light in the hen house

[mergatroid]

I still have the light in the hen house that I used to keep them warm when they were little. We keep it on all the time.... it that good? Bad? or does not matter?

 

[Mahonri]

First off, WELCOME TO BYC!!! So glad you are here.

I have a light in the coop but not the one that warms. (especially where I live!)

The one I have is a regular energy efficient light that doesn't give out heat. Goes on at 6AM and off at 8PM year round.... on a timer. Days are getting shorter now so that should help with egg production.

 

[gritsar]

As Mahonri said, you can use a light during the daytime to keep egg production up; but I wouldn't have one burning 24/7. They need periods of night and day and non-stop light can stress them out.

 

[Thomas423]

I had DH add a dimmer switch to our light so I could peek in on them when needed and also there have been times when I needed to go in the coop after dark and didn't want to disturb the girls. The dimmer switch is on the outside of the coop in a weather resistant box.

We also have an outlet in an enclosed area where we have a heat lamp set up for when we need it. DH is working on setting up a thermostat set-up for the bitter cold days/nights. We don't want it too warm inside coop since the birds are all winter hardy and they will be wanting to go outside even in the winter. The thermostat will be set for 40 degrees max (that's the lowest setting we can find).

Also, since I put a dimmer switch on the main light I need to set up a normal light (inside the enclosed area also) with a timer to offset the short winter nights. Still working out all the details for the timer since the light will come on inside the coop but it'll still be dark outside. I'm afraid the girls will be confused. Anyone know of a timer that will work with a dimmer? Would love to be able to leave light on in evening but don't want it to go off suddenly. Unfortuantly we are in the heating business and winters are when we need to coop to operate mostly on it's own since we work very long days and nights.

We don't use a light during the day since there are 11 windows built into the coop.

 

[cmom]

Everyone is different. I have a low watt red night light on in the coop for my birds. My big girls are two years old. My younger ones are a year old. My babies are 2½ weeks old. It might not make any difference to them but it does to me. One night my big girl’s night light burnt out and when I went out in the pre-dawn to check on them they were all on the floor of the coop, so I promptly replaced the bulb. I went out the next early morning and they were all in their places on their roosts. I don't know if the light had anything to do with it or not but it made me feel better. My hens always go into the coop before dark. I use an 11 watt red sign light bulb for their night light. I figured out by my electric bill that it costs me about $3.00 a month to run 24/7...