Adding light (not heat). What's the best way?

[gale65]

DH came home and announced that a friend told him we need to light up the coop each day to extend the daylight or the girls won't start laying (they are almost 19 weeks old). He said to add 15 minutes for a few days, then another 15 min, and so on. So what is the best way? I'm guessing a 40W bulb wouldn't add a lot of heat, right? Do you add it in the morning, the evening, or both? How much do you extend the daylight (how many hours total)?

 

[Mom 2em All]

Add it in the morning. In the evening they are settling in to sleep, and the darkness wont be gradual- if you have a light and turn it off, it may catch some of them off their roosts.
I have a 40 watt bulb that I use for my small coop.

 

[kevinhannan]

I'd say go for a cfl lamp - about 11watts in the middle of a small-to-medium coop.

I've read around these parts a good way to save on the leccy - have your lamp come on
say 5am to 8am and then off while its light outside and then do the same thing at night
and have it come on before it gets dark and then off again at 11pm or midnight. Maybe
you have local laws where you are about outhouse lights being on and annoying neighbours,
I don't know, but you get the idea to have light around 18 hours per day.

If you can get a day blue cfl. ;-)

 

[Luckytaz]

Have the light come on only in the morning. Let them go to roost, with the setting of the sun.

 

[ChickenScratchin]

I'm using a nightlight. I have it come on a couple hours early in the morning and then for about an hour in the evening. I have to split it up, as the recommended amount of light is 14 hours and I don't want the chickens up at 4 am. From what I read, you don't need a bright light - basically enough to be able to read a newspaper, but not easily. So far it's keeping my girls laying well - 13 or 14 eggs/day out of 19 and not all are even layers yet.

As I understand it, you want to focus more on lumens rather than wattage. Lumens is the amount of light per square foot, basically. So, in a small coop, you need VERY little light because a 60 watt bulb would make the small area a LOT brighter than a larger space. I plan on getting a more efficient bulb, but for now it's working fine.

 

[Orchid]

Last year I used a CFL light designed to be used as an under-cupboard light and put it on a timer. Even in the dead of winter it worked well, it just warmed up slowly. My coop was really small and I didn't want to risk burning my chickens with a regular light.

 

[MIKE555444]

Very simple, cheap and effective:

 

[lauriej57]

Quote:
This is pretty much what I do, but only 1 bulb in each coop,but no quite so close to any wood or anything flammable.

If you want to use extended lighting to get your girls laying or to keep laying throughout the winter, you want to make sure that they have 12 to 14 hours of light each day. Your best bet is to use a timer, and figure out when it gets light in the morning, and when it gets dark in the evening, and adjust the timer. I usually adjust my timer about once a week.

 

[MIKE555444]

Quote:
This is pretty much what I do, but only 1 bulb in each coop,but no quite so close to any wood or anything flammable.

If you want to use extended lighting to get your girls laying or to keep laying throughout the winter, you want to make sure that they have 12 to 14 hours of light each day. Your best bet is to use a timer, and figure out when it gets light in the morning, and when it gets dark in the evening, and adjust the timer. I usually adjust my timer about once a week.

I agree... 12-14 hour is best.

I'm actually only using one light in my set up... The one light is wired for the timer... the other is for the light switch and is only used during hours when the timer is off and I need light to feed and water.

 

[florida lee]

I just use a 40 w bulb plugged into a timer to come on before daylight. I don't use a CFL, too many accounts of them starting fires, And I had one that went out and got so hot I couldn't touch it.