When you collect new chicken for a poultry farm or your hobby, you face some common problems. At that time you may have confusion about giving the light to the chicken coops at night time. You may have questions about light and chicken…
- Should the chickens need heat or light at night?
- Will chickens or poultry birds sleep with the light on?
- How much light should you provide to the poultry birds?
You have also searched on the internet but don’t get the right information about it. I think you have come to the right place for knowing the lighting issue for poultry birds.
There are many steps for growing the poultry business but in this post, I will try to discuss the relationship between lighting and flock of chickens.
So don’t skip, if you want the right answer to your question.
Do Chickens Need Light(Heat) in Their Place(Coop) at Night?
Now I am giving you a common answer to this question. After that, I will also tell you why the chickens need light in specific situations.
Normally chickens (adult hens) or other poultry birds don’t need light at night time because they want to rest around 6-9 hours in a single day. The main resting time of the poultry birds is nighttime. This resting time is helpful for birds and their egg production.
If you have a better chicken coop, you don’t need any light (except the cold winter season) during the sleeping time of poultry birds.
But there may require light or supplemental heat for weak poultry birds at night time in the winter season. Baby chickens also need heat in both the summer and winter seasons.
In the cold season, baby chicks may also need additional brooder light for adjusting the temperature. Besides the place where the excess cold temperature is available for 24 hours, you should need the chicken heater for providing exact heat to those chickens.
Do Chickens Sleep with the Light On or Off in the Coop?
In the sunlight, birds can’t sleep because they need a dark place for restful sleep. Poultry birds (flocks) also have the same characteristics.
When a place has available light, chickens assume it as sunlight. This is the reason why they want to sleep in a dark area.
Poultry birds love to take full rest in a dark place. So basically you should not light on in the chicken room (coop).
Why is Light Requirement for Laying Hens or Layers?
Light is also an issue for laying eggs because naturally some biological rules are found in the chicken’s body. Let me explain in a short term.
So, continue reading…
Two types of glands are situated near the eye side of a poultry bird. They are photosensitive and pineal glands.
These glands are activated when sunlight enters the chicken’s eye. After activating these glands, they produce some hormones and signal to chicken ovaries for laying more eggs by maintaining specific rules. (source)
If the daylight period is large, the production of eggs is high. On the other hand, the production is low in the low daylight period.
This is the reason why chickens are laying more eggs in the summer season. In this season, daytime is longer than nighttime.
So daylight can enter the chicken’s eye for maximum time. At that time, the pineal gland and pituitary gland can produce more hormones for more egg production.
The pineal gland improves the immune system of the chicken’s body and It also helps to reduce stress. It produces melatonin which helps chickens have regular deep sleep. So light sensitivity is also important for the health of poultry birds.
Besides, there are also other reasons for the unhealthy condition of chickens. The sickness may automatically decrease the weight of the poultry bird which is not a positive sign.
So you should know the answer to why are chickens losing weight?
N.B: If you face hatching problems after the production of a chicken’s egg, you can use a reliable chicken incubator for producing chicks. You can’t hatch all the chicken eggs. Only you can hatch fertilized eggs.
Should You Use Artificial or Supplemental Light for Chickens
Now you have understood the importance of sunlight for poultry birds.
But you may have a question that…
Does supplemental or artificial light help chickens to produce more eggs?
You may also have some more confusion: have artificial light benefits for chicken health?
If artificial light is good in the winter season, then how to use them?
You also know that the nighttime of the winter season is larger than daylight. So chickens face more darkness (night time) in the extremely cold season (bad weather) and automatically they decrease egg production.
For optimizing egg production, a supplemental or artificial lighting system is important for the chickens. As research, If any chicken gets 15 hours of light daily, then that poultry bird lays more eggs than others. (Source)
So you have understood that you need to set supplemental light for maintaining 15 hours of light in the chicken farm or coop.
Though some backyard chicken keepers don’t believe this theory, most of the chicken owners use this method in their farming places.
How Many Hours of Light Do Chickens Require to Lay eggs?
This is also an interesting question. I will also try to share the information that you may like. There is a relation between the daylight period and Egg production of chicken.
There is a biological character in the mother chicken. When the day length is 14-16 hours, chickens start laying eggs. (source)
This is the reason why some professional poultry farmers add light in the chicken coop for maintaining 14 hours -16 hours. As a result, the breed of chickens is increased for this time.
In the summertime the daylight period is large. For this reason, egg production is automatically high in the summer months.
In this situation, poultry owners set light above the chicken waterer and feeder most of the time. Besides, you can set the bulbs to that place where chickens stay for a long time.
What Kind of Light (Lamp) do Chickens Need to Lay Eggs?
You can use 9-watt fluorescent lights (bulbs), supplementary heat lamps, white lights, etc for increasing the period of daylight. The reliable recommended is incandescent light (bulb) which you can try.
N.B: It will be better if you can avoid heat lamps as heat sources. You should also avoid using combustible materials and landscape lights for providing heat.
You need to remove the dark in the surrounding area like daylight. So think about it and don’t set a high heat bulb to the poultry living place.
If you can set sufficient light in that place, the chicken will consider it as daylight. So automatically they increase the production of eggs. If the daylight is 14-16 hours per day, you don’t need bulbs for increasing the period of daylight.
N.B: You should also provide a reliable nesting box to the chicken for increasing egg production and this is also a good way.
Does LED Light Help for Laying Eggs of Hens?
LED bulbs can also bring an impact result during laying. Two types of LED bulbs are used on the farm.
As data, a red LED bulb is better than a white LED bulb for growing egg production. During the setting of the red LED lights for chickens, 93.4% of hens lay. On the other hand, 91.4% of hens lay in the setting of the white LED lights. (source)
When and How You Should Use Artificial Light
You can use supplemental light with a reliable timer for starting the light at an exact time. By doing this, you can get better results for growing more production (eggs) in the cold season.Some people think that they should use bulbs at the end of daylight.
But the better idea is that you should use the bulb in the starting morning. Because chickens wait for the light at the starting of dawn.
If you add light in the evening, then chickens may be scared of the sudden darkness of last night.
So my suggestion is that you should use the bulb to the starting morning (dawn) so that chickens assume this light as natural daylight.
For using the light, at first, you should calculate the daylight hours. Suppose, if the daylight is 11 hours ( sunrise is 7 am and sunset is 6 pm), you should use the bulb for more than 3 or 4 hours.
You should switch on the bulb at 3.30 am and stop that bulb at 6.50 am. You should adjust the timer at your setting time.
Thus you can expand daylight in the winter months. After doing that, the poultry birds see the artificial light as natural daylight. As a result, they can prepare their body for laying enough eggs naturally.
Do Chickens Require Heat in the Winter Season?
If you do proper shade for blocking cold airflow, you don’t need extra heat for chicken. The body of the chicken can maintain its temperature for staying in a cold environment.
A healthy chicken can stay in the winter season. But be sure to confirm they have a well chicken coop or other suitable places for their living. That coop must have a system for blocking cold air.
Give them food in the evening so that their body will generate heat at night in the winter season.
If your birds are sick, you may need to implement a reliable chicken heater in their living area.
Do Baby Chicks Need Heat or Light for Growing?
The body of baby chicks can’t produce enough heat. So you should provide a chick heater for giving the exact heat to chicks. They must need excess heat (extra light) in the cold season.
With providing heat, they also need healthy food for keeping their body warmer. Provide good food with reliable chick feeders and waterers for exact body nutrition.
The health condition of a chick also depends on the reliable incubator. You may collect the better incubator for good health at the starting level of the natural life cycle of chicks.
My Viewpoint
Overall, here I just want to tell you that you should learn about chickens more and more. When you start a poultry farm, you will face daily problems like egg binding.
If you have no idea about how to face these problems, you can’t overcome them. So at first start reading to know the information about chicken.
In this post, I have described the relationship between light and chicken. If you read the total post, you can understand the lighting issue.
I have also explained why bulb is preferable for chicken health. Why the lengthy period of daylight is effective for the high production of chicken eggs.
In the chicken coop, you should turn the bulb on and off for a certain period. You should do it to maintain the daylight period. How to maintain it I have also shared here.
You should know the points about What type of light you should use for the poultry birds.
Here, I have also shared that How to use bulbs for expanding daylight for getting more egg production.
If you have some more time, you can read below the questions and answers (FAQ section) about the lighting issue of chicken.
FAQ: Do Chickens Need Light
Can Chickens or Chicks See in the Dark?
No, they can’t see in the dark area. Because of the inability of night vision, they want to take a rest in dark places. In the dark area, the brain of chickens doesn’t work fully. So they feel sleepy in that situation.
Are Chickens OK for Living in a Dark Place?
Chicken needs a dark place for sleeping and taking rest. For better sleeping, they need almost 6-7 hours in a dark area. As a result, they can sleep well.
They also need sunlight for laying eggs. If any chicken stays in the darkroom all day, you should check the health condition of that poultry bird.
During hatching, the chicken wants to stay in the room all the time. But this is a different condition. Normally any chicken needs daylight for its health.
Do Chickens Need Sunlight or Natural Light?
For egg production, chickens need sunlight. These are the biological rules for the chicken’s body. If the period of daylight is short, the chicken will decrease egg production. This is why many people use the bulb for growing production.
Do Chickens Need Too Much Light?
They don’t need high heat or extreme temperatures for their body. They Just need the daylight for increasing more laying.
Their body already produces some heat. In the winter season, this heat keeps the chicken’s body normal.
Should all chicken coops or other living places be dark?
Any living area or chicken coops should not be dark. Normally any chicken has poor night vision in a dark mood. This is the reason why they can’t eat properly.
They will also face movement problems in their coop. So my suggestion is that you should collect any chicken coop which has a window or light flow system.
If you don’t use the coop, No problem. You should allow the light to flow in the place where chickens live. At night time, you should keep the chicken’s room dark for their sleeping.
Is it ok or not to Leave a Light On All night for chickens?
You should not switch on the bulb all night. If you do this, the health of chickens will gradually become poor.
Do All Chickens are Active at Night?
If the chicken room is dark, chickens aren’t active. On the other hand, they remain active, if the bulb is on.