Light for Layers

In addition to time of lighting, type of lighting is an important consideration if you want eggs from your chickens during winter.

There’s no need to illuminate your coop as if your birds were throwing a (hen)house party. Supplemental lighting should be soft, shedding only enough light to read. Because of this, fluorescent lights tend to be too intense for coop use.

The long fluorescent bulbs also attract the dust that is ever present inside a coop. This requires that both fixture and bulbs be cleaned with frequency. In addition, fluorescent lights function capriciously in cold weather, which effectively undermines their usefulness in an egg-production setting.

Incandescent bulbs are a more suitable choice, with their variety of wattages and warmth levels.

Make certain to select a warm, orange wavelength. This will help stimulate your hens’ reproductive cycle versus a cool, blue one. Incandescent lighting may not be as cost effective to use as fluorescent lighting. But its effect on your layers is the positive trade-off.

Another option for coop lighting is the use of light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. LED bulbs typically have a longer life span and are more energy efficient than both incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. They also emit far less heat than incandescent bulbs and are more reliable in cold weather than fluorescent bulbs, making them the safest choice for use inside a dusty coop.

However, LED fixtures and bulbs cost significantly more than both incandescent and fluorescent lighting, and warm-wavelength LED bulbs are in high demand and may be difficult to find.

Battery-powered LED light fixtures exist and may seem to be the solution for egg farmers whose coops are not equipped with electricity. Unfortunately, these type of fixtures are operated via touch, making them impractical as it would require flock keepers to go out to their coops at 3 a.m. or so to activate them.

And there’s no guarantee that a curious hen won’t peck the light to shut it off.