Lights?

We are going with a Motion Activated Flood Light on the front of our coop.  We are hoping it will deter many night time predators.  My husband is an electrician who actually specializes in solar panel installations (and wind turbines) so I thought he'd want a panel on the coop to run the water heater and outdoor light, etc but he has decided to just run the elecricity for it all straight from the shop.  Says the effort it would take, and the money involved is far more than the benefit.  Thats just our particular situation.

We are electricians too.  Like the posts above we also have branched out to "green electricity methods" However; not in the coop.  Solar Power is not yet all that it is cracked up to be, but headed in the right direction.  I have heat, hot & cold water, industrial exhaust fans, fridge, microwave, auto-matic door, and a lot of lights in the coop area.  Solar would not be able to handle all of that without costing an arm and a leg, and we could do it cheaper than most due to no labor costs and discounted materials.  I would also go with the motion activated floods.

Your not going to need heat in Virgina. Assuming your in that Fluvanna County.

I live in Northern NH. Run an extension cord for a light on timer once daylight goes under 11 hours per day and a heated waterer for their run so I'm not messing with frozen water ever. It's a pain and for the same cost of galvanized waterer you can get the plug in 3 gallon plastic.

Night lights for predators? No, we close the coop door every night. I see prints around and on the coop every morning it snows. No worries. No heat either, we get to -25 F every winter. Check out the Alaskan Thread and see their unheated coop to winter temperatures

I agree with Egghead. Build a secure coop and predator worries won't be an issue. It's fine to have a motion light but I wouldn't want to rely on it for security. I'm not a solar expert by any means but for anyone who's considering solar, keep in mind that unless you're only using power during the daylight hours, you will need battery storage. And battery replacements can sometimes be expensive. Make sure you always weigh in all the costs.  

A friend of mine has a small radio playing in their coop 24/7.  She has yet to see any predator tracks in the snow or mud around her hut.  PLUS the roo likes to sing along!

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeynajar 

A friend of mine has a small radio playing in their coop 24/7.  She has yet to see any predator tracks in the snow or mud around her hut.  PLUS the roo likes to sing along!

Cute about the roo but it all depends on your location and predator population. We've had talk radio playing and still have had a fox show up on the other side of the fence. I agree, a well built coop and run are your #1 form of protection, then lights that go on suddenly would be helpful, but I wouldn't stake anyone's life on it. Some predators just aren't afraid of people any more and will keep pushing until they are actually confronted. If they set the lights off enough, and no one shows up, they will know it's a bluff and ignore it.