Extending light: Timer & Light placement questions - help!

I just put the lighting in my coop. It is 4 x 8 floor space and 7.5 at the peek. I installed the light at the very top. The nest boxes need to be kept kind of darker as the girls like to have peace and quiet with little light in them. The coop window is just above the nest boxes so it shines on the opposite wall and not into the nest boxes. I have never had any of my girls forsake the nest boxes. They like being in them a bit too much sometimes. So in answer to your question I would suggest higher up. Your after the light for all the birds not just the ones in the nest boxes. And the extra light is just to provide them with enough light to continue laying throughout the winter. You may end up using it for heat in the winter if it gets wicked cold where you are. So again top of the coop would be better rather that closer to the girls. They peck at everything. I wouldn't want them to peck at the light bulb and start a fire either.

Hope this helps

Good luck with your flock.

 

I'm in kentucky also. I put mine kind of over the nest boxes and a little back so that it doesn't shine into the boxes. The girls seem to like the boxes to be a little darker and privete for laying. A 60 watt bulb will be plenty of lite, my coop is 10 x 20 and thats what i use and I'm getting 18 -22 eggs a day from about 30 chickens which is not bad considering some of the buff orp girls aren't quite done with their molt.

 

Up high, it imitates the sun that way. Mini Florescents are cheaper to run, of course. Don't quote me, but they can draw something like 17 watts but produce the equivalent of 40 watts of light. I don't know whether it makes a difference, but I'd use a daylight bulb, not a softwhite bulb. Not sure if the softwhite produces the needed wave length.

 

And just a suggestion: you may just want to have it come on in the morning, say 4am-ish, rather than both morning and evening. But maybe it depends on your birds' habits. I would be concerned that they might get down to walk about if they get used to having a light on in the evening, and then BLINK - it goes dark. We're just outside of Louisville, and it's pretty much pitch dark here by 6:30 (we're in the country, so no street lamps or anything).

 

My 17 Hens too have stopped laying -6 are new pullets an should still be laying good. However wih this cold spell and less light
they all have stopped laying except for one little Bantum Hen. I know I must setup my timer and light today and see if that helps.
But i do not want to leave it on all night as that is not good for them. They need their sleep....

 

I agree with teach1rus...I was breaking up the time the light went on between night and morning until I read somewhere on the internet that they like to get perched when they can see something...less dangerous. Now mine goes on at 3:00 am and off at 8:00 am and they go in between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm depending on the clouds. If it is a sunny day they stay until the sun sets between 4:30 and 5:00. I have two hybrid girls laying but my pure breeds are perhaps a little too young and being pure take longer to start laying. My two reds lay an egg each a day like clockwork sometime between 7 and 8 am, I can tell because the eggs are still fairly warm when I go to gather them at 8:00 am. I'm in Quebec and the light fades fast and cold sets in however, this Autumn has been exceptionally warm.

 

I use the timer with a 60 watt bulb to imitate the long days of summer. The timer comes on at 5 am and goes off at 8 am and then comes back on at 5 pm and off at 10 pm. I have a night light in the coop so there is a bit of light when the timer is off in case they do need to move around during the night. When it starts to get dark around 5 pm, the gals head on in the coop and I shut them up. They then have the evening in the coop to piddle around before they roost. My neighbor didn't think a light was the thing to do and he hasn't had eggs for several weeks. I'm getting about 18 a day from my gals