Do you need light in the coop at night?

[67drake]

Hi,first post,but I've been here reading here for a month or two. This is my first time raising chickens,so I'm sure I'll have a few questions along the way. Here's the first.
I don't know if they are technically chicks at this point,but my 13 hens are 13 weeks old now. We moved them from the house out to the coop at about 5 weeks. It was still kind of cold here at night back then,so we moved the 2 warmer lamps from their indoor boxes into the coop. Do they still need this at night for light? It's not cold at night anymore and I assume they can manage being in the pitch black coop at night,correct? Can they see,or do they just bump around in there?
Thanks!

 

[Blooie]

X3 They shouldn't need either heat or light at this age, so you'll be just fine having them outside without. Actually I raise my chicks from the start without any light, and no heat lamp, and they are so strong and healthy. I figured that Mother Nature got it right when she taught broodies how to take care of their chicks. I wondered why I was doing so many things she wasn't - including stressing over them. So I quit, and started raising them as naturally as I can. First thing I quit doing was the heat lamp. Mom doesn't sit on them 24/7 until they are almost at point of lay, so why was I keeping them constantly hot instead of letting them run around in the cold and then popping under an imitation mom (see the thread, Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder) for a quick warm-up? It followed that without heat lamps in use, there was also no artificial light The brooder would darken gradually and naturally with sunset, and lighten up gradually and naturally with the sunrise. They slept tucked under, on top of, or around Mama Heating Pad all night through, up and bounced out raring to go in the morning! And the chicks were raised outside in a pen within the run and temps were in the teens and low twenties. Didn't lose a single chick out of the 23 raised this way....the first was our special little roo, Scout, followed by one batch of 11, which were joined by another batch of 4 a week later. After they were fully integrated with the flock at 4 weeks, we raised another group of 8.

I do have a light out in the coop, and as @Judy said, it comes in very handy for me. Sometimes, especially during the early Wyoming winter nights, it's so helpful to be able to flip a switch and finish up any chores I might not have been able to get finished before. It's also nice to be able to check them over when they are calm and in a sort of sunset-induced stupor. But other than that, they don't need it so I don't provide it. And like @TRMFAM said, I prefer them to go through their natural rest period in the winter, so if I have to buy a dozen eggs or so while they take a break and/or molt, it's no big deal to me, so no supplemental light here for them for egg production, either.

Good luck with your chicks! Ain't they a hoot??

 

[67drake]

2 nights of chickens in the dark,and all is well.
I wanted to post this because of what happened last night-
I leave for work at 9PM,about when it gets dark here this time of year. The last thing I do before I leave is shoo the chickens from their run into the coop,so I can lock it up for the night. This usually means cornering the stubborn ones and hearing them squwak as I pick them up to put in the coop. Last night 7 of them were already in the coop,huddled up,1/2 asleep. The other 6 were huddled up sitting on top of the runs' fence, also 1/2 asleep. I reached up to pick them up one by one and put them in the coop. None complained the least bit,and they even let me pet them! They have not been this mellow since they were a few days old! they acted liked they were drugged or something compared to how they usually act at "bedtime".
Thanks people! Lights out from now on!

 

[Blooie]

Amazing, isn't it? So many of the "problems" we have with them doing things isn't them at all - it's us! We make them expect that if A happens then B will follow, until suddenly we change how we want them to behave. Then they protest - loudly - and we give in. I was the worst about that with last year's chicks. They were so spoiled that I ended up stressing out about everything even as I caved to whatever it was they demanded. I should have just let them be chickens - they know how to do that better than I do!

Congrats!

 

[kath19t]

Well I’m not 100% sure how it works. But it turns on when my chickens start heading to the coop at sunset. It turns off after a certain amount of minutes (I’m not sure how many minutes probably 30) and there is an automatic timer. It is like the timers people will use for their Christmas lights.

 

[Judy]

Welcome to our forum!

In a word, no. They rest best in natural light, that is, seeing dawn and dusk come and go. They can get used to having light at night as chicks because of heat, so sometimes they will chirp a bit for a night or two if suddenly sleeping in the dark, but they will quickly adjust.

Chickens can't see well in the dark, but they don't need to, they won't eat or drink at night under normal circumstances, either.

On the other hand, a light you can turn on in the coop can be handy for a number of reasons. Night is the easiest time to check them closely or give meds because they're so drowsy and easy to handle. Some people put a light on a timer for the first part of the night to increase egg production. Some people even play a radio at night to discourage predators. and of course, it's helpful if investigating a disturbance.

 

[ChicksAre4Kids]

Hi! New here too, but my experience has been they pretty much sleep the night through in one spot! We've left lights on and off, and they don't care about the light. They poof up to stay warm and chicks like to herd together, so I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Of course, I could be way off base and wrong, but this is simply my observation from the last 10 years or so raising them. But I find out new things almost every day about my fascinating little egg poopers!

CA4K(le)

 

[TRMFAM]

Welcome to our forum!

In a word, no. They rest best in natural light, that is, seeing dawn and dusk come and go. They can get used to having light at night as chicks because of heat, so sometimes they will chirp a bit for a night or two if suddenly sleeping in the dark, but they will quickly adjust.

Chickens can't see well in the dark, but they don't need to, they won't eat or drink at night under normal circumstances, either.

On the other hand, a light you can turn on in the coop can be handy for a number of reasons. Night is the easiest time to check them closely or give meds because they're so drowsy and easy to handle. Some people put a light on a timer for the first part of the night to increase egg production. Some people even play a radio at night to discourage predators. and of course, it's helpful if investigating a disturbance.

X2

There are also some drawbacks to providing a light at night and not letting the chickens go through a natural yearly cycle of molting and reduction in egg production.

 

[67drake]

Thanks for all the replies!
So I have another related question. I live in WI,will the chickens be OK without the lamp in the winter? I suppose I could talk to some locals,but I can't picture all these people in cold climates putting lamps in their coops all winter,correct?

 

[Blooie]

I'm in Northern Wyoming, not too far from Yellowstone Park, in a Basin between 3 mountain ranges. We know cold and winter here too, and the winds never stop. Clark,Wyoming, not too far from us, recorded wind gusts in the 100 MPH range, with a gust to 114. That's a lot of fun with snow coming down! Winds in winter here are fierce - sustained of 45+ and gust in the 60s are not uncommon.

My coop isn't insulated, nor is it heated in any way. I have a stock tank heater in the water bucket, but even the nipples froze for a short period and we had to take a heat gun out with us first thing in the morning to thaw them. But the chickens were just fine. I leave the pop door to the run open 24/7, 365, and they spend a lot of their time out there. I also make sure that windows on the downwind side in the coop are open. If the wind shifts, those windows get closed and the other side open. Ventilation is the key, not necessarily heat. They have a coat that we silly humans pay big bucks for - down and feathers - and they know how to use them! But if you have too much "ventilation" and it's blowing right on them on the roost, then the word "ventilation" becomes the word "draft" and that ain't so good. If their feathers are moving, it's too drafty. Removing the humidity from droppings, water, and their respiration is critical for preventing frostbite and that can best be achieved with vents up high in the coop. If moist air surrounds the birds, they will end up with frostbitten wattles and combs.

It's also helpful to make the roost out of 2x4s facing wide side up. They'll sit on their feet to protect them. Hope this helps. There are some really good articles on ventilation but I can't seem to grab the link at the moment so if somebody out there could help out here I'd sure appreciate it. Stupid computer keeps wanting to freeze up on me for some reason tonight - and I've got the doggone thing ventilated, too!