When to alter the light in the coop, opinions?

[Balboaroc]

I live in Maryland and I know with September approaching its getting to be that time of year where we will have less sunlight.

This is our first year with a flock..all of ours were hatched on March 1st so we haven't gone through the molt or anything like that yet.

Does everyone add light to the coop so the chickens will lay through the winter? Do some chickens lay regardless of light or no light? I have 2 RIR, 2 NHR, 1 SLWyandotte, 1 buff cochin, 1 sex link. I was just thinking it would be nice to not have to resort to buying eggs from the store again in the winter.

We do have electric in our coop so it would be an easy adjustment to decide to put a timer on a light out there. I've also heard that red light is the way to go and the lighting should be in the morning not at night?

Just curious!

Thanks!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Some chickens, sexlinks especially, and to a lesser extent any pullet in its first year of laying, may tick right along throughout the winter (even up here in Ontario) without any extra lighting. More commonly, when daylength drops below 12-14 hrs a day, chickens will at least have a month or two 'dip' in egg production, centered around the Dec. solstice; some, especially in the less laying-oriented breeds, may stop entirely for some months.

A lot of us on BYC do not add extra light, feeling that it is better for the chickens in the long term; OTOH many people do add light, feeling that it is not so terrible and it's better to be getting more eggs

It is a personal choice.

If you do add light, the most sensible way (IMHO) is to put your bulb -- it needn't be very bright, as long as you can read a newspaper by it then it's enough to stimulate laying -- on a single cycle per day, where it turns on however many hours before sunrise you need (adjust every few weeks) and turns off just after sunrise. In some cases that may mean it turns on at 3 a.m., but that's ok. The two advantages of this method are a) you get that little bit of heat from the lightbulb when you most need it, in the wee hours before dawn, and b) light tapers off naturally/gradually at sunset, so it is easy for birds to get onto the roost. (If you have an evening lightbulb that turns off all at once, they can have a lot of trouble getting onto the roost, having very poor night vision)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat