Upcoming Winter and light.

[The Coop-D-etat]

Hey Friends.

I was just curious about this upcoming winter and light. When the time does come around to batten down the hatches for the cold season. I would like to give them light, not to force egg production but just enough. Reason being is that the only door that will be open is the little pop door for them to go in and out. When normally during the spring, summer, and fall I have the pop door AND The full-sized door open for fresh air and light.

I do have two small-ish windows on the north side and east sides of the coop. But I'm worried that won't produce much light during the shorter days. I don't want it to be dark. I have ran power to the coop and have quite a bright LED installed for purposes of cleaning and so on and so forth. I can get a timer for the light but my question is how long should I let the light run without forcing them to lay through winter because I want them to take their natural break. If one or two lays then that's fine but I'm not looking to push production by any means. What would be a good time frame to have the light go on and off. And not just slam the lights off after the sun has set and leave them blind in the dark.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Ry.

 

[sourland]

Try adding light in the morning and allowing them to go to roost in the evening under normal conditions.

 

[The Coop-D-etat]

Try adding light in the morning and allowing them to go to roost in the evening under normal conditions.

Ok sounds good. I was thinking about 5 hours of light starting at like 5:30 or 6.

 

[aart]

I can get a timer for the light but my question is how long should I let the light run without forcing them to lay through winter because I want them to take their natural break.

How old are they, in months?
I let mine molt then start the lighting in mid December.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a lighting question: Does the type of light matter? LED, incandescent, fluorescent? What about the color? I mean "daylight" versus "cool white," not colored lights like Christmas lights.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I think I only get about 8-10ish hours of daylight in southern Pennsylvania in winter. Reportedly hens need 12-14 to encourage laying. So giving them light for about 10-12 hours shouldn't encourage a lot of laying.

 

[aart]

I have a lighting question: Does the type of light matter? LED, incandescent, fluorescent? What about the color? I mean "daylight" versus "cool white," not colored lights like Christmas lights.

I use a 60WEQ compact fluorescent, before that I used a 60W incandescent.
You can get into all the different spectrum,not sure it makes a ton of difference.
'Bright enough to read a newspaper at roost level' is what I used to determine brightness.

I think I only get about 8-10ish hours of daylight in southern Pennsylvania in winter. Reportedly hens need 12-14 to encourage laying. So giving them light for about 10-12 hours shouldn't encourage a lot of laying.

Not sure it's all that precise.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I use a 60WEQ compact fluorescent, before that I used a 60W incandescent.
You can get into all the different spectrum,not sure it makes a ton of difference.
'Bright enough to read a newspaper at roost level' is what I used to determine brightness.


Not sure it's all that precise.

There's definitely variations to the rule. For example, my broody didn't lay for about 12 weeks (sitting, hatching, then rearing chicks) so she restarted laying in December and laid consistently until March. My spring pullets always start around Nov/Dec. My barred rock kept laying until Nov when all others stopped in Aug.

I recently acquired two commercial ex bat leghorns and I'm interested to see what happens to their laying cycle come winter.

Most of the rest of my flock stop laying in Aug and start in March. Not exactly sure of the daylight hours during the "off period" but I do know it's not a long day. I leave work when it's dark and come home when it's dark.....

 

[GC-Raptor]

I do have two small-ish windows on the north side and east sides of the coop. But I'm worried that won't produce much light during the shorter days. I don't want it to be dark. I have ran power to the coop and have quite a bright LED installed for purposes of cleaning and so on and so forth. I can get a timer for the light but my question is how long should I let the light run without forcing them to lay through winter because I want them to take their natural break.

Both of my coops have two small windows facing east. I never leave people door open, invites song birds.
I open coops at 5 am year round and turn on lights.

I turn off lights an hour before sunset, leaving a nightlight on so they can see to get on roosts.

Looking through pop-door.
After sunset and all are on the roosts, I lock pop-door and turn off nightlight.
My hens still molt their second winter, usually November-December. Earliest sunset here is 4:19 pm.

I have a lighting question: Does the type of light matter? LED, incandescent, fluorescent? What about the color? I mean "daylight" versus "cool white,

Yes, color makes a difference.
For egg production you want the red spectrum lights, warm, soft, 2700 to 3000 K.
Cool white 5000 K, not so good for egg production.
These LED lights are what I use.

GC

 

[Sally PB]

For egg production you want the red spectrum lights, warm, soft, 2700 to 3000 K.

That's exactly what I needed to know. Thank you.