Coop lighting

[stacibful]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but we have two red lights in our coop. Now that it's getting up into the 90's during the day and 60's at night do I still need to keep the red lights on during the night? I've had mixed advice about this and wanted to see what you all had to say. Thanks!

 

[JackE]

Why do you have re lights in your coop? You don't need any lights in there.

 

[rides2far]

I think it depends on how old your babies are & how long they've been outside at night. FYI, I put my 4 week olds out in early April with 2 red lamps. I kept both on for a couple of weeks, then went down to one lamp, then no lamp. Peek in while it's still dark & see if they are huddled under the lamp or not.

 

[stacibful]

well JackE I'm new to having chickens and I didn't know that. They are 11 weeks old now and we put them out when they were 5 weeks old. It just started getting warm out, it's been mostly in the 40's and 50's where I live. So it's safe to say that they no longer need the lights. What about come winter time?

 

[gillisjordan]

well JackE I'm new to having chickens and I didn't know that. They are 11 weeks old now and we put them out when they were 5 weeks old. It just started getting warm out, it's been mostly in the 40's and 50's where I live. So it's safe to say that they no longer need the lights. What about come winter time?

You should be fine with natural light during the day and then maybe a regular light bulb on at night. They shouldn't need supplemented heat when they're fully feathers, but a small light for them to see around the coop throughout the night should keep them happy. Hope this helps, good luck!

Also a tip for them when they start laying, add some curtains to your nests. They like darker, private boxes to lay their eggs in!

During the winter the most important thing is that they are sheltered from the wind. Ventilation Ventilation Ventilation. Its one of the most important things in a coop. Roof vents, gable end vents, whatever you gotta do to get indirect airflow through there. They give off a ton of moisture, in the summer it'll be soggy and in the winter they can get frost bite and other illnesses if you don't have proper ventilation. You could add a heat lamp if desired but most breeds adapt well to cold temperatures even so than the heat.