Light at night for heat

[s smith]

Hi, I am new here and a new chicken owner as well, first post. This is a great forum and I have learned a lot. Raising chickens along with twin boy 7 year old boys and a 4 year old daughter is a blast too, The boys actually asked for the chickens for their Birthday!!

I have 3 Orpingtons, 3 Wyndottes, and 2 Aricanas that are 7 weeks old. They spent the first 4 weeks in the guest bathroom (in a box) under heat and are now in a 22' x 15' run with a house. The temperatures here are getting down to the 20's and 30's at night so I have kept the light on at night to keep them warm. They had been doing well walking up the ramp at dusk to enter their house but now they are all roosting quail style outside on the ground.

My questiuon is, is the light keeping them from getting the rest they need and thus they choose to sleep outside or is their something else? I go out each night and scoop them up and put them in the house. Any help is appreciated and thank for all the advice I have recieved by just reading other posts. This chicken stuff is addicting!

 

[teach1rusl]

Hmmm...well, the red lights (does not have to be a heat bulb, just a red bulb) does better for nights. I turn my white light on each day around 5:00, and mine automatically go into the coop. Then once they're in, I just have a small nightlight (or my red heat bulb if it's cold) on for the night...I turn the white light off.

BUT...I'm wondering if enough light is shining out of the coop that maybe it lights things up too well outside the door, enough to where they feel safe outside of the coop??? Try a red bulb instead. I won't light much up outside of the coop, so maybe they won't want to stay outside...???

BTW...

from Indiana!

 

[Imp]

First off

from Washington

You'll get lots of people who will tell you that they won't sleep with the light on. I've had a light on 24/7 for about 6-7 years and never had hens that wouldn't sleep.
Try locking them in the coop for a week or two. That should teach them that the coop is home.

Good luck
Imp

 

[rcentner]

I am no expert, but I recently added a red lamp to each coop and I noticed a few things. Now, It has been nasty weather here and they have been cooped up for 2 days cause they didn't want to come out so some changes in the behavior I expect. The last 2 nights the lights have been on and they have gone in later. Tonight I actually had 2 birds not go in the coop and 2 from the same coop trying to hide in the nesting boxes (I think trying to get some dark). It is warmer today, so it could have been a combo of warmth and light that kept them outside. I turned off the lights and the one coop actually roosted and was quiet. One of the hens that wouldn't go in with the light on went in on her own. I had to coax the other hen inside so I could close the door. I think they will enjoy a nice rest tonight and I am only gonna leave the light on at night when it's REAL cold. I will see how our new insulation job does in the morning. So, what I am saying is I do believe that these lights have affected the normal sleep pattern as they still can see, they must have slept some, but I really don't know.

 

[chookchick]

You could get a small black reptile light (e.g. 75 watt) or a small red light to put in their coop. These are available in the reptile section of pet stores. Check to see what temperature you are getting in the coop, especially if it is small, it can heat up quickly. I can't recall what 7 weekers need, but they are probably well-feathered and can start transitioning to outdoor temps. Young ones can be a bit unreliable, kind of like teenagers, in their bed-time behavior.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If you put your light inside a clay flower pot, you get the heat without the light

 

[s smith]

Thanks for all the great advice!! The light is fairly bright outside the house, as several of you have suggested that may be part of my problem. I will give the red light a shot and see if that helps.

Thanks again.

 

[Maureen&chickens]

I turned on a red heat lamp in my coop this week when the temperature in the coop dropped to 25. It's on a thermo block so it only comes on when the temp is down to 35. I had to shut it off completely overnight though; my roos were crowing like mad! It was also brighter than I remember them being (from when mine were chicks) as it shone brightly out the coop window. I thought red light wasn't supposed to bother them?

 

[rcentner]

since a lot of people say the red light does not affect their chickens and some say it does (like me). I wonder if there is variance in the red bulb coloring or spectrum that would give different results. hmmmm