Using a Light to keep production up? Pros/Cons

[Tesumph]

24/7 lighting IS stressful. Lighting at a consistent 14-15 hours per day IS NOT stressful. They get needed darkness for sleep and most backyard chicken keepers only do this during part of the year anyway. Birds take a break at molt, or if they are broody. There are so many ways a chicken’s life can be shortened, that supplementing light doesn’t make the list of concerns for me!

It is the constant hormone production that is detrimental to longterm health, not the lighting itself.
But everyone’s goals for keeping chickens are a little different and management styles differ accordingly. Whatever floats your boat!

There are a hundred other threads about that,
let's keep this thread on topic about lighting, eh?

I think we can show some leniency for our brand new members.
Besides, since when have threads ever stayed on topic around here?

 

[GC-Raptor]

I add light year round. I turn on lights at 5 am, inside and outside the coops, and open the pop door to the pen. I have a 250 lumens bulb in the coop . Two 800 lumens outside and a 450 lumens under the raised coops. . I leave lights on inside coop all day and turn off when I let them out to Free range an hour before sunset. A nightlight comes on so they can see to get on the roost around sunset. I lockup the coops 10/20 minutes later and turn off the nightlight.
The latest sunset here in June is 8:29. Earliest in December is 4:18.
So my Chickens get anywhere from 15.5 hours to 11.3 hours of light.
My egg production drops, but doesn't stop until they molt.
One example last November a Red sex-links (Golden Comet) started to molt and egg production slowed and stopped. She took two months to complete molt, and another month to start laying. From a couple a week to 5/6 a week. She's been giving that amount since March. She gave me 22 eggs last month. She's 42 months old. This is her in back with her retired sister last August checking where a Fox tried digging under the fence. .
I don't know how 14/15 hours of light daily year-round will affect molting, health or egg production. But all of my first Flock of 5 Golden Comets molted their second Autumn/Winter.
My second Flock of 5 Barred Rocks haven't molted yet. They'll be 14 months old Tuesday. . GC

 

[aart]

Good grief, give em a break. This thread has been inactive for a bit and there was a question asked.
What's up with all the bad attitudes around here? Cripes!

Would just be nice if threads stayed on topic, for now and future reference, it's basic forum etiquette that used to be self regulating(when all forum members tried to abide and remind).

Besides, since when have threads ever stayed on topic around here?

Well, that's the problem.

 

[Acre4Me]

It is the constant hormone production that is detrimental to longterm health

?? they molt and don’t produce eggs, negating “constant hormone production” statement. We supplemented light last winter, some birds molted during that time, one went broody, some slowed up production but still produced eggs, just less frequently. So, even with added light, natural cycles of molt and broodiness occurred.

 

[Tesumph]

?? they molt and don’t produce eggs, negating “constant hormone production” statement. We supplemented light last winter, some birds molted during that time, one went broody, some slowed up production but still produced eggs, just less frequently. So, even with added light, natural cycles of molt and broodiness occurred.

I’m not entirely sure what you mean. If a hen is constantly laying eggs, she is also producing hormones in order to make those eggs. If you’re supplementing light in order to increase production but you’re not getting any additional eggs, there’s not really much point, is there?

The original question asked if supplemental light [in order to increase egg production] will 1) have a negative impact on health, and 2) shorten the natural length of a hen’s laying period.
The answer is yes, it can have a negative impact on health primarily because of increased hormone production. Elevated levels of estrogen have been linked to fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome and ovarian cancer, for example.
Constant 24/7 lighting can also increase stress, as you pointed out, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

And yes, it will decrease the hen’s natural laying period due to simply having a limited amount of ova to turn into yolks. They will physically burn out faster—which is not a problem if you’re interested in high production periods and short turnover rates.
On the other hand, this may be a big deal in a small backyard flock where someone might not want to cull an unproductive pet chicken.
Like I said, different management for different goals!

 

[Ebony Rose]

I raise both chickens and quail. Using a light to 'encourage' quail to continue laying through their normal 'rest' period (winter) has been determined to shorten their lifespan considerably. You'll have a higher than necessary turnover of members of your flock.
You'll need to consider which is more important to you; egg production / cost per egg or keeping your current flock of hens. There's pros and cons on both sides of this fence.

 

[Acre4Me]

I’m not entirely sure what you mean. If a hen is constantly laying eggs, she is also producing hormones in order to make those eggs. If you’re supplementing light in order to increase production but you’re not getting any additional eggs, there’s not really much point, is there?

The original question asked if supplemental light [in order to increase egg production] will 1) have a negative impact on health, and 2) shorten the natural length of a hen’s laying period.
The answer is yes, it can have a negative impact on health primarily because of increased hormone production. Elevated levels of estrogen have been linked to fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome and ovarian cancer, for example.
Constant 24/7 lighting can also increase stress, as you pointed out, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

And yes, it will decrease the hen’s natural laying period due to simply having a limited amount of ova to turn into yolks. They will physically burn out faster—which is not a problem if you’re interested in high production periods and short turnover rates.
On the other hand, this may be a big deal in a small backyard flock where someone might not want to cull an unproductive pet chicken.
Like I said, different management for different goals!

Not sure why you are getting confused. We supplemented light. Our birds continued to lay. The exceptions were the broody girl and the molting ones. Birds are prone to many things that end in their death, not to mention being prey animals (and everyone likes a chicken dinner). Not likely to die or stop laying prematurely from a few months of supplemental light.

Myriad stories on BYC relating to old “retired” hens that are pets but no longer lay. My guess is that many of these girls were never exposed to supplemental light as many people do not supplement light (no electricity to coop). So, it appears common for hens to stop laying at some point, irrespective of supplemental light. Of course, there are also stories on here of old hens that still lay occasionally.

Overall, have never yet seen convincing evidence that supplemental light in the winter is detrimental to the hens. My kid over feeding them whole corn or long grass has proved much more detrimental than supplemental light. The too-wide roost bars proved more detrimental to our very huge rooster requiring much attention. The one ostracized breed of pullet DESPISED by the rooster was more detrimental than supplemental lighting too. And I haven’t even mentioned predators, or rodents, or bugs. Basically, there are many more things distinctly detrimental to birds than a few months of supplemental lights.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I think the confusion may be with battery hens that are bred for high egg production and not longevity. Food is withheld for forced molting and to bring production back up. Along with lights on and close quarters. I'm sure its stressful. Adding a couple of hours of light to my backyard heritage hens isn't gonna hurt them. I do like aarts idea of adding light after molting is done and will probably do that this year.

 

[Tesumph]

Not sure why you are getting confused. We supplemented light. Our birds continued to lay. The exceptions were the broody girl and the molting ones. Birds are prone to many things that end in their death, not to mention being prey animals (and everyone likes a chicken dinner). Not likely to die or stop laying prematurely from a few months of supplemental light.

Myriad stories on BYC relating to old “retired” hens that are pets but no longer lay. My guess is that many of these girls were never exposed to supplemental light as many people do not supplement light (no electricity to coop). So, it appears common for hens to stop laying at some point, irrespective of supplemental light. Of course, there are also stories on here of old hens that still lay occasionally.

Overall, have never yet seen convincing evidence that supplemental light in the winter is detrimental to the hens. My kid over feeding them whole corn or long grass has proved much more detrimental than supplemental light. The too-wide roost bars proved more detrimental to our very huge rooster requiring much attention. The one ostracized breed of pullet DESPISED by the rooster was more detrimental than supplemental lighting too. And I haven’t even mentioned predators, or rodents, or bugs. Basically, there are many more things distinctly detrimental to birds than a few months of supplemental lights.

I agree that there are a million other things to worry about when raising chickens, and I'm not criticizing your husbandry practices. Supplemental lighting is perfectly valid and effective. I'm only answering the question asked in the original post.
I understand your other post now. I thought you were implying that your hens did not increase in production despite using artificial lighting. Molting is a much needed break period, but so is the natural changing of seasons.
Of course a hen that has never seen supplemental light will eventually stop laying, but she will last longer than one that has never stopped. That's just logic.. there's only so many ova in the reproductive tract. If they use it up faster, they'll run out faster.

Here's one study's abstract that talks about increased ovarian cancer in hens maintained under supplemental light year round.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4104488
"Adenocarcinoma of the ovary is the most common epithelial neoplasm in the entire body. The relation to egg production was demonstrated in an experiment where adenocarcinomas were induced in the ovaries of 17 out of 19 hens by maintaining them throughout life in a stable environment with 12 hours of fluorescent lighting daily. Egg production rapidly reached a maximum; it then declined over 3 years, with no seasonal rest periods. No tumors appeared in control hens kept under normal lighting conditions with seasonal variations."

Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome is primarily caused by incorrect diet, but high levels of estradiol also contribute. When estrogen levels rise in order to start and maintain egg production, the fat stores in the liver also consequently increase, predisposing the bird to FLHS.
Not sure if you can read this full article or not, but there is relevant info in there (not so much in the abstract).
https://journals-sagepub-com.srv-proxy1.library.tamu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/0300985813503569

 

[lifein1840]

For those of you that have lights that come on 4:00 or 5:00 am, do you have food and water for them or do they have to wait until you get out to the coop when the sun comes up?