Lighting

[Phil6059]

When is the best time to extend the daytime lighting. Early in the morning or continue the day light for the extra hours? Thank you my fellow flock keepers.

 

[TARDIS37379]

There are some who disagree with adding hours to lighting.
With that being said, here is what I do.
I add an hour before sunrise and brighten the coop all day and shut the lights off about 20-30 minutes before sundown. I shut them off before sundown so my girls all go in and go to sleep.
I use a smart things hub and Centraline smart plugs your control the lights. There are other more economical ways, allowing the hub to set the time, it uses the NOAA official sunrise time and subtracts 60 minutes.
Others choose to leave the lights on later but I don’t.

 

[Sally PB]

I wondered the same thing and someone on BYC said to add the light in the morning. Then the natural light still helps get them in to roost, with out the light suddenly going off. Also, a power outage might leave the chickens suddenly in the dark if you were adding light after dusk.

 

[aart]

When is the best time to extend the daytime lighting. Early in the morning or continue the day light for the extra hours? Thank you my fellow flock keepers.

Can work either way.
Most important thing is to keep the lighting consistent, a timer is critical, IMO.

Then the natural light still helps get them in to roost, with out the light suddenly going off.

Couple people on here light at night, because of early morning crowing. Still works fine and birds go to roost before light goes off.

Also, a power outage might leave the chickens suddenly in the dark if you were adding light after dusk.

Well, a power outage will screw everything up unless it's short one (12hrs) and you forget to reset your timer.

 

[Sally PB]

Oh, I was thinking of a power outage like I get... 3-4 days long...
But listen to aart... One of the most knowledgeable posters here on BYC.

 

[TARDIS37379]

Timers are a basic tool. You can go simple or fancy. I chose to go with a smart system that uses sunrise and sunset times and can be adjusted up to 60 minutes before or after.
I will warn you that smart house tech has its own math that is akin to chicken math

 

[Phil6059]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Information very helpful.