Artificial lighting

[Gaettberry]

Would this light source be sufficient enough to help my mature hens lay during the winter and help my new layers start laying?

 

[SourRoses]

Yes. According to studies, the minimum light level needed is 1 Candle (a unit of measurement). That is equal to a moonlit night.
You may have more than needed.
I recently added light to my coop, and turned it down to the lowest setting to help let them settle down in the evening. I have it on a timer to add 2 hours of light at night.
Normally, I wouldn't use added light out of respect for their natural cycles, but we had a slow year with broodiness, growing pullets, etc. So they already had their time off, and I want hatching eggs, lol. Already have results with 2 more mature hens laying.

I'll add some cautions here.
- You don't want the light on all night. They won't settle to sleep and social dysfunction can occur.
- Keep an eye out for behavior issues and injuries from "sleepover parties" with birds that are awake enough to be bored and pick on each other (yellow light rather than white or blue is better in this regard).
- If they don't get sufficient time off laying over the course of a year, they can suffer health consequences and get "worn out".
However, I don't believe it matters what time of year they get that break, so if they spent the whole summer sitting on nestboxes and then molting, like my hens, their health should be fine.

 

[aart]

Looks to be enough.
Supplemental lighting needs to be on a timer so they get the same amount of light the same hours every day.
Most folks like to have it come on early in the morning then shut off mid-day so they go to roost with the natural sunset.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

 

[SourRoses]

Most folks like to have it come on early in the morning then shut off mid-day so they go to roost with the natural sunset.

Interesting. I didn't know most people choose to add the light in the morning.

When I was deciding when to have the light on, I imagined the racket the roosters would make at 4 am
I did worry they might not settle down to roost with it on in the evening, but went ahead and tried it and found they roost like normal and try to sleep as if they know it's actually night time... but they are more shifty and unsettled until it turns off.

 

[LastMinuteLizzee]

Interesting. I didn't know most people choose to add the light in the morning.

When I was deciding when to have the light on, I imagined the racket the roosters would make at 4 am
I did worry they might not settle down to roost with it on in the evening, but went ahead and tried it and found they roost like normal and try to sleep as if they know it's actually night time... but they are more shifty and unsettled until it turns off.

We have a rooster in the neighborhood who crows at 1, 2 or 3 am! I've heard they don't really respect sunrises and this guy definitely doesn't!

It doesn't bother me, and they're far enough away that I only hear it if I open my window for fresh air at night. It's not allowed in our HOA so I'm curious how long they'll get away with keeping a roo LOL

 

[EMS83]

Yes. According to studies, the minimum light level needed is 1 Candle (a unit of measurement). That is equal to a moonlit night.
You may have more than needed.
I recently added light to my coop, and turned it down to the lowest setting to help let them settle down in the evening. I have it on a timer to add 2 hours of light at night.
Normally, I wouldn't use added light out of respect for their natural cycles, but we had a slow year with broodiness, growing pullets, etc. So they already had their time off, and I want hatching eggs, lol. Already have results with 2 more mature hens laying.

I'll add some cautions here.
- You don't want the light on all night. They won't settle to sleep and social dysfunction can occur.
- Keep an eye out for behavior issues and injuries from "sleepover parties" with birds that are awake enough to be bored and pick on each other (yellow light rather than white or blue is better in this regard).
- If they don't get sufficient time off laying over the course of a year, they can suffer health consequences and get "worn out".
However, I don't believe it matters what time of year they get that break, so if they spent the whole summer sitting on nestboxes and then molting, like my hens, their health should be fine.

Mine didn't lay July-September nor November-December. July was a hard summer molt. I don't know why they laid in October and then quit. Change in season? They're costing me a lot in feed.

 

[EMS83]

Looks to be enough.
Supplemental lighting needs to be on a timer so they get the same amount of light the same hours every day.
Most folks like to have it come on early in the morning then shut off mid-day so they go to roost with the natural sunset.
Here's a pretty good article on supplemental lighting.

The article is great! Do you have any ideas on how do a light/timer setup with solar power?

 

[wrathsfarm]

We have a rooster in the neighborhood who crows at 1, 2 or 3 am! I've heard they don't really respect sunrises and this guy definitely doesn't!

It doesn't bother me, and they're far enough away that I only hear it if I open my window for fresh air at night. It's not allowed in our HOA so I'm curious how long they'll get away with keeping a roo LOL

I would imagine there is a lot of street lights in an HOA and this could cause the roosters sporadic crowing at all times. I've read they need total darkness and any outside lights shining into the coop will disrupt their sleep. I'm in total darkness and the only time I've ever heard my roos were on a full moon bright clear night.