Do Hens Need Supplemental Light?

Providing supplemental lighting in the coop can be somewhat of a debate in the chicken world. Supplemental lighting can be provided during the winter to trigger a hen’s laying cycle. But, do hens need supplemental light? Does making them lay more often shorten their lifespan? How do I go about providing supplemental light ethically? Knowing what supplemental light is, why you might want to use it, and evaluating the pros and cons can help you make your decision.

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What is Supplemental Light?

Supplemental light is artificial light that is provided in the coop to trigger laying. A hen’s reproductive cycle is triggered by how much light her pituitary gland senses. Laying hens need about 12-16 hours of light in order to lay. The exact amount of light needed does vary depending on the hen’s age and breed.

Supplemental light can be used to provide extra light during seasons when the natural daylight hours are shorter. Many northern homesteaders may consider using supplemental light to keep their flock laying throughout the winter months.

The way supplemental light works is by having artificial lights installed in the chicken coop. When natural daylight hours start decreasing, you can use the artificial lights to provide the hours of light needed to trigger laying. The lights should be set up on a pre-programmed timed system.

The lights should be programmed to turn on at a certain time each morning. Then they should be programmed to turn off once enough natural light filters into the coop. A few extra hours of artificial light provided each morning combined with natural daylight hours will help a hen sense enough light to trigger her reproductive system.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to using supplemental light.

Why Use Supplemental Light?

Hens should naturally have a break from egg laying. A hen will never run out of eggs to lay. However, the process of forming and making an egg does require a lot of nutrition and energy. Nature intended for the fall molt and shorter winter days to naturally give the hens a break from laying.

So why use supplemental light and trigger your hens to start laying, even during the winter?

The benefits are mostly for us, as homesteaders. We may want to get eggs year-round and benefit from our laying flock even during the winter months. It can also be helpful for breeding flocks, if you want to collect hatching eggs later winter or early spring. With supplemental light, your hens will be laying so you can collect hatching eggs as long as fertility remains good.

The main reason to provide supplemental light is so that you can extend the laying season. This allows you to get eggs from your hens depsite shorter daylight hours.

It may sound harsh to make hens lay during the winter when they would naturally take a break. However, combined with ethical practices and knowledge of how to use supplemental light properly, you can prevent causing undue stress on your laying flock even while providing supplemental lighting.

There will still be some drawbacks to using supplemental lighting though.

Benefits of No Supplemental Light

Supplemental light may be good for us, since we benefit from the eggs laid during the winter. However, it will put a little more pressure on your hens. These are reasons why you may choose not to supply supplemental light:

• Natural Break– Winter time, and the accompanying shorter daylight hours, is when birds naturally take a break from laying.
• Conserve Energy– When your hens don’t have to supply energy for making and laying an egg, they can better handle cold stress and use their energy for other needs, such as staying warm, replenishing body reserves, and utilizing all their nutrition for staying healthy during the winter.
• No Power Outage Concerns– Providing artificial light does require a way of running the lights. If the power goes out, your hens won’t wake up at their usual time since the lights won’t turn on. This could cause them to go into a molt due to a change in lighting.
• Don’t Have to Adjust Times- Setting up a supplemental lighting system will require you to regularly adjust when the lights turn on and off.

One big problem with providing supplemental light is the possibility of a power outage. A power outage would cause the lights to not turn on. Once hens get used to a certain amount of light, any sudden changes in the light schedule can stress them out and cause them to molt. That’s one reason why you have to add supplemental light gradually and decrease it gradually too.

If the power goes out and the lights don’t come on for one morning, it could cause problems with your flock. You don’t want your flock to molt during the middle of the winter. Molting means the hens will stop laying and requires lots of energy.

Your Decision

Ultimately, the decision to use supplemental light is totally up to you. You can weigh the pros and cons and make an educated decision based off of what’s best for your flock.

While there is no science to prove it, some say that their flock is healthier and that their chickens have longer longevity because they don’t use supplemental light. However, there are also flocks who do get supplemental light during the winter and still live a healthy, long life.

When considering what’s best for your flock, think about these four things:

• Average Age of Your Flock– An older flock may need more of a natural rest during the winter and may also not lay as well even if supplemental light is supplied.
• Breeds- Chicken breeds that are known to be excellent layers may not need too much supplemental light. Also, breeds that are known to be cold hardy may be able to handle laying better throughout the winter with supplemental light.
• Region– Is it necessary for where you live to provide supplemental light to extend the laying season? Some areas may recieve very limited light year-round, in which case supplemental lighting may be necessary for part of the year.
• Flock Purpose– If you see your flock more as a production flock, you may lean more on the side of providing supplemental lighting.

What do I do?

In my opinion, I believe supplemental lighting can be used to some extent. However, I also believe in raising my flock as naturally as possible. To balance out my desire for eggs all year round and my need to raise my flock naturally, I use limited supplemental light.

I only start supplying supplemental light once I know all of my flock is done molting. As soon as I am getting a few eggs a day, I stop increasing the time of when my flock has to wake up. I also make sure I take other cold stress preventatives and try to minimize other winter time stress factors.

Tips for Using Supplemental Light

If you decide you do want to try using supplemental light for your flock, there are a few tips for making it less stressful on both you and your flock.

Keep in mind the best way to use supplemental lights is to set them up on a times on-off system. That way you don’t have to worry about turning the lights on and off manually, you just have to program in the on and off times.

Choose the Right Lights:

Certain types of lights are healthier for your hens and trigger the laying cycle. When choosing what lights to use for supplemental lighting, warm-tone LED lights or incandescent lights are the best choices. Cool-tone lights do not trigger the reproductive system and are harsher on a chicken’s eyes.

I like to use LED rope lights in my coops. Since the lights are encased in a rope, they are less of a fire-hazard and can easily be cleaned.

Morning, not Evening:

It is best to provide the supplemental lighting in the morning. This allows your flock to roost at their normal time (dusk) and won’t leave them suddenly in the dark when the lights go off. When provided in the morning, the supplemental lighting will overlap with natural lighting when the sunrises. The supplemental lights can be turned off once enough light naturally filters into the coop or the chickens can get outside.

Safe Electrical Connections:

Safety should be paramount when installing supplemental light in the chicken coop. The lighting system should not provide a fire hazard or a safety hazard to your flock. The number one way to prevent the lights from being a fire hazard is making sure all the electrical connections are done correctly. Also make sure the connections cannot be affected by the normal activities of the chickens, such as them flying up to their roosts or dust bathing in their coop.

Keep all electrical connections away from where your flock could accidentally bump something, peck at something, or otherwise affect the connection.

Another way to prevent a fire hazard is to regularly dust the light system and electrical connections. Chickens produce dust that gets everywhere. Dust can present a fire hazard if it is allowed to build up on a hot object. Dusting the lights not only allows the lights to shine at their full power, but it also prevents a fire hazard.

Preventing Power Outage Issues:

When providing supplemental light, you will want to do everything possible to prevent a power outage situation from becoming an issue. If the lighting is suddenly changed or lacking, the hens could go into a molt. Here are several ways you can prevent a power outage from becoming a problem:

• have a back-up generator to power the lights
• set the lights up with a trickle charge battery system (the battery will power the lights if the power goes out)
• use solar charged lights

Increasing & Decreasing the Light:

You will want to start suppling the supplemental light in small increments. If the lights suddenly turn on at 5:00am and your flock is not used to waking up until 6:30am when it naturally becomes light, the sudden light change will stress them out and could cause them to go into a molt.

Start increasing the light in 5-8 minute increments. Make a small adjustment every 2-3 days to allow your flock to slowly get accustomed to waking up slightly earlier every morning. Slowly work the time up until your flock is getting a total of 14 hours of light each day (artificial light in the early morning and natural light during the day).

The same principal applies when you start gradually decreasing the suppplemental light as daylight hours naturally increase. As the days get longer, you can slowly start decreasing when the supplemental light turns on each morning until eventually your flock is waking up to the sunrise.

How Much Light:

The intensity of light you provide does not have to be super strong. In fact, it’s better if the light is soft and gentle on the eyes so that the chickens don’t get stressed out. There needs to be just enough light that your flock can see well enough to get up and move around. They should be able to access food and water with the amount of light provided.

If you can see fine with the supplemental lights turned on, then your flock should be able to too.

How early you wake your flock up with supplemental lighting will depend on where you live and when the sunrises. If you find your flock starts laying with only a short time of supplemental light each morning, then that’s great! No need to wake your flock up any earlier than you have to as long as you are getting the results you want.

A younger flock often needs less supplemental light than an older flock, and some breeds may need less supplemental light to trigger laying than others.

When to Start Supplemental Lighting:

The time of year when you start gradually providing supplemental lighting will depend on where you live. Ideally you should also wait until most of your flock has finished their fall molt. The fall molt is not only for growing in new feathers, but it is also a natural break in the laying cycle that helps your hens stay healthy.

If most of your flock has finished molting and you calculate that they are getting less than 12-14 hours of light a day, then you may want to start introducing the supplemental lighting. This usually occurs sometime in late September to early October. If you have late molters, you may have to wait even later before starting the supplemental light.

Whether you decide to use supplemental light or not, knowing about both sides of the situtaion can help you make an educated decision. If you do decide to use supplemental light, make sure you rig up a system that is safe and effective. Try to provide the minimum amount of extra light needed to keep your flock laying. And don’t forget to do things gradually! Sudden changes add more stress! If you choose not to supply supplemental light, more than likely your hens will thank you for it. Not matter what you choose, you can still raise a happy, healthy flock either way!

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by Alexa