You can use this website to see when your area sees less than 10 hours of daylight. In my area the time period from December 9 to Jan 1 has 10 hours or less of daylight. Even though we are having a warm winter this year plant growth has really slowed down during the past few weeks due to having less sun. It is fun to look at the chart linked above to see what two days of the year are the same length. I know that by March most of the hens will be laying and the earth will be bursting with green. Interesting to see that March 14 and August 27 both have 13 hour days.
If you keep chickens you will see fewer eggs during this time period also. It isn't the cold weather, but the length of day that slows or even stops egg laying. Chickens need 14 hours of daylight to trigger the hormonal processes that start them in to laying. In natural light the birds will begin to lay when daylight hours hit 14 and will increase laying to their maximum ability when days reach 16 hours long. They then decrease laying as day length decreases. Since they will also slow down or stop laying when stressed, such as when summer temperatures are over 100 degrees, I do add lights to some of my pens for the winter. Some people feel that is not natural and the hens should have a rest period. I figure they already rested in the summer and now they need to get busy and earn their keep. Chicken feed isn't cheap.
Another reason to pay attention to the length of day is if you are raising animals that are seasonal breeders. Heritage breed turkeys, guinea fowl, geese and some other poultry species only breed in spring, when days are getting longer. While domestication has bred out seasonal breeding in cows and pigs, goats, sheep and horses continue to be seasonal breeders.
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