Supplemental Light In The Chicken Coop

For the first time this year, we added a light to our chicken coop. As you undoubtedly already know, maintaining the "day duration" at 14 hours or longer will increase egg production throughout the winter. On the other hand, since your flock is forced to cope with producing additional eggs during what would otherwise be more of a rest time, your chickens may get ill or become exhausted earlier. In the past, I've determined that the additional eggs weren't worth the stress on our flock (or the higher electricity expense), but this year, the shorter days came before our spring pullets began to lay. A young hen (pullet) may begin to lay eggs when she is five to seven months old, but if she doesn't begin by early autumn, she may delay starting until the following spring. Although our eldest pullets, who hatched on April 20, are ready to begin laying at any moment, I believe the shorter days have set their biological clocks back. I decided to reduce my standards and connect up a light since I expected to go the whole winter without eating eggs. While supplemental lighting need not be spectacular, it should be reliable. The objective is to have 14 hours of daylight, which now entails putting on the light for three hours in the evening, so you'll need a timer to switch it on and off. However, if you keep your light reasonably modest, your hens will spend the most of that extra daylight on the perch anyway. Many people advise putting your extra lighting in the morning to prevent the chickens from being trapped on the ground when the light flickers off.

We chose a fluorescent bulb since it had a reduced power cost, but other people claim LED Christmas lights or nightlights would also work. It also doesn't appear to matter what kind of bulb you use. As a general rule, excellent egg-laying breeds will react to light levels of 5 lux, which are just enough for the typical human to read a newspaper. The illumination in a typical family living room is comparable to 50 lux, which heavier breeds need to maintain production. In comparison to an extremely dark, gloomy day or workplace lighting, this light is still much less. I'm really optimistic that the additional light will soon result in our Black Australorps laying. I'm prepared to end the egg shortage!

Benwei chicken coop lighting for egg production