Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[Daethen]

They are young yet. Still pullets, could that have something to do with it?

 

[bigzio]

Yep, you can bet on that...and if you are adding light to young pullets ( something I don't do ) then you may be forcing her to create eggs...again...my opinion.

Sorry Robin....

Peace..bigz

 

[jvls1942]

Yep, you can bet on that...and if you are adding light to young pullets ( something I don't do ) then you may be forcing her to create eggs...again...my opinion.

Sorry Robin....

Peace..bigz

Yep, you can bet on that...and if you are adding light to young pullets ( something I don't do ) then you may be forcing her to create eggs...again...my opinion.

Sorry Robin....

Peace..bigz

I keep a light on, 24/7 my pullets just started laying this early winter.. no problems here..

If you would look up how an egg forms, you might get an insight to what is happening.. there might be a little blood associated with every forming egg.. usually and normally, when the shell is forming around the yoke and white , everything else is kept outside the shell,
occasionally some blood will not be kept out, so that is where it comes from.
that is the best way I can explain it, and I might be all wrong, so somebody in the know will correct me, I'm sure.

 

[birds4kids]

24/7 light is stressful, try it some time. Give yourself a week of it and see how you adjust.

 

[jvls1942]

24/7 light is stressful, try it some time. Give yourself a week of it and see how you adjust.

I've been keeping a light on 24/7 for years..
the chickens don't know any different..
I have had chickens live up to 8 or 9 years..
If they are stressed, they don't show it..

maybe I don't know what to look for,
tell me, what does a stressed out chicken look like ?

instead of telling me how to raise my chickens, why don't you answer the question about the bloody egg ?.

 

[bigzio]

There is no perfect one way to deal with this light on light off situation....Go with your results.....that speaks loudest of all....everyone has a different situation, and your results will differ.....pullets don't become hens till they are a year old.....the reason is that they are still developing....and not true hens yet....give them light if that works for you.....if you are discovering problems with that system, then change it, and see if that makes a difference....my hens really lay well when the days get longer in Spring, like those that add light, but mine don't quit all Summer long....I don't expect anyone to choose my method...just sayin is all. Don't shoot me... do what works best for you.

Peace..bigz

 

[jvls1942]

There is no perfect one way to deal with this light on light off situation....Go with your results.....that speaks loudest of all....everyone has a different situation, and your results will differ.....pullets don't become hens till they are a year old.....the reason is that they are still developing....and not true hens yet....give them light if that works for you.....if you are discovering problems with that system, then change it, and see if that makes a difference....my hens really lay well when the days get longer in Spring, like those that add light, but mine don't quit all Summer long....I don't expect anyone to choose my method...just sayin is all. Don't shoot me... do what works best for you.

Peace..bigz

I wasn't shooting at you, Brent, we agreed to disagree long ago..
If someone has a different opinion, state it, do not, I repeat, do not ever try to admonish me ..

Just because you read it in a book somewhere or on a web site, does not make it fact.

peace

.

 

[Paganrose]

My first year with pullets we supplemented lights- they laid sooner and more often, but had a higher rate of blood spots, than the pullets we didn't supplement light for later. It may have been related to the light, maybe not.

 

[brentonc]

We got our first egg today!!! When I went to check on them and swap out water at lunchtime I noticed one of our RIRs hanging out in the coop while the others were all out in their attached greenhouse. And then when I went to close them up I looked and sure enough, an egg!

Unfortunately - it was very broken. :/ Not sure if I didn't have enough soft stuff in the nesting box, or if they pecked at it, or bad luck, or chickens getting back at me because I sleep in a warm house while they sleep outside, or what. I added more straw to the nesting boxes and we'll see where we go from here. Guess its time to start putting out oyster shell too?

As for the light discussion, I have a light that comes on for 3 hours after dusk that we've had for maybe 3 weeks... but really don't know what I'm talking about so I wouldn't add or remove light based on us. After all, 100% of my eggs (sample size 1 ) have been broken.

Disappointed that I couldn't make our first one for breakfast, but excited nonetheless.

 

[Celtic Chick]

If your girls are starting to lay, they definitely need the oyster shell available to them, like yesterday. If you continue to have soft/weak shell issues, you can mix the oyster shell directly in with their feed for a few weeks until they get used to eating it.

I have never had to use supplemental lights for pullets. They are so young (under a year) that their reproductive cycles do not need artificial stimulation.

I have read many times that white lights can be stressful to birds if left on 24/7, but red lights are supposed to be better. That is why I use heat lamps in the winter. I also have a room inside my coop which is where the heat lamp is located. If they are cold, they can go in that room at any time to warm up. Some birds choose to sleep in there while others don't. I have noticed that quite a few are in there on the frigid nights, then when it gets in the teens for lows, hardly anyone is in there.

I would think that if a hen is stressed from lights being on all the time, then she probably wouldn't lay eggs? I don't know for sure. That is just a guess. It is up to each individual chicken owner to decide what is the best course of action to take with their birds. All I can say is do much research & do not rely on one single source for your info. As with many things in life, there is no one single right answer. It is up to you to decide for yourself which answer works best in your particular situation. IMHO