adding light to shortend days, how to

[mandersn]

Can you please tell me how I go about adding a few hours of light to my birds in the winter to keep them laying> Do you put light inside coop or out? What watt? Is it even a good idea? All advice greatly appreciated.

 

[BantamLover21]

I put a small light inside the coop, up where the chickens can't reach it. It is attached to a timer, and comes on/turns off according to how I set it. I'm not sure at the moment what wattage is is, though--I'd have to look.

The light doesn't have to be really bright; just bright enough that it seems like the beginning of morning daylight.

 

[aart]

It needs to be bright enough for them to see clearly move and around and eat/drink.

Here's a pretty good article on how to.

 

[mandersn]

thank you for the article, Now I have another question... If Im turning on a light inside the coop do I keep chickens inside until the sun comes up or does it matter. My chickens have access to a small area outside of coop at anytime.

 

[Revgtomp]

Can I use one of those motion lights that come on with movement or does it need to be a constant kind of light.

 

[aart]

thank you for the article, Now I have another question... If Im turning on a light inside the coop do I keep chickens inside until the sun comes up or does it matter. My chickens have access to a small area outside of coop at anytime.

I don't let mine out of the coop and into the run until after sunrise because of possible predators, the risk is fairly low but my run is not fully predator proof.

Can I use one of those motion lights that come on with movement or does it need to be a constant kind of light.

Constant would be simpler.

 

[RonP]

I posted this on another query, this is how I do it, works extremely well, hope it helps:

There are a lot of opinions on supplementing light to keep the chickens laying during time period where there is less than 12-14 hours of available daylight.

My coop gets 16 hours of light 351 days per year.

I turn lights off for 14 days to have birds go into a controlled moult late September .

Having had to install electricity for the thermostatically controlled water heater, I took advantage and installed a lighting system.

My system has two timers. The first is set to turn the lights on at 5:30am, off at 9pm.

Power goes on, passes through a photocell, then to a 300 lumen LED bulb, 4.8 watts, in the coop, and 2 4.8 watt LEDs for the outside run.

I light the run because I found the birds huddled outside the coop door in the dark one 5:30am morning...
They have access to the run 24/7, as it is as secure as the coop.

The lights are on only when it is dark enough outside to be necessary.
The time on very closely mimics my Summer Solstice in NJ.

The second timer is set to go on at 8:30pm, off at 9:30pm, a diffused 200 lumen LED 4 watt bulb.
This low light allows the birds to settle in before all lights out and 8 hours of darkness.

This system costs less than $5 per year to operate..