New pullets, night lights advice?

[MiaS]

I have remote control switches I ordered from Amazon by my back door. I have a hanging small florescent work light I leave in the coop and have installed a lot of small white Christmas lights under the roof of their covered run. When I get up around 7 am I turn on their lights and go let them out so they can get to food and water. Later I turn the lights off. At night before it gets dark I turn their lights on and leave them on until I close the coop at 10 pm. I have had a steady supply of eggs for over a year. This also gives me light without using a flash light when I am letting them out or closing them up. It takes effort on my part but this system works for me.View attachment 1891107

And it looks pretty too

 

[MiaS]

I don't think it matters. Some do both morning and night to avoid 3am crowing,
read that it doesn't really interfere with them going to roost.
I like to do mornings because then they go to roost with the natural sunset and I don't care about 3am crowing.

In some ways it makes sense to me to have the additional light at night. For us, it is usually coldest right before dawn so getting up and away from each other's body heat at the coldest time seems counter intuitive. Overthinking again...

 

[aart]

Overthinking again...

Yes, yes you are!
I can't wait for this coming winter to be over, just for your sake

Actually think it's coldest after the dawn...or can be from my observations.

 

[MiaS]

Yes, yes you are!
I can't wait for this coming winter to be over, just for your sake

Actually think it's coldest after the dawn...or can be from my observations.

Thanks LOL. Winter was my biggest concern about getting chickens a few years ago - when I didn't get them because I hate winter...

Yes, you may be absolutely correct as that is when frost usually appears. That period right before the sun begins to warm the world up

 

[Alaskan]

Hmmm, this is what I saw but maybe I misunderstood and it would work by adding a few hours after dusk, going to check tomorrow!! https://www.lowes.ca/product/lamp-light-controls/westek-white-dusk-to-dawn-lamp-control-646837

Looks good... except for the "random off feature " to discourage intruders.



Poor chickens!

 

[Alaskan]

And since you have a woods coop.. I see no problem at all with having water inside (except for a fire safe/oops safe plug). Food inside is fine too... depending on your rodents.

I could do that but it would not likely be consistent as I'm not up before dawn and I definitely go to bed in serious dark. I'm under the impression that consistency is important

Yes, consistency is good.

 

[wyoDreamer]

My DH wired an outlet into the coop when he was beginning his barn re-wiring project. We plugged a 4' long, LED shoplight into a vacation timer and plugged that into the outlet. It turns the light on at 5 am and off at 8am, then on at 6 pm and off at 9. The outlet is 6 feet up and is also there for the heater for the waterer. Since it is LED, it is very low on power consumption and I use it year-round. I change the timer in spring and fall to match the time change, but that is all I do for it - besides cleaning it off every couple of months.
Since it is always the same amount of light every day, there is nothing for the birds to get used to. I figure, they are originally tropical birds, and I don't think the tropics have much change in daylight hours from season to season, so no big deal for them.

 

[Willowspirit]

I have remote control switches I ordered from Amazon by my back door. I have a hanging small florescent work light I leave in the coop and have installed a lot of small white Christmas lights under the roof of their covered run. When I get up around 7 am I turn on their lights and go let them out so they can get to food and water. Later I turn the lights off. At night before it gets dark I turn their lights on and leave them on until I close the coop at 10 pm. I have had a steady supply of eggs for over a year. This also gives me light without using a flash light when I am letting them out or closing them up. It takes effort on my part but this system works for me.View attachment 1891107

I love how friendly and festive this is!

 

[Kee11]

Does anyone have an auto chicken door that they get to open when it is still dark so their chickens can go to an enclosed, secure lighted run? Like, have a light on a timer outside in the run, over the auto door, that turns on at 6:00 AM so the sensor on the auto door thinks it's daylight and opens the door?

For the coop, I have one of those sunrise-simulation lights that I though I might foist off on my chickens. Personally, I'd rather have complete dark while hitting my snooze repeatedly. The light is so annoying I just want to smack it!

But since chickens don't need to hit snooze 5 times before they can function in the morning, they might appreciate that sunrise simulation crap???

Great thread, by the way! This will be my first winter, so I'm also trying to decide how much effort I want to go through for extra light. We have a mild climate (average winter lows in the 40s and 30s, with rare 20s) and good ventilation. Since I have 18 chickens I'm not too worried about egg production falling off... there will still be some, I imagine.

I mostly just want to do my morning coop chores before leaving for work, without having to fumble around in the dark. I'd like to just breeze out to an empty, lighted coop, while the chickens are all out in a lighted yard, and have things be business as usual!

 

[chkncrazy]

I'm from Connecticut..... I've had days in Winter where I wish my hens wouldn't lay lol...because sometimes I don't make it out in time and the eggs freeze and crack...m and the winter I usually have about 12 laying hens and the least amount of eggs I've gotten was three... Maybe a day here and there where I didn't get any .... But they somehow continue to lay lol