Winter Lighting Recommendations?

[aart]

Sometimes first year layers will lay all winter without supplemental lighting, sometimes they won't.
It's important to ramp up the light slowly, I started a good month ago...see linked article.


Older layers need 14-16 hours of light to lay regularly thru winter. Last winter I used a 40 watt incandescent light(this year I am using a CFL) that comes on early in the morning to provide 14-15 hours of light and they go to roost with the natural sundown. Last year I started the lighting increase a bit late(mid October), the light should be increased slowly, and the pullets didn't start laying until late December. Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting. Some folks think that using lighting shortens the years a hen will lay, I don't agree with that theory but I also plan to cull my older hens for soup at about 3 years old.

 

[MesMama]

Perfect! Thank you

 

[Egghead_Jr]

An led light in your brooding metal clamp fixture is all you need. I've only kept 12 hours of lighting. Up here at the border that means starting the light on timer sometime in October. With only twelve hours my birds never skipped a beat of laying into winter until Feb. (after a month of no days over 0F). It's not the lack of light it's the constant prolonged cold that slows them down for me. After a few weeks of them slowed the weather finally starts to warm back up and back to full production.

 

[MesMama]

An led light in your brooding metal clamp fixture is all you need. I've only kept 12 hours of lighting. Up here at the border that means starting the light on timer sometime in October. With only twelve hours my birds never skipped a beat of laying into winter until Feb. (after a month of no days over 0F). It's not the lack of light it's the constant prolonged cold that slows them down for me. After a few weeks of them slowed the weather finally starts to warm back up and back to full production.

Thank you! I wondered about the 12 hours, 14-16 hour thing and how people get along with the amount of light they give their flocks, so this is great info!

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

Here is a photo.