Electrical outlets/Lights for new coop

[zekii]

Hello,
Our new chicken coop is taking shape, I will post some pictures soon. While we are doing the framing, and interior plywood we are trying to consider placement of electrical outlets, and lighting fixtures. Looking for some recommendations...on these.
Would want to keep electrical outlets away from the chickens, so where inside a coop is that...we were thinking the ceiling ?
Also light fixtures...wanted at least one permanent light inside the coop, of course we will have some others...possibly for heat in the cooler months. By the way I am in New Hampsha...where the nights are already cold, and getting colder, suppose to be down in the low 20F tonight... Brrrrrr!
Thanks for any replies,
Mary

 

[BWKatz]

Ceiling is good. One light bulb iss enough to warm coop. Consider that u might want to add timers for lighting & pop doors later. Make sure all is secure to prevent damage to chickens and prevent fires. Remember they like to peck everything and like to roost high.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I'd put the outlets in the walls away from the roosts, up 2-3 ft high

You won't want a lot of drop cords or wiring hanging from the ceiling when you plug things in

 

[AkTomboy]

My two pennies is put twice as many outlets as you think you need, I have 4 in my coop. All are about 5 feet off the ground, I love them there, it makes things out of the way and I dont have to worry about straw or shaving getting dust or stuck in them. All are gfi, and have lids so even if I plug somthing in no one can get to them. As for lights I have one on a hard wire with a timer and 3 that I also have on a timer. My coop also has its own breaker, congrats on your new coop

 

[7L Farm]

I have 2 outlets . One on the outside for the hot wire & one on the inside for the auto pop door.

 

[SandyK]

We also put quite a few outlets in our new coop. On the coop side, we have one for the automatic pop door, one for the gable end vent way up high, that might be hard wired, haven't done that yet. Then, I also had DH put one down lower so I could plug the heated water bowl in if needed. On my storage side, by both of my counter tops and also one for each of the front windows in case I want lights in them later. We have two lights in the coop part, one on each side, then one by the sink and across on the other side of the storage area too. Front porch lights and a side outdoor light, don't forget an outlet on the outside too. It's great building your own coop because you can decide where you want everything to go. Good luck!!

 

[My6Chicks]

All of our electrical outlets and lights are high enough so that the chicks cannot roost on them nor can they peck at them while standing on the floor. Any exposed wire that is chicken-reachable from the ground should be covered so that there is no chance of pecking through the insulation. Good luck...

 

[Chicken Chat]

I just wired 3 of my coops this summer. My electrical needs aren't much, just one outlet in each, GFI, for my heat lamps. They are positioned about 5 feet up on the walls so the chickens can't get to them and I wired them to a switch located next to the human door, which is really handy.

 

[zekii]

Thanks everyone for the information supplied....very helpful !!!

Some of the replies mention pop door, and hard wired...so
A couple questions for this newb... what is a pop door and what does hard wired mean ?

Our wireing plans is to run a dedicated wire thru conduit underground from our barn to the chicken coop ...so no extension cords running to the coop. The GFI outlet is a good idea, and I believe you can connect off of the GFI other plain outlets, and all of those will also be protected by the GFI. We are hoping to have a switch by the people door that will activate a light at the ceiling.
Do water heater require alot of power to operate? ..this might determine the amperage of electrical service we need to make sure we are wireing in.

Mary

 

[SandyK]

The pop door is the little door that the chickens come in and out of. You can buy a door that will automatically go up and down when you want it to. You will need electricity for the motor.