[desandchez]

I have heard that at this time of the year my girls may benifit from extra light. Our girls are kept on the allotment. Any idears as to the best way to give them this extra light and for how long we should leave it on

[babe]

hello and welcome.

hens need so many hours of daylight each day to produce an egg.

so egg producers use lighting in the winter months to stop them going off lay.

at birth they have a set number off eggs in them. so its a choice of allowing them to lay naturally for a longer period.

or to lay constant but for less years.

[SnooziSuzi]

As far as I'm aware, the only reason to give them extra light at this time of year is to get them to keep laying throughout winter, particularly if they are kept indoors most of the day, but the cost of this could outweigh the few extra eggs you get so I'd say let them be and give them a well deserved rest!

[desandchez]

i'm new to all this as you can all see, and after reading some of your other info looks like i'll be better off saving for an automatic pop hole opener

[BarnBrian]

I'm not convinced that a hen has a pre-determined number of eggs she's going to lay in her lifetime. Where did this theory come from?

Brian

[poultrygeist]

It's a fact with all animals Brian. Humans too. Set number of cells in the ovaries. Keep going until they run out.

Rob

[BarnBrian]

Just goes to prove we're never too old to learn.  :oops:

[poultrygeist]

Beautifully put.

I bet I learn something new on here every day. There's a lot of information HERE

Fascinating stuff

Rob

[karlooben]

i am just going to let my guys lay as and when they want to , i dont know why as such but it seems the more i feed my girls i'e pasta rice greens etc i get more eggs an the les they have like just the layers meal or pellets they lay less.

i am also on a allotment site so if i was to use any extra lighting it would have to be battery oprated an that seems like a lot of hassle .

[meterman]

I have also found that more veg etc means more eggs thru winter +short moult time I think my chucks are like me when happy long nights become short and short days become long

[desandchez]

batteries on the allotment is not too much of a hassle as we have to use one to run the electric fence this last about 4 weeks on average

[MontyTom]

I have a solar panel rigged up at my allotment, linked to inverter and 12v battery - then, obviopusly, to a normal bayonet light fitting with energy saving bulb. Trouble is, I never anticipated the amount of energy the timer takes from battery. For this reason, I would look at a system like the Rooster Booster, or rig a similar circuit up (unless you have massive solar panels and wind turbine to sustain energy consumption.  Also, set timer for extra morning daylight hours, which then lets birds setlle at night naturally. The Rooster Booster does however have a dimming setting, which is great.

Hope all goes well.

[SnooziSuzi]

Tom,  I've often fantasised about having a small solar array with 12v battery to power stuff at the allotment but as i don' have an engineering mind (OH does, but I don't tend to listen to him much  :roll: ) I wasn't sure how much energy I could expect from it.

OH got really good grades at school, particularly compared with mine,   perhaps I should concede defeat and actually listen to him!

[desandchez]

JUST FOUND A VERY HELPFULL WEB SIGHT WWW.reuk.co.uk they tell you alsorts of ways to build or get round electrical things. i was looking for a 12 volt timer, very expensive, apparently you can use a progamable thermostat, any way well worth a look