Lighting for poultry is a complicated subject, and there's been tons of research done on it. Basically, you don't want or need to heat them during the winter, you do however need about 15 or 16 hours of light a day to keep them laying. With a source of electricity, all you need is a way to keep the water from freezing, if it even does freeze inside a building in Z8.

I agree that in zone 8 your chickens do not need the lamp for extra heat. Please do not leave the light on all night; chickens need their hours of darkness the same as we do.

I can't tell you the one "right way" to use supplementary lighting, but I will tell you what I have found works for me. I like to start using my light on a timer around the first day of fall. The days and nights are equal at that point and I will increase their "day length" by adding about ten or fifteen minutes a week until I reach fourteen hours, at which point I adjust it only to maintain it. I add the light in the mornings and let them go to sleep naturally.

Because I live in zone 5, I do use a heated pet dish for their water to keep it from freezing. In the event of a bitterly cold spell I occasionally attach the heat lamp to the same timer as the regular light. This gives them a bit of extra heat in the coldest hours without disturbing their day length, but it is an emergency measure only and I seldom consider it necessary.

Sounds like you have quite a hen house there! There probably isn't a need for a rain shelter. Our hens free range all day and unless it is pouring, they seem to enjoy being out in the rain. It probably also helps keep them clean. They all have beautiful coats.

You start using the light in mid August when the daylight hours get under 13 hours. Cold temps are not what cause hens to quit laying, it is lack of light.

When I had hens we would start using artificial light around Aug 15th and go until early Feb when the egg count would skyrocket. We'd put the light on a timer to come on at 5am and go aff around 9am than come on again at dusk and stay on until 8pm

I don't use artificial light with my chickens, they're just pets. The eggs are a bonus.

I don't use a heat lamp either (zone 6). They're in a meshed-in horse stall with insulated outer walls, inside a big horse barn. The inner walls are open to the rest of the barn, but the outer walls are nice and snug. The birds seemed to like it.

Like Ohiorganic, I like to use the light in the morning too. I don't use it at night because then they have a hard time roosting. They think it's daylight, they're all on the ground eating and boom, the lights go out and they're stuck on the floor. I just gradually increase the amount of light they get and by mid-winter, the light is coming on around 3 am.

Since my hens go in to roost around 4:30 pm now, I have a light come on at midnight then off at 8 pm...it's on all day for them,keeps them warmer and dry,even tough they're outside all day,but some girls go in and lay in the late morning,also gives them 16 hours of light they need for the egg production. When it's pouring and cold they go in to dry off .Our winters here get to -25 below freezing,so they do need the extra warmth .They all seem very happy,and rested! I just love them!

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