Quote:
There is no reason to fear having electricity in a coop (no more than in your house!) as long as it is installed CORRECTLY. This either means learning a good bit, or having someone else do it, or at least check it for you -- which many building codes require anyhow. Follow the electrical code and you will be fine.
Coop-specific touches: covered outlets are good (the kind with the waterproof hinged caps so that dust doesn't get into the outlets when no plug is in em). Mouseproof conduit. The *safest* kind of lights for high-dust environments (barns in general, and this includes coops in particular) are sealed fixtures made specifically for barn type use, where there is a sealed glass thingie protecting the bulb. OTOH I doubt that more than a few people have them in their coops - I don't - on the theory that a problem from this source is pretty seriously unlikely and if worst comes to worse it is 'only' a coop (although unfortunately also your chickens), not a $100k barn or a house.
Put the outlets outside of the chicken area, or if that is impractical, put them high up on the walls or even on the ceiling. Put enough of them in that you won't ahve to use extension cords - extension cords are not recommended for higher-wattage things like heat lamps or waterer heaters.
Also, it is awfully smart to have a master switch of some sort in the coop -- either give it its own breaker box (your code may or may not require this) or put a switch next to the front door that will turn off all electricity to all outlets/receptacles/switches in the coop. If there's ever a problem, you will be REAL glad you did this.
For all of that, it's really not rocket science
Follow the electrical code and use common sense (remembering it is a high-dust, high-rodent environment) and you will be fine.
Good luck and have fun,
Pat
