How long should the lamp on at night?

[GC-Raptor]

I have feed and water in the coop and they make a beeline to them as soon as I turn on the lights at 5am.
Light up the pen. I do because I open the chicken door at the same time. GC

 

[aart]

I'm fairly new to keeping chickens - started back in May 2018 & have worked up to 22 chickens across two flocks. I'm planning on installing a light in both of my coops & am curious as to whether it's necessary to have food & water in the coop when the lights come on .. let's say around 4AM? Unfortunately, my coops are not big enough to allow for keeping food & water inside. Both coops have doors on them which automatically open at dawn. Both coops open into an enclosed pen area where there is food & water. If needed, I can install lights in the pen so that they come on at the same time as the ones in the coop & the doors also open around that time. This way, the chickens can come out to eat & drink. If it's not necessary and the chickens can wait a few hours before they get out & eat, then that will be easier.

Please let me know which path should I follow.

Absolutely!
If your run is weather and predator proof, then yes, you can have lights in coop and run and set the door to open when the lights come on.

 

[rdegray04]

I’ve never felt it necassary to leave them with food and water at night. initially i did to get them to go in but now they go in on there own, i made an automatic door out of a automobile pwr antenna. its on a photo cell so at dusk theyre in and it closes and at dawn the door opens and they head straight for the food and water but they sleep for such a short period, you would be ok ommiting the food and water in the coop at night.I have 20 different breeds and they are all finiky in there own way, but they are all fine at night in the coop with no food or water. Hope that helps

 

[aart]

I’ve never felt it necassary to leave them with food and water at night

Right they don't eat and drink in the dark.
But this thread is about using supplemental lighting...
...and having feed/water available when the light is on.

 

[rdegray04]

Right they don't eat and drink in the dark.
But this thread is about using supplemental lighting...
...and having feed/water available when the light is on.

@aart, not sure I quite understand what part of my post you found unhelpful or unrelated to the thread???

 

[Birdinhand]

for a small flock, 125W is overkill, 9W LED (60 equivalent) works great for me here in the "O'dark 30" of the PNW winter. we are overflowing with eggs right now. in the book Behavioral Biology of Chickens (BBC), a lot of research is referenced about what the actual sleep/light needs are for chickens given how their brains work. turns out they require a lot less sleep than humans, only require about 4 hours in a 24 hour cycle, with no evidence that more is beneficial. still don't like to push it too much, there is just no value, so I shoot for 12-14 hours of light to keep them producing eggs in the winter. I use a timer, they hang out in the roosting area after it gets dark and then fall asleep when the light goes out and the next morning they hang out with the light on till it gets light enough outside to want to go out.

 

[aart]

turns out they require a lot less sleep than humans, only require about 4 hours in a 24 hour cycle,

Does it say anything about needing so many 'dark' hours?
I've read(can't remember where so can't cite it) that they need at least 8 hours of darkness.

 

[Molpet]

that they need at least 8 hours of darkness

I know of one for broilers https://academic.oup.com/japr/article/19/3/263/708399

 

[ChicknWing]

Thanks all for the info. Interesting discussion. In summary, it sounds like the easy way would be to simply light the pen area and have the coop door open around the same time. Having the lights come on around 4AM and stay on till dawn, or a little past it, should be sufficient to provide enough light so that they continue to lay through winter yet also get enough dark time to get a good night's rest.

 

[Birdinhand]

Thanks all for the info. Interesting discussion. In summary, it sounds like the easy way would be to simply light the pen area and have the coop door open around the same time. Having the lights come on around 4AM and stay on till dawn, or a little past it, should be sufficient to provide enough light so that they continue to lay through winter yet also get enough dark time to get a good night's rest.

the best place to have the light is where they roost. they will wake up when the light turns on but won't go outside till it's light outside.