Do you need a light in the coop?

[cassidy22]

We decided not to artificially light our coops. We thought it would help with the longevity of the life of our birds, not to force them to lay unnaturally. Hey, we all need a break in the winter!

But we do a short light in the evening now, it comes on at dusk, and stays on long enough to give them all visibility (and a reminder) to come into the coop in the evening. It has increased egg production a little, but mostly, we want them all in the coop in the winter, since we are away at work. We want to make sure they all see the others and know to go in, before decided to bed down in the tall grass, where they can freeze to death.

 

[southerndesert]

We have a single 15 watt bulb in each hen house and run the lights from 5:30 am to 7:30 pm daily giving 14 hours light. Our girls lay well year round with this setup and the light is not too bright as to freak them out coming on or going out.

Some worry their birds will not be on roosts at lights off, but ours seem to know when to get up there and we also do not feed in the hen houses so there is really nothing to do in there but roost or lay eggs....

 

[yinzerchick]

I hope I haven't messed up.

My chickens get inside and on their roosts before dark, but since my DH put electricity in the coop, I put 2 little night lights in there. One has a pink bulb and is above the roosts along the back wall, and the other is below the roost, near the pop door. They're the kind you turn on and off, just little things that go into an outlet. I didn't intend it for egg production, (I don't think it would be enough light) I had read that chickens have no night vision and didn't want them to be freaked out if something happened. I turn them on when I go out to close up the coop.
That's not enough light to make any difference, is it? I've been turning them on for about a month now.

 

[gophert]

So if I live in an area that gets 10.5 hours of sun during winter (south), is this something I don't need to worry about? I just have a chicken ark anyway--could one even light that?

We are limited as to how many chickens we can have but we really want the eggs year-round.

 

[silkiechicken]

I get a full 8 hours and 22 minutes dec 21st. LOL

But I don't give light and my first year layers give me eggs for that winter, second year layers usually slow or stop... third year layers? Well... I have replaced most of those by then so not sure. Easy way to see which year layers are laying, every other year when you switch out layers, get all brown layers, then all white layers and so on.

 

[tpeila]

This is my first winter with chickens. I am in Washington state and we have mild winters and I have no electricity to my coop. Hoping they will be ok!

 

[PressOn]

Easy way to see which year layers are laying, every other year when you switch out layers, get all brown layers, then all white layers and so on.

Or you could probe them every morning for a week. Never done it but know someone who has.​

 

[JodyJo]

my first winter with my girls laying, huge debate in my house on lights or no...I think I am going with no...let nature take its course. I live in Colorado, winters are cold here....-20* at some times...my girls are all in at dark, getting earlier every day....if they lay they lay, if they don't, they don't....I will give them a break this winter...we will see how the eggs drop off.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I'll betcha they do just fine. Chickens tolerate cold alot better than they tolerate heat. No drafts, dry coop, they do just fine.

 

[southerndesert]

Simply up to the owner....

For us it is economics as the hens pay for their feed with eggs....

So we keep the girls working through the winter, but we are in Arizona and not what most would call winter with temps in 60s and 70s....

Our girls slow way down when temps run over 100 daily from June to end of September, but we keep 38 hens right now and they still pay their way and then some summer or winter....