Sun Deprivation - is this a concern?

Bawkbok

Songster
Premium Feather Member
Jun 5, 2024
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Florida
This may be a strange question, but it's been cloudy for almost a full week now. The weather has been nasty humid, hot and overall unbearable to be out. The girls have fans which they lay under during the hottest part of the day. There has been no sun AT ALL. We are stuck under some sort of front that doesn't produce any rain, just overcast. There is no breeze at all. I realize we all have to tolerate the weather and have no control over it but does extended days without sun affect the health of a chicken? The other day I had the thought of temporarily installing a small light that people use for sun deprivation in the winter months. I don't have one but am thinking I may need one too at this point. Am I being ridiculous? Thanks all.
 
The lights people use in the winter are not for sun deprivation, per se. They are to force the laying cycle to continue. It does take a certain amount of light to keep a hen laying and that is why production drops in the winter but it's also good for their bodies to get a rest. Nothing to worry about if you have some overcasts days or weeks or even months.
 
This may be a strange question, but it's been cloudy for almost a full week now. The weather has been nasty humid, hot and overall unbearable to be out. The girls have fans which they lay under during the hottest part of the day. There has been no sun AT ALL. We are stuck under some sort of front that doesn't produce any rain, just overcast. There is no breeze at all. I realize we all have to tolerate the weather and have no control over it but does extended days without sun affect the health of a chicken? The other day I had the thought of temporarily installing a small light that people use for sun deprivation in the winter months. I don't have one but am thinking I may need one too at this point. Am I being ridiculous? Thanks all.
They’ll be fine.
They need some sunlight to manufacture vitamin D (as do we) unless they get it all in food. But even a cloudy day has sunlight and they don’t need it every day.
Always ask - most of us don’t mind answering questions. It is how we all learn.
 
Just fyi, you can still get a sunburn on a cloudy day if you're outside all day. There is still plenty of radiation coming through 😊 I imagine the worst time for sun deprivation would be during the winter months, when the sun isn't out for as long AND the clouds are dark with rain. But we all get through that okay, so no need to worry about it. If your chickens are on a good diet and outside for most of the day, that's all they need.
 
I had to take a look at the answers to your question. We can get weeks of clouds with out a break here. (Not just snow that comes off the Great Lakes). I have not documented a difference between cloudy streaks and sunny days, but sometimes it seems like egg numbers drop after extra cloudy streaks (months with little sun). Thankfully this year has had more sunny days.
Sorry about the bold, not sure why it wouldn't turn off.
 


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