New pullets, night lights advice?

[MiaS]

The light in the coop goes off at 8:30. Pop, instant dark, lol.
If I go out to check on them at 8:00 or so, they are milling around, snacking, telling tales at the water cooler or whatever it is that chickens do. When I go out at 8:15 or later, they are on the roosts. Sometimes standing looking around, sometimes settled down and ready to sleep or a combination of both. Somehow they know that the light will go off at 8:30 and they are ready that that time.
I have one chicken that insists on roosting on the handle of the gutter feeder that I use. She had done that for 2 years. She is there at 8:15 and ready to sleep - all alone.

Interesting. I wondered about the sudden darkness if I extended the evening light vs the morning. Animals are usually pretty good time tellers so I'm not surprised that they know when 8:15 is

 

[chickencoop57]

I remembering reading an article about additional lighting during winter months. Kinda of made sense to me. So I'm getting ready to put electric in my new coop, for light and heat, even though it dosent get as cold as it does in the north. I went to Home Depot website and typed in 'timers for lights' and it has some plug in and single pole timers. I'll be buying one of those, once the electric is in.

 

[spiritpots]

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 live in central Minnesota and really like the idea of adding the string lights to the run to give a bit extra light. I'm wondering, though, is it necessary to also have a light in the coop? I don't have electricity in the coop but have a heavy duty extension cord that I already use in the attached run for a heater for the waterer so it would be easy for me to run some string lights off of that cord. Last winter was my first with chickens so they were still pullets when the days started to get shorter. I didn't add any additional lighting (or heat to the coop) and the first egg laid was was in November. I had eggs most days during the winter unless it was really cold (-10 or colder actual temp).

 

[Judy Todd]

I have just about ready to lay pullets and I'm wondering if I must have additional light in the coop for their first winter? I don't care so much about getting maximum egg production for their first winter and can't help but wonder if it is just better to let them have a natural low light winter?

Here in the North we will only get about 8-9 hours of daylight mid-winter. After reading @Alaskan's article about surviving winter suggesting that birds need 10 hours just to get enough food, I'm now second guessing.

You definitely need to give them 12 to 14 hours of light. I just use a poultry lamp with a 25 wt bulb. It is on a cheap timer that I can change as the daylight changes. You chicks need light for lots of reasons as they grow, not just for egg production.

 

[so lucky]

Maybe we should think about making a lighting system that would slowly dim to darkness over a minute or two, to give those dawdling chickens time to find their roost.

 

[aart]

Maybe we should think about making a lighting system that would slowly dim to darkness over a minute or two, to give those dawdling chickens time to find their roost.

Some have done that @RonP and @jthornton

 

[CindyinSD]

Can’t stop to read all this just now, but I also have very short winter days. I have my chicken coop on a timer with lights. They’re in a converted metal shed with not much opportunity for adding windows so if I have to shut their barn doors against a blizzard they would get no light at all. Plus, in the event of unusual cold I can switch out the LED. for a heat bulb. (I use a brooder fixture.) If you don’t want them to have light all night but do want a teensy heat supplement you can have two fixtures hanging securely from the peak and put the one for light only on a timer.

I do care about eggs so I give them enough light for that, but I suggest you give them at least ten to twelve hours a day. I read somewhere that early morning light is most important but that may just be someone’s opinion. LEDs purportedly do better in cold weather.

 

[CindyinSD]

I forgot to mention... I also use a bucket heater. I power everything with a 100ft outdoor extension cord plugged in to an outdoor outlet on the covered back porch.

 

[Alaskan]

Throw out the door recommendations that laying hens need only 16% crude [protein during winter. That is based on hens in a thermally neutral environment where feather quality is not a major concern. Up the protein and vitamins a bit when hens must fight the environment more.

Yes, higher protein is very important in the cold.

 

[HopeSprings]

I'm looking forward to my First Ladies laying their First Eggs in the next month or so. I figure that since I'm feeding them, I should get as many eggs as possible. So I've started looking at solar lights with some sort of timer. The best I've come up with is a string of fairy lights that can be set to go on a few various time periods: like 3, 5, 7 hours. All other solar lights, so far, are manually turned on and off. I think I'll order one set to install in the coop, and, if they're bright enough, get another set for the run. I can set the run lights to go off before the coop lights, giving the Ladies time to get into bed.