery girls didn't even stop to molt for the first two years, poor things. I even wished I could get some of them to quit laying so they'd grow their feathers back and get a little rest.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:

I was talking to my neighbor that works for Tyson the other day. He's trying to help me find battery hens to rescue. He says the battery hens are processed out at 60 weeks nowadays. That's 15 months of life.
No thanks. I'll keep raising my birds to have the nicest, non-producton driven life I can give them.

 

[Balfour Girl]

We put a light in our coop to keep them warm this winter... plus our coop is small and dark and I thought they'd appreciate lights. Am I wrong?

 

[Uppity Peon]

Quote:
I think it sounds like your expectations are too high. Even from your most productive laying breeds, you can't expect an egg per day from each chicken. 5 eggs a week is a good average for a good hen that is not molting, not broody, and getting good nutrition. Some hens might give 7, but you aren't going to get that many from the whole flock.

 

[Mr. Peepers]

A few points:

All modern chickens are descended from the Red Jungle Fowl that still runs wild in SE Asia where daylight (twilight included) averages about 14 hours most of the year. It is conjecture to assume that modern chickens have somehow been bred to need a rest from that average.

Until recently when people decided that chickens could be pets, chickens were considered only as a food source and were raised as such. The more eggs and/or the more meat they could produce and the faster they could produce it, the better. Most current breeds have been subjected to artificial light since the advent of the light bulb and farmers' discovery that more light would produce faster growing/more productive chickens. Your chickens and their forebears are probably bred and conditioned to plenty of light.

If you keep your hens for eggs and you want eggs all year, it's safe to say that you'll do them no harm by using supplemental light. OTOH, if you keep your chickens for show or as pets and you feel that supplemental light might somehow deprive them of needed rest, then don't provide light, and don't expect eggs during the darker months. Your conscience will be clear and all you will have lost is a few omelets.

 

[digitS']

Regarding light in their natural environment: The ancestor of the domestic chicken does not live farther than about 30 degrees of latitude from the equator. That means they live no farther north than Jacksonville Florida. They never experience a 10 hour day.

I live far enough north that my birds would be sitting in darkness for over 16 hours during the middle of winter - without supplemental lights. I don't consider that healthy.

Quote:
That view is incorrect.

Birds are unlike mammals. The process of producing cells from which an egg develops ceases at about the time of hatching. However, the number of these early stage ova (oocytes) is nearly infinite by comparison to mammals.

The number of oocytes was counted nearly 50 years ago. It was determined that 480,000 are present in the female chick. PubMed

Birds ceasing to produce eggs has something to do with something other than running out of eggs.

Steve

 

[Balfour Girl]

My chickens are my pets and the eggs are a nice bonus. I know they won't come outside all winter because of the 4 feet of snow, so I want them to be happy in their tiny little coop (3 chickens in an 8' x 5' space). I know I would like to be in the light part of the day, but then I'm not a chicken so I don't know if they'd prefer the dark. I just want them to be happy...

 

[speckledhen]

You can actually add heat and keep the waterer from freezing and not provide so much light that their bodies are taxed unnecessarily. Heatlamps hung fairly low over the waterer do not put out alot of light beyond just beneath them. Regular lower wattage bulbs put out more light than a 125 watt heatlamp does. On very dark days, we do light the coop a bit. I use 15 watt bulbs up to about 75 watts in a brooder lamp hung from the ceiling. I just make sure that after they are in for roost time, the lights go off.

 

[Balfour Girl]

We put a 40 watt bulb in the coop and it's a pleasant light, not too harsh. Of course we won't even use it till they're staying in every day, but it's good to know that they're okay with less light. Thanks Cynthia!

 

[sonew123]

I just put a light up lasty night in one of my coops-its been dipping below freezing at night here so as a supplimental heat source, I use a 75 whatt bulb. I dont use it if it is not needed for extra warm-50 75 watt is as high as I will go. My barn gets a 250 heating bulb at the moment until we insulate next week-then back down to 75 watt bulbs through the winters...