Artificial light in the chicken coop

[Judy]

Quote:
So that's why I don't have a broody! My chickens aren't normal!

I knew when I typed that, it would come back and bite me....

 

[hawk]

Thanks for all the coments. Sounds like I will just make sure they get about 14 hrs of light a day especially in the winter months.

 

[cmom]

I have read articles that chicken do not have night vision like many other animals do. I keep a red night light in their coop (an 11 watt red sign light bulb). I figured out by my electric bill that it costs me < $3.00 a month to run. It's worth it to me. I did have it on a timer but my timer broke and I haven't replaced it. The only time my girls slack off on laying is when they are going through a molt.

 

[cherylcohen]

So I just added artificial daylight lighting to the coop and for the last two days theya re still going in at 6:30pm. Will they et used to the later light or are they happy with 10 1/2 of sunlight.

 

[cackler]

I know this thread is old but hopefully someone will see this.

We just added a light on a timer to inside the coop. We have just turned our clocks back an hour due to daylight savings time. This means instead of the girls going to bed around 6:30p it's 5:30p when they go in. I have the timer set for 5:15ish to go off around 9:00p. I was hoping this would be the best way to do it as in the Summer it's around 9p when they go to bed - and they usually have a consistent time they get out of the coop in the mornings to free-range no matter what time of year it is. Is this okay or is it better to have the light come on early in the mornings?

 

[Tailfeathers]

When I started out with chickens, I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a timer and kept light on my birds 24/7. I never had a single problem. Then I found that I could buy a timer for like $5 at WalMart - so I did. I now keep my birds on 15 hours of light and still have had no problems whatsoever.

All the arguments I've read for not adding supplemental light have centered around the idea of letting the birds have some rest. My response to that is to simply point out that anyone who's had chickens for any time at all has seen birds sitting outside perched on a limb or on the ground in the middle of the day, in the middle of summer, with nothing but sunlight around them, and be sound asleep. And anyone who's had chicks has seen the little potlickers be scooting hither and thither only to stop all of the sudden and fall over like they're dead but rather just go sound asleep.

As for letting nature take its course, since when do any of us do that? I don't know anyone that lets their birds totally fend for themself. We provide them with special foods, shelter, vitamin supplements, worming and parasite treatments, etc. etc.

My birds must pay for themselves. There is no free-lunch on my place. So to have them out of commission for months during the Fall, Winter, and Spring just doesn't make any sense at all to me. If others want to do that and/or can afford to do that, I say God Bless them but it doesn't happen here. Besides that, I've got folks who have come to rely on me to provide them with farm fresh eggs. I'd never keep any of them coming back if I went out of production for half a year.

Lastly, interestingly enough, I've got some ducks still in a pen down by the pond because they haven't stopped laying. Last year I got duck eggs all through the winter and they aren't on any lights other than the utility line that is up in our driveway.

Cackler, as for what is the best time to set the lights to come on and go off, I say do what works best for you. I have my lights coming on at 0430 and off again at 0730. Then they come on again at 1800 and go off at 2100. I go out about 2045 to do my chores. When the light goes off I go in the coop, pull all the birds out of the nesting boxes that habitually want to spend the night in them and put them on the roost. That way I don't have a bunch of filthy eggs every morning. And btw, when I set my clocks back in the house, I didn't bother changing the timer outside at all.

Hope that helps.

God Bless,

 

[cackler]

Thanks so much for all of your insight, Tailfeathers. We are new to all of this as of April so I welcome very much information from those with experience. I'm going to try it the way I have it right now (for one thing because my timer doesn't allow two times on and two times off - just once a day is all I get

)

 

[Tailfeathers]

You're very welcome. Just FYI, now is the time to pick up one of those multi-settings timers. I just picked up a second one for my new second coop at the Navy Exchange. It was in the Christmas section. I'm pretty sure it was under $5. I'm also pretty sure that WalMart still sells them.

I don't think I mentioned this before but the only reason I got the multi-setting timers is because it saves on electricity. When you haven't made a penny this year at your job, every little bit helps.

God Bless,

 

[cackler]

How does the multi-setting timer save on electricity? Do you mean because you're not leaving the light on all of the time?

 

[Tailfeathers]

The timer turns the lights on and off. For example, as I mentioned before, I have my lights coming on at 0430 and off again at 0730. Then they come on again at 1800 and go off at 2100. So the lights ain't on from 0730 to 1800 which saves electricity.

God Bless,