Ok, so i was reading that it is wrong to let chickens have light all night. I have been giving our chickens light all night with one of those dim energy saving bulbs. I have checked on them at night, they sleep and I havn't noticed anything weird about their behavior (no big loud parties at 3 am! ) Is this really bad for them? Or is it different with a dim light?
Umm... I wouldn't do that. Last December we accidentally left our lightbulb on all night and our chicken coop burnt to the ground and killed my whole flock. We're getting more in a few weeks though.
It just doesn't seem right. I can sleep with the lights on too, but I prefer to sleep in the dark. My 2 cents.
I have a 7.5 watt bulb on in our coop...I don't know why but I am just not comfortable with them being in the dark. I know that they don't have good night vision and I am afraid that they will get startled and not be able to get back on their roosts, etc., etc.. Am I doing the wrong thing. Coop size is 7' x 9' with three roosts and 12 birds.
We started leaving one of the little cool flourescent energy-saving bulbs on in the coop to discourage the blacksnakes that were getting in and eating eggs. It also seemed to keep the raccoons that dig around the coop and run away. The chickens have been sleeping whenever I check on them at night and the bulb does not get hot (I lost a shed to one of those red heat lamps a number of years ago, so I'm also touchy about it). I'll admit that it's also handy - sometimes I don't get out there in the evening until after dark (especially in winter) and it's great to be able to see clearly rather than waving a flashlight. I know the commercial joints leave monster lights on 24/7 to keep hens laying, but that has not been the case with this light - they slowed down normally in winter and came back into production this spring (although we're having an unexpected slowdown right now). But I'm watching the conversation to see what more experienced poultry folks have to say!
If your chickens are used to the light and it doesn't bother them and you don't mind running the light/power all night,,then I wouldn't change anything cuz if your chickens are laying eggs then any kind of change can cause them to stop laying. Just keep doing what your doing is always best.
While your flock will be fine, it's recommened that the flock has a minimum of 4 hours of darkness. Without this time of total rest, stress will build amoung the flock that can vary from nothing to other added problems depending on the individual bird....it's best to allow the flock at least 4 hours of total rest. During severe cold weather here, I have the heat lamps going 24/7, however it's only temporary and in the flocks best intrest. Stress builds within the flock for different reasons, and should be avoided if at all possible.... for the best happy and healthy flock possible....it's why we are doing this, eh? ~ bigzio
I think I may try putting the light on a timer so that they will indeed get at least a few hours of total darkness each night. We've had such problems with predators... but the girls now have a total chain link run (one way to recycle those dog runs) - it's large enough (10' x30') and chain link panels even on top (but not dug in), I think they should be okay. The main purpose of the light was snake repelling. <sigh> The joys of living on the edge of a swamp.