Hens Lay More Eggs When Their Houses Are Lit, 1923

“Putting Lights in Hen Houses,” from the Cherokee Scout, Murphy, N.C., on June 8, 1923. The Mazda lamp had a brighter, whiter light than other incandescent bulbs of the time. The illustration is from a 1917 ink blotter, and it was not used in the Cherokee Scout.

Practical Tests Clearly Show That More Eggs Result With Artificial Illumination…Prolong Hens’ Activity…On One Farm More Eggs Were Produced This Way Every Month in the Year Except April and May

Keeping the hens awake by placing electric lights in the hen house has been tested in actual use so long that it can now be described as an accepted practice among many poultrymen. There are reports by this time that show a decided increase in egg production during the winter—the period of shorter days for all creatures—as a direct result of illuminating the chicken houses.

The sleeping hours of hens, it has been observed, stretch unbrokenly from sunset to sunrise. Doubtless that is the way primitive man used to live before artificial light was invented to prolong his waking hours. Without light to see by it wasn’t worth while to ignore sleep, for who would want to stay awake in the dark?

Mazda Lamps Used

So with the hens, and hence progressive chicken farmers began to experiment with artificial lights in the hen houses. Electric incandescent lights of the Mazda type were used. It was found that if the light was free from glare and evenly diffused it would imitate daylight and keep the hens active. The length of the feeding day was increased so that the hens had a longer period of exercise, obtained a larger supply of food nutrients and therefore had a greater quantity of egg-producing ingredients.

Comparative Test

On one chicken farm this method was tried successfully on a three-hour basis—that is, the electric lights were kept on from 6 to 9 o’clock every evening.

The results showed that during September the eggs laid by hens in the electrically lighted hen house were twice as many as those produced by the hens in hen houses without electric lights. It was also found that only in April were more eggs produced by the “daylight hens” than by the “electric light hens.”