winter eggs

[blue1]

if i put a light in the coop will my hens lay through the winter if not how can i get them to lay during the winter thanks for info

 

[cravenchx]

So much info on here. It seems most people
who use artificial light, start it at around 4 am.
I have seen people say you need a dim light in case
they fall off the roost and need to see to get back
up. I'm still learning myself.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Adding "some" additional hours, basically in the early morning, is a pretty common practice. However, there's no real substitute for winter laying breeds. Also, all hens need sleep and rest to be at their best and to keep warm in the winter. Some portion of the feed calories need to go toward staying warm, not egg production. So, some reduction in winter production is usually viewed as acceptable and normal. Pushing them with 16 hours or more of light in the winter is not something I choose to do.

 

[Cattitude]

Last year's spring chickens started laying in October/November, and have laid all year until this month when they molted. They surely deserved the break! But I didn't provide any artificial light for them at all. I didn't even have the security light in the front yard this past winter. I'm wondering if this year's pullets are going to do the same thing. It might have been because they were mostly Silkie Xs.

 

[Breezy_Living]

I thought about doing some extra lighting with my first flock, as I know many have done, but decided against it and let whatever happens happen. I'm so eager to get eggs (they're about 20 weeks) but I don't want to push them into such high production, and knowing me I will mess up their entire schedule when I forget to turn on/off the light.

ADD lady here is better off with no light at all!

 

[babyrnlc]

We only had two hens last year and I did not use a light. The ee gave me 5-7 eggs a week and the dark Cornish gave me 7 eggs a week. This was through 2 freak blizzards. There were two weeks that she skipped a day of laying but then later in the week she laid two in one day.

I figure if they need a break they can have one. I gave them lots of scratch to keep warm. They loved it.

 

[JodyJo]

Fred's Hens :

Adding "some" additional hours, basically in the early morning, is a pretty common practice. However, there's no real substitute for winter laying breeds. Also, all hens need sleep and rest to be at their best and to keep warm in the winter. Some portion of the feed calories need to go toward staying warm, not egg production. So, some reduction in winter production is usually viewed as acceptable and normal. Pushing them with 16 hours or more of light in the winter is not something I choose to do.

I have to agree here, I have some winter laying breeds, and my girls have just started laying about 3 weeks ago, I am going to let nature take its course and see what happens. I don't need eggs that badly I will force nature.​

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I like having additional lighting in the coop in the winter. In the middle of winter, when the nights are so long and the temperatures are so cold, a crop full of food has to last a long time. I like giving them more hours of the day to eat. When it's -20 or -30 at night and the highs are below zero, they need to burn a lot of fuel to stay warm.

If I lived farther south and the winter weather was better, along with the days being slightly longer in the winter, I wouldn't worry as much. The chickens would probably do fine either way. Lighting is just my preference. I light them even as pullets, even though they don't need it to lay. I also like them to have scratch before they roost, as coarser grains take longer to digest in the crop and last longer.