Artificial daylight in the hen house.

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
I never thought of the downside like the way you just put it. Hmmmm.

Our chickens health is a lot more important than egg laying so I'm going
to have to seriously re-evaluate my lighting.

Big question: If the birds have been in the dark for a few hours if I go out to
the barn at 10PM to visit with them and turn the lights on will that screw them
up? Their coop is also my barn and workshop so disturbing/waking them will
be unavoidable. Is it better to leave the lights on or is it better to wake them?

Thanks

 

[MissPrissy]

I would suggest not using a flood light.

Adding light to the hens for winter egg production should be done in the early morning hours. Not at night. They need to follow nature and roost as the sun goes down -a natural cycle. With the shortening days of winter 1 or 2 hours extra in the morning prior to and ending just after the sun comes up will enhance the laying but I wouldn't recommend hours and hours of light in dark hours - this will wear out your hens before their time.

You can purchase a timer at Lowes for under $7 that has 2 time setting features. Set the light to come on 2 hours before sun rise and to go off just after sun rise.

The light you use can be just a small bulb. I usually put in a 25 or 40 watt bulb in the winter. This year I will be using one of those new florescent lights that are more energy efficient (they look like a coil) in the lowest wattage I can find.

Good luck.

 

[dougo357]

I have a small flock of six birds. I used to put in artificial light. Last year I didn't. Egg laying seemed about the same and I felt that I was being more fair to the chickens. I won't be using lights anymore. Let things happen naturally. When the days get shorter, let the birds have some time off. You'll still get eggs.

 

[KrisRose]

Jeaucamom- I also run an electrical extension cord to my barn and soon to my coop. Its the orange heavy duty type and its been laying across my lawn for over 2 years. I was going to have the barn wired (and add water/phone) but the chicken addiction toke over my check book and credit card!!!
However-Take it from me-I do not recommend mowing over it.

 

[blossom hen]

Jeaucamom, we dug a trench from our house to the coop about a foot deep and used electrical conduit to run a heavy duty extension cord through. Had to cut off one end of cord; we chose the receptical end since it would be inside the hen house and that left the plug end intact to plug into the outside receptical on our house. Ran the conduit up the outside of the hen house and through the wall. Put in a "replacement" receptical and then plugged in a power strip which was mounted to a rafter. Easy way to get power and really inexpensive without having to worry about the effects of weather over time on the cord.

 

[sunnychooks]

Although I've considered the down side of additional lighting, I rotate my flock so that I have about a dozen new chicks every spring. This results in 3 age groups. The older ones (about 2 1/2 years at the time) are sold to people as pets who would like a few eggs for their own use and are not necessarily interested in high production.

I've solved the problem of no electricity in my coop by getting one of those solar lights that they use for sheds. I bought mine on ebay cheap. At dusk I turn it on and in the AM I shut it off. The nice thing about it is that it only provides a few hours of light before it runs out. The light is not bright at all (actually somewhat dim). When it goes off, it does so gradually so that the chickens do not find themselves in sudden darkness.

I read somewhere that the light only has to be bright enough to be able to read regular sized print at the distance of an arm's length. There was an article in Backyard Poultry Magazine a few months back that indicated that the amount of light from a candle flame was sufficient to keep chickens laying longer into the shorter days (The article was careful to recommend that no one should try this!!!).

 

[Youngfamily1989]

These are very good points. I have been...just unplugging the lights and I assumed the chickens could see enough to get on roost. I'll try it again tonight it might be a little comical. They'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off!

Sorry that wasn't even funny

. I think alot of my chickens and I will be weighing the pros and cons.

Thanks Brian