The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching
Hatching season?
John:
--- Quote ---how many hours of light?
--- End quote ---
12 hours should get you some eggs. I only use artificial lights during the hatching season and start them a month before I plan to start collecting eggs to hatch. I start with 12 hours and increase it each week until I\'m up to 16 hours...generally from 4am to 8pm.
I\'ve read that some commercial laying operations go with 18 hours of light. I know of some folks that leave a light on in their coops all winter and they claim it also provides heat. I don\'t recommend that at all. If they need heat they should use another source and 24 hours of light can stress the birds.
grisaboy:
I don\'t have power in my coop. I have run a power cord across the yard in the past and put the coop lights on a timer.
This year I bought some solar christmas lights and hung them up in the coop (very festive). Depnding on how bright the day is the lights stay on for 2 to 4 hours after dark. It is a soft light but enough that I can see the birds on the roosts and I am getting eggs. No more cords across the yard and the decrease in the power bill should eventually pay for the investment. A 24 foot string of solar lights cost me about $20.
Curtis
grisaboy:
I am not going to set eggs until Feb or Mar. I don\'t like running the brooder while it is cold and my wife won\'t let me keep chicks in the basement any more.
Curtis
Beth C:
I have cords across the yard & running through conduit across the pasture. One of these days I\'ll get ambitious, run real wire, rent a ditch-witch, and bury the conduit. Maybe I\'ll drop a water line, too, while I\'m at it. But for now, it\'s redneck engineering all the way! :p
I\'ve had the lights on in the coop since early October and the free-loaders just started laying. I was really hoping to get an earlier start than this. The coccidia has been so bad the last 2 seasons I\'ve decided this year I\'m not setting anything past February.
I did set a dozen eggs from a nice wheaten pullet. I had a couple eggs from a splash pullet that I put in as well, even though there was a chance she may have been exposed to a buff cockerel. Of course, none of the wheaten\'s eggs were fertile, so I have 3 little gambles due on Christmas Eve (assuming they\'re still kicking - haven\'t candled lately).
John:
There are some old topics on lighting that you can find thru some searches. Here is one that shows some of my Christmas lights.
http://ameraucanabreedersclub.org/abcforum/index.php?a=topic&t=1401
Keep in mind not all light is the same when it comes to stimulating eggs production and the cocks/cockerels need it too.
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