Lighting without electricity?

[lazy gardener]

Lisa Marie, I am quite a bit north of you, I'm in Zone 4B where winter time temps go down to minus 20, and we often have weeks at a time when temp doesn't even get up to 0*F in the heat of the day! The general rule of thumb is this: You should have ventilation to at least = 10% of your coop foot print, OR 1 s.f. of ventilation per bird, which ever number is greater. You especially need ventilation during the winter. A closed coop is a moist coop which results in high ammonia levels, frost bite risk, and respiratory illness in the flock. BUT, your ventilation must be properly placed so that your birds are not in a draft as they roost at night. They need to be on a roost that is at least 18" below ceiling, and the upper level ventilation must be high enough above their roost height so it can draw mositure up and away from the birds without causing a draft on the birds. I have floor level vent, soffit vents, gable vents, and 3 windows. Other coop openings give me a total of 65 s.f. of possible ventilation in a 120 s.f. coop. At least 1 window is open year round unless we are having a blizzard. Of course the soffit and gable vents are always open. Some folks do block some of those with cardboard. When night time temps stay above 20*F, I open all 3 windows and they stay open to varying degrees. That's also when I open the floor level vent. The worst thing you can do is close up your coop at night or in the winter. Your bird's health depends on good ventilation.

 

[lazy gardener]

To answer your lighting question: I run a construction grade extension cord to my coop with a surge protector in the coop. The extension cord is plugged into a weather proof GFCI outlet at the house.

You can set up a night light by using one of the little solar landscaping lights. Put it in the window so it gets enough sunlight to charge the battery. If that doesn't do it, you could put the solar light out in the morning, then return it to the coop before bedtime. In the long term scheme of things: Open those windows, you may need to add an other window, or make them larger, check your ventilation. And resign yourself to using solar or battery power if you can't run power to the coop.

 

[mountain chicken]

my coop is completely enclosed I do have 2 4inch vent holes covered in a nice grate mesh these can be closed with a sliding panel .

also have 2 bathroom vent fans 1 brings in the fresh air the other pulls out the stail air

the coop was fully insulated on a 90* day the coop stays a steady 65* inside ,

still waiting to see how it does for winter thinking I may be able to get by with a heat bulb only time will tell.

Im still looking for the right lighting inside I was thinking a blue led something not to overbearing to keep them from sleeping
but at the same time solar

edit:
I also am looking at my far wall for 2 more vents

 

[PirateGirl]

I used to turn on a light for my girls and then come back to the coop 5-10 minutes later and they'd all be inside. I'd turn off the light and lock the door. Eventually they grew out of it and I no longer need to do this. That being said, it's really handy having a light by the coop even for your own use after dark. Certain times of the year it's dark well before I get home and I cannot see locks/latches/water dishes/birds to do a head count etc. I think a small solar light will serve you well. Be sure you turn it off over night so they can get some rest in the dark too.

Based on your other additional information, I think you need to work on 2 things in addition to a light. I think you need to add/modify ventilation. Here is an article to give you some ideas. You can also start a new thread with photos of your coop and title it something like "advice needed on adding ventilation." There are lots of clever people on BYC that have built their own coops and can brainstorm the best way to modify yours to provide adequate ventilation for all seasons for your specific climate. Fresh air without freezing is a balancing act. One key is to have vents higher than the roosts.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-there-and-cut-more-holes-in-your-coop.47774/

The other thing I think you should work on is your window. This could be your existing window or adding a new window. I think your birds could really benefit from a window that provides natural light for a number of reasons, including egg production. It may be easy to add some plexiglass to one of your existing windows so that it can be closed but still allow light in. If this is too challenging, consider adding another window that is ONLY for light and does not even have to open and close. This shouldn't be too hard. Again, if you post some coop photos we can help figure it out.

Good luck! It gets easier. Don't worry.

 

[sirrobyn0]

beat me to it https://www.harborfreight.com/36-led-solar-security-light-69644.html

I love the lights with a separated solar panel

I have one of these on my front porch and have not had good luck with mine at all. Maybe if you have really good sunlight, but not working well for me!

 

[PirateGirl]

@mountain chicken neighbor, I'm just up 285 from you! I want to jump in and say 2 things. You want to have some hours of complete dark in your coop so your birds can sleep, you don't want a light on 24/7. Also I highly doubt you will need heat in winter. It's considerably harsher where I'm at in the mountains at 10,000 ft and my birds are typically fine with no heat and no insulation (well there/s 1/2inch foam in the roof, but that's it). I have used heat with particularly young birds on occasion as they grow and feather, as well as if a bird is sick/unwell in some way, but otherwise everyone is just fine without it. Enjoy your chickens!

 

[PotatoHead]

I have this solar powered light and it comes with a remote. You do gotta get pretty close for the remote to work. I wish it had a built in timer....

 

[LisaMarie81]

Lisa Marie, I am quite a bit north of you, I'm in Zone 4B where winter time temps go down to minus 20, and we often have weeks at a time when temp doesn't even get up to 0*F in the heat of the day! The general rule of thumb is this: You should have ventilation to at least = 10% of your coop foot print, OR 1 s.f. of ventilation per bird, which ever number is greater. You especially need ventilation during the winter. A closed coop is a moist coop which results in high ammonia levels, frost bite risk, and respiratory illness in the flock. BUT, your ventilation must be properly placed so that your birds are not in a draft as they roost at night. They need to be on a roost that is at least 18" below ceiling, and the upper level ventilation must be high enough above their roost height so it can draw mositure up and away from the birds without causing a draft on the birds. I have floor level vent, soffit vents, gable vents, and 3 windows. Other coop openings give me a total of 65 s.f. of possible ventilation in a 120 s.f. coop. At least 1 window is open year round unless we are having a blizzard. Of course the soffit and gable vents are always open. Some folks do block some of those with cardboard. When night time temps stay above 20*F, I open all 3 windows and they stay open to varying degrees. That's also when I open the floor level vent. The worst thing you can do is close up your coop at night or in the winter. Your bird's health depends on good ventilation.

Thanks for all the information!
I will explore this coop a little closer as it it a store bought kit so it should have the proper ventilation. In all honesty we didn't study the whole thing while assembling it. I will confirm that though. The small windows are near the top and out of the way (draft wise) of their roosts so that's where they should be at least. I guess what I need to stop doing is closing them on cool nights. My thought was these chicks are still young (7 weeks old) and I wasn't sure if they would have adequate feathers to maintain warmth. I've found them all huddled in one nesting box together, that's why I closed the windows. The small windows are open now and I"ll leave them open knowing that ventilation is where my concerns should be and as I said I will look for any so-fit or roof type ventilating areas as well since this is a kit designed for birds. If we don't find any we will be back here for ideas on the best way to get some ventilation into the coop.
Solar light with cord sound the way to go to get them into the house for now until they learn on their own.
So in winter these birds really are "ok" in the harsh New England weather? I feel bad for the little things already {{{ stop babying them, stop babying them. LOL}}}
I want to go out and make them little chicken sweaters.
I have been locking them in the coop at night every night which I"m assuming is the absolute safest way. the run is fully enclosed (top as well) and has a 2 1/2 ft wire mesh skirt all around it as well as 6" stakes into the ground so I "think" we've predator proofed it, but I still close them in the coop at night for that added layer of safety. Or should I not be seeing as the run is fairly secure?
Thanks all

 

[LisaMarie81]

Coop photos will need to come later....at work right now (shhhhhhhhh....)

 

[PirateGirl]

Ok, another thing, sleeping in the nest box should be discouraged. Block off the nest box until they are closer to laying. They will eventually learn to use the roost.

Yes they will be fine in your weather. They will be full grown by then.

Chicken sweaters make them colder, they can't fluff up their feathers to trap warm air and maintain body temp. Again, they will be fine There's a reason sleeping bags and winter coats are stuffed with bird down, it's warm and cozy and a great insulator.

Locking in the coop is always more secure (even with a fenced run). Keep it up if you can!