Light in the coop

[mommyoftwo]

I'm in the middle of.adding walls and paneling to my coop and what to add electrical to it before the last wall is down. I was planning on a outlet with plifs and a light of some kind. Does it matrer what kind of light. I was just planning a regular light from the garage on the celling with a 60 watt bulb is that good?

 

[Cluky]

what is the light for? I guess though in any case doesn't matter you can just change light bulb for different function of the light

 

[mommyoftwo]

So they will lay in the winter. I live in Michigan and want to make sure I give them enough light so I can keep getting eggs all winter. I think I read that they need like 15 hours of light per day

 

[LittleChooks]

Fair enough, my hens wont get any artificial lights, but I don't expect them to lay in a (Scottish) winter. I have no exp. with coop lights, so id go with what you say!

 

[joesfarm]

We use solar garden lights... Started out as a makeshift nightlight inside the coop because our chicks were scared of the dark when they first moved out to the coop. Now we keep a bunch of solar garden lights out by the coop ... Works great for being able to see anything that might be causing a stir trying to get in at night. We just put one inside the coop before dark every night, then switch it out with one of the charged ones the next day. Free to use and gives a nice soft light inside so you can see inside if you need to without having to use a hand for a flashlight... Plus the girls seem to like it too.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

So they will lay in the winter. I live in Michigan and want to make sure I give them enough light so I can keep getting eggs all winter. I think I read that they need like 15 hours of light per day

I'm doing it for the same reason as well! My coop is connected to my garage wall so I was able to just run an extension cord out to the coop. You can use a normal light. For now I just bought one of those push lights for inside the coop, but it's for me not them . Where my coop is located it gets pretty dark inside it while it's still fairly light outside. Makes it hard to me to see sometimes when I'm trying to get them locked up for the night and filling up their feed/water containers.

 

[GardenDave]

I've recently been thinking about something similar - a light for the coop. Not for the one I have now - a new one I intend to build within the next month which will be much larger. My coop is located a few feet away from the dining room window so it would be easy to have electrical wire going from the plug inside, through the air vent (so I don't have to drill a hole through the wall) and into the coop. If I did that I could adjust the timer for the light to come on and off earlier and later as the nights starts earlier and the day starts later. Don't forget though that if they are awake because of the light, you will need food and water inside for them as well as outside.

Be careful too - light attracts moths, and moths are scary

 

[Hokum Coco]

I realize a lot coops on this site have electricity and it is needed when raising chicks.

That being said; I always cringe when I hear of electricity in a chicken coop for heat. It you want to help your birds then put in air conditioning.

Dry bedding, 120 volts, dust, feathers, a flighty or panic stricken bird, water maybe a frayed or improperly protected extension cord.
Totally unnecessary for birds that are cold hearty in most cases and have been raised on this continent for over 100 years with out it.
What could go wrong???
Accidents do happen that is why they put erasers on the ends of pencils.

I live in Canada was subject to -40º last winter.
No heat or light in coop no problems.

I am also aware not everyone will necessarily follow my lead.
My point is execute safe guards do not burn anything down or electrocute yourself and forget about heat in mostly all cases.

 

[mommyoftwo]

I do not plan to heat my coop.at all. The electric wires are hidden in the walls. I built the coop just like I did the garage. Their is one plug about 1 ft from the ground in case I need to add a heated water bowl. Put I'm putting an outdoor water electric cover of it.

 

[JackE]

I hope they put the wire in conduit. Especially with a coop that has interior walls. Mice, or other rodents LOVE interior walls in a chicken coop. They also love chewing on electrical wires.
Jack