Winter Lighting

[CHlCKEN]

Mostly Barred Rock, with a couple Conchins and Sex Links...

I’ve had a great experience with the Barred rocks and they seem to lay pretty well for me in the winter. Maybe don’t do anything And see what happens, bc I agree with most people on this thread, it’s not a good idea to leave a light on all night.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

I’ve had a great experience with the Barred rocks and they seem to lay pretty well for me in the winter. Maybe don’t do anything And see what happens, bc I agree with most people on this thread, it’s not a good idea to leave a light on all night.

You don’t want a fire hazard in the coop for sure. No coop fire. Eggs aren’t worth that. No way!

 

[Acre4Me]

Barred Rocks are heritage breeds, not production breeds. They are a dual purpose bird, so can be used for eggs and meat. Conversely, a leghorn is considered a layer only bc hardly any meat -they are lean egg producing machines.

winter lighting does not kill off chickens. Nor would it severely limit their lifespan. My heritage breeds get light, but since they aren’t heavy layers, they are not laying every single day. In the winter (not counting molt time, when they do not lay) I will get 3-4 eggs/week out of any of them individually, tops. But, out of the flock, I will get several eggs a day.

production breeds are known to have reproductive and health issues. So, it is common for keepers that want lots of eggs reliably to get new chicks every spring (so there are pullets every winter) or completely replace their flock with POL pullets every other spring.

 

[Erikdaviking]

Thanks for all the input, I think I will try not adding lighting and see. We actually get more eggs than we eat ourselves right now, if they even just cut back a bit over the winter we'll be fine. Also gonna give waterglassing the extra eggs a try, to make up for the loss of production in the winter. If I quit getting eggs altogether, I'll make a system on a timer.

 

[Erikdaviking]

Barred Rocks are heritage breeds, not production breeds. They are a dual purpose bird, so can be used for eggs and meat. Conversely, a leghorn is considered a layer only bc hardly any meat -they are lean egg producing machines.

winter lighting does not kill off chickens. Nor would it severely limit their lifespan. My heritage breeds get light, but since they aren’t heavy layers, they are not laying every single day. In the winter (not counting molt time, when they do not lay) I will get 3-4 eggs/week out of any of them individually, tops. But, out of the flock, I will get several eggs a day.

production breeds are known to have reproductive and health issues. So, it is common for keepers that want lots of eggs reliably to get new chicks every spring (so there are pullets every winter) or completely replace their flock with POL pullets every other spring.

Acre4Me, I am planning to maintain a laying flock of about 10 birds at any time, I'll do that by adding 4-5 birds every spring, and eating the old ones at about 2-3 years...I know thats not ideal for meat, but they'll make good stew and chili which is mostly how we eat chicken anyway! I didn't know till some of you mentioned it that pullets lay all winter anyway, that works out good because I'll typically have 5 or so pullets every winter.

Thanks again!

 

[electrycmonk]

I want to suggest you seriously consider the timer option. We have an "old" rope light setup that I put in the coop/run & I have the timer set to click on ~twilight & click off 1-2hrs later. I vary it depending how the weather has been as it's a simple flip of a tab or 2 on the dial. Over the last few weeks it has been at 2hrs... That give us time to go out one last time and top off water, food & collect eggs & check on everyone before bedtime. The rope light is dim, ~40w territory? However they all are comfy enough to occasionally go for a snack or a drink while we are out there checking/topping off. Ours is currently a long extension cord but, I have plans and have been collecting conduit & stuff to bury a line to a modest sub panel out there to the coop/run.

 

[aart]

no electric. Solar can work, but what about snow cover. Is there a back up outdoor battery, that will work in winter temps where you are?

Solar can work IF, you have a panel and battery storage to keep the power consistent, which needs to be calculated regarding your climate.
Chances are you're not gonna find a system 'off the shelf' to do the job.
Must have a timer....consistency of daily duration of lights is most important when using supplemental lighting.

 

[Alaskan]

my one thought, is that you are in Montana, and it does get pretty cold there.

I am failing at google.. are your shortest days 9 hours in length?

If they are, that might be ok, but when it gets much below zero F, I find 10 hours of light/ time to eat is best for hen health.

 

[Erikdaviking]

my one thought, is that you are in Montana, and it does get pretty cold there.

I am failing at google.. are your shortest days 9 hours in length?

If they are, that might be ok, but when it gets much below zero F, I find 10 hours of light/ time to eat is best for hen health.

Yeah, thats about right, maybe a little longer. Where I live it doesn't get that cold, average winter day is 15-25 deg, occasionally gets down below 10, rarely to never gets below zero.

 

[Alaskan]

Yeah, thats about right, maybe a little longer. Where I live it doesn't get that cold, average winter day is 15-25 deg, occasionally gets down below 10, rarely to never gets below zero.

Nice!

15 to 25 F are great chicken temps, shouldn't have any problems.