Chicken lighting in Coop question

[countryriders2]

This all sounds good. I have some extra white Christmas lights I think I'll give it a shot. Timer set to come on at 5am and to go off by 8am and back on at 4pm to 7pm. But right now my roo still wakes up and starts his crow around 4am.

 

[Bellacoby]

Hey Chillin",

I am in MD too and just starting out with Chickens. I have 3 pullets not laying yet, but soon (I hope). My question for those of us that get cold winters... I understand the lighting to get them the light they need, but what about a little heat in the coop? If I use an old style bulb in a protected fixture that would act as some heat and light. BUT, my coop is closed up at night so once they are up, nothing for them to do except want to get out where their food and water is.

Just wondering what others do? If I leave the coop door open (when its really cold) I worry it will be too cold for them...

 

[MoonShadows]

I mentioned earlier in this thread that a friend of mine uses white LED Christmas lights with success. But, I have decided not to use lights at all. After doing a lot reading on the subject, there is no doubt that upwards of 14 hours of light will keep the ladies laying all winter, but nature decided to build in short days and less laying. And, knowing that nature has a lot more wisdom then we do, there must be a good reason for this. So, I decided to not play with Mother Nature and the changes of the seasons, but let my hens lay according to what was originally intended. If that means less eggs, so be it. Nature has it's rhythms for a reason.

 

[muslw4]

You know, I was just ouside today looking at the oops, thinking of how I could add more lighting. I do use red heat lamp bulbs in the bantam coop when it gots below freezing, but was thinking of using a white bulb for more light. Then I read the last post.

You're right, nature knows best.

 

[Bellacoby]

The only thing I would add regarding Nature knowing best is the fact that in the "wild", birds would use this time of year to recoup from the stresses of spring/summer and all that egg laying. It is also a time for most "wild" birds when nutrition is scarce. These are domesticated now and are provided nutrition throughout the year. Adding light (so I am told) has no ill effects on them. However, I don't have a PHD on the subject, just other things I have read and heard. We feed them every day - whether it's 5 out or 95 out... so they are getting protein, calcium, etc... Everything they need to lay, except light. Some even go on to say that with all of that food, protein, calcium, etc... that they should be laying as that is what their bodies are mean't to do. Except the lighting issue and they haven't evolved enough to know to keep laying without the light. Their bodies don't work off of what they are eating, just the light. Just my 2 cents.

At the end of the day, do what you are comfortable with.

 

[MoonShadows]

I think you make a very good point, Bellacoby, about this time of year and scarce food for wild birds vs. continued good food/nutrition for domesticated birds. And, since there seems to be no definitive "proof" for either course, I agree, one should do what they want and are comfortable with when it comes to how they handle their birds.

 

[yogifink]

I use LED Christmas string lights, too. They are very sturdy heavy plastic, nothing like the flimsy breakable pre-LED lights. I got the cheap sets from Walmart - I think they were $7 a set? Three sets on a timer light up my 8x12 coop like daylight. Each light has a clip on it, so I was able to hammer in poultry staples, leaving a gap to attach the clip to. This way, IF a string malfunctions, I can easily take it down and put up a new one.... Very happy with them!

Res, careful with those lights up against your insulation like that. The insulation is flame resistant, but the paper is not. I do think you've got the right idea, but Christmas lights are a really big fire hazard because they can get so hot and the wiring is made very cheaply. If I were you, I would use a little bit of twine and hang them from the celling to provide a bit of space between the celling and the light strand.

 

[CatWhisperer]

My chickens were hatched July 22, so not due to start laying for another 2-3 months. Should I put lights in their coop or not? Will they start to lay around the first of the year with lights? When would they start without lights?

 

[res]

Res, careful with those lights up against your insulation like that. The insulation is flame resistant, but the paper is not. I do think you've got the right idea, but Christmas lights are a really big fire hazard because they can get so hot and the wiring is made very cheaply. If I were you, I would use a little bit of twine and hang them from the celling to provide a bit of space between the celling and the light strand.

If they were normal lights, I wouldn't have them up there next to the insulation, because the old-type C9's do get wicked hot. But mine are actually teeny-tiny LED bulbs encased in a huge thick plastic old-fashioned C9 bulb shape to "spread" the light. They never get the least bit hot, even after they have been on for 24 hours, they are ice cold. I tested them out before I hung them - I plugged them in while they were still bundled up in their package, and checked how they heated up. No heat at all. Figured if they can't produce any heat when they are shoved into a little cardboard box, they pose no fire threat spread out in the coop. Well, unless a wire got cut/scratched and sparked, I guess....

 

[yogifink]

Quote: That'll work. From your picture they look like one of those old strands with big lights on them. You know, the ones we had as kids that were usually colored bulbs, that would get so hot you couldn't touch them...

Do you leave them on all the time or are the on a timer? I am thinking about doing this myself because I've got a few pullets that are refusing to go into the coop at dusk.