EFFECTS OF SUNLIGHT ON LAYING HENS

Fall is likely in the air if your chickens start to lay fewer eggs. In order to sustain their optimum egg production, hens need a certain quantity of sunshine. Egg laying patterns are altered by even a few hours less of sun. Installing lights in your chicken coop can trick Mother Nature into giving you fresh eggs all year long.

Sunlight

Hens need roughly 16 hours of sunshine and 8 hours of night when they are roosting in order to reliably produce eggs. When there are less than 12 hours of daylight each day, egg production significantly decreases, if not totally stops. Contrary to popular belief, colder weather does not make birds lay fewer eggs. Once the number of daylight hours decreases, even hens in warm regions lay fewer eggs.

Pineal Gland

The hen's pineal gland, a component of her endocrine system, is located behind the eyes, above the midbrain. Melatonin, which is produced by this gland and aids in controlling sleep and other bodily activities. Her pineal gland reacts to the lengthening of the days by sending a hormone across her body to her ovary, causing it to begin ovulating. The pineal gland ceases releasing this hormone as the days become shorter. Because the gland is light-sensitive, you may trick it by giving the hen more light throughout the autumn and winter.

Artificial Light

Generally speaking, to maintain chickens laying all year long, a 40-watt bulb should be sufficient for every 100 square feet of henhouse. As incandescent bulbs' wavelengths are more similar to those of natural sunshine, use them instead of fluorescent lights. Put the lightbulb on a timer so that it turns on in the early morning hours rather than at night. Only eight hours should pass without light on the timer for the chickens. Set the timer, for instance, so that the light turns on at 2 in the morning if the sun sets at 5 p.m.

Considerations

Perhaps you decided to start raising chickens in order to return to a more rural way of life. It is normal for chickens to lay a lot of eggs in the spring and summer and less eggs once fall approaches. They resume in the spring. Some chickens, particularly young ones, lay eggs intermittently or consistently all winter long. A hen may only lay a certain number of eggs in her lifetime before she is said to be "spent." The sum varies depending on the breed and particular chicken.

Benwei chicken coop lighting for egg production