Retiring for the Night

[Melinda48]

Ok so here the deal- we use a light to insure our girls get their 12 hours of light a day resulting in 12/12 eggs even now. Generally we turn the coop light on and then after it gets dark, we shut up the coop for the night and turn off the lights. Well, for the last 4-5 nights they just don't want to go to bed. We turn the light on, it gets dark, the don't go in the darn coop for about an hour to an hour and a half after it get dark. Why are they not going to bed?

 

[Judy]

I would guess because the light is on. The usual way to provide extra hours of light is to put it on a timer and have it turn on around 3 or 4 AM, whatever time comes out to 12 hours. This way they can go to sleep naturally and will simply have their day start early. You can buy a timer from a hardware store for about $10.

 

[Melinda48]

Guess that's worth a try. This just started happening though - we have been doing 6am-6pm all winter- maybe it's because it's spring!

 

[Sunnyside Up]

This just starting happening to our flock, we have been keeping red heat lamps running in the coop to keep the flock warm due to the extreme cold weather we have been experiencing. I am having to "usher" the chickens in the coop at night - I am hoping the chickens will get back to thier normal routine when we do not have to run the lamps at night. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.