Newbie getting ready for winter - Insulating? Closing down Windows?

[aart]

it’s 51 outside with 87% humidity. It’s 68 in my house with 76% humidity. My coop is 53 with 81%. So there’s actually less humidity in the coop - weird. But I guess as long the humidity stays consistent with outside I’m ok - right?

I assume your house windows are closed and your heating systems are running inside the house?
The temps and humidity between outside and inside the coop will shift thru the day/night,
but what you show there looks good ventilation wise.

but I’m wondering if it’s good to let them just barely start laying eggs just to stop for the winter or for some of them to not even start until spring.

It's 'natural', won't hurt them....and sometimes pullets will lay all winter without lights.
If you do add light, best to do it where their feed/water is.

I live in Bangor, Maine

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
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[3KillerBs]

Do you guys use lights in the winter?

I don't, but I'm in the southeastern US where our days aren't as short in the winter.

 

[WIchickMama]

I am not going to use lights, first winter here. I am just going to let nature be nature. I know I dont mind the extra time snuggled inside in the winter

 

[Sally PB]

I put a string of white Christmas lights in my run last winter, because it was so dark and gloomy in there. My 3 Australorp pullets still took the winter off.

I have a clear (ish) roof on the run now, so I'm skipping the lights. They're now hens and molting, so they can have this winter off too.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

I assume your house windows are closed and your heating systems are running inside the house?
The temps and humidity between outside and inside the coop will shift thru the day/night,
but what you show there looks good ventilation wise.


It's 'natural', won't hurt them....and sometimes pullets will lay all winter without lights.
If you do add light, best to do it where their feed/water is.


Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!
View attachment 2856021

Wow - thank you so much. I had no idea where to do that. I saw other peoples location and coop page - but couldn't quite figure out how to add them.

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

Here is another question for you all - kind of on the same subject.
Do you guys use lights in the winter? I’m not too concerned about getting eggs. These birds are mostly pets with benefits. We actually just got our first egg this week - yea! So, I don’t care about using lights to force egg production - but I’m wondering if it’s good to let them just barely start laying eggs just to stop for the winter or for some of them to not even start until spring. I was thinking about putting patio lights up in the run just so they could have a few extra hours of daylight. It just seems like such a long night for them starting at 3:30 in the afternoon. Right now they are already putting themselves to bed at 5:30. I know patio lights do nothing for egg production, I just thought some extra hours to run around would be nice.

here is a thread that I found helpful on the subject of "adding light in the winter"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/upcoming-winter-and-light.1489675/


Make sure you check out this article that is mentioned in the thread
https://the-chicken-chick.com/supplemental-light-in-coop-why-how/

After doing the research I have decided to add light to my coop. I have a light bulb in the coop and one in the run, both are wired up with a plug so they can easily be plugged into a timer like this one

If you decided to add light, It appears to be best practice to add the light to the morning. You want your chickens to continue to bed down naturally as darkness gradually sets in. If you add light in the evening they will not get any warning before the light goes out, they will have to scramble to their roosts in the dark. This can add unnecessary stress.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

here is a thread that I found helpful on the subject of "adding light in the winter"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/upcoming-winter-and-light.1489675/


Make sure you check out this article that is mentioned in the thread
https://the-chicken-chick.com/supplemental-light-in-coop-why-how/

After doing the research I have decided to add light to my coop. I have a light bulb in the coop and one in the run, both are wired up with a plug so they can easily be plugged into a timer like this one

If you decided to add light, It appears to be best practice to add the light to the morning. You want your chickens to continue to bed down naturally as darkness gradually sets in. If you add light in the evening they will not get any warning before the light goes out, they will have to scramble to their roosts in the dark. This can add unnecessary stress.

Thank you so much. I didn’t think about it instantly getting dark. That is a great point. Too bad it can’t be put on a dimmer. So… I haven’t read the articles yet - I’ll do that later today. But all I was thinking of putting up was Christmas lights or patio lights - like the picture below. Would I need to worry about the bedtime thing with those - or do you think they are dim enough that they will put themselves to bed?

 

[aart]

or do you think they are dim enough that they will put themselves to bed?

Maybe, maybe not.
If it's lighter out in the run, they may not want to go in to roost.

 

[suburbanfarmermi]

Thank you so much. I didn’t think about it instantly getting dark. That is a great point. Too bad it can’t be put on a dimmer. So… I haven’t read the articles yet - I’ll do that later today. But all I was thinking of putting up was Christmas lights or patio lights - like the picture below. Would I need to worry about the bedtime thing with those - or do you think they are dim enough that they will put themselves to bed?

Maybe, maybe not.
If it's lighter out in the run, they may not want to go in to roost.

I have a string of CHristmas lights on a dusk to dawn switch. The lights are on the outside of the coop. Some light does get into the hen house and run. I like them for a few reasons:
*Security- dimmly lights my back yard
*ambiance - looks cool
* Night light - does give the chickens a tiny bit of light in case they fall off the roosts in the middle of the night.

As soon as it starts getting dark my ladies retreat to the hen house so the little bit of light that does get in the coop does not appear to interupt their natual bedding down routine.

NOTE: I think my phones camera makes the above image look much brighter than it is in real life.


However, if you string up lights directly in the coop and have them on in the evening, I would be concerned about messing with their natural routine. It is funny that you mention dimming as I was just wondering the same thing and looking at smart timers that dim. Wonder if you could create a schedule with a smart dimming timer that would get dimmer ever 10 minutes or so to attempt to mimic natural sunset.

RIght now I have my hen house and run light coming on at 6:00am and off at 9am, Sunset is around 7:40pm. I leave for work around 6:30 am so I like having the coop lit so I can can feed and water them before I go to work. The kids collect the eggs mid morning.

 

[MaggieRose2001]

Maybe, maybe not.
If it's lighter out in the run, they may not want to go in to roost.

Makes sense. Maybe I’ll play around with it and see. Thank you for your help.