night light for bugs?

[NCricky]

I just got 10 more RIR's to add to my 5 now. The new ones are about 4-5 weeks old and I'm going to keep them in the barn for a couple of months till they get bigger. They are doing fine without a light but I was wondering if anyone uses a bug light at night so they will draw bugs to them to eat? When I go into the barn at night to check on them and cut on the light they go after the bugs right away.

 

[Tala]

Um, communication error here:
"bug light" as in a lightbulb for porch lights is actually designed NOT to attract bugs
"bug light" as in a electric zapper thing will provide toasted bugs on the ground below it, but generally won't provide enough light for the birds to chase the bugs out of the air at night. I have a blacklight one in my coop actually.

If you leave a regular light bulb on, close to ground level, you might find some of your birds out chasing bugs all night instead of sleeping --- which can't be good for them.
Bugs are generally not attracted by red heat lamps or the special bug lightbulbs sold for use on porches.

 

[swearnsue]

Hi NCrikey. I'm raising my first flock and have 6 hens that are 6 months old. I put a light in the coop on a timer to attract bugs for the hens. I think it's a 75 watt bulb set to go on at dusk and off at 8:30pm. This gives them a couple of hours to eat bugs! I don't need to tell you how they love that and it gets them into the coop. At about 5:00pm I go out and give them some scratch too to hold them over the nighttime hours. I had the light go out at 9:00pm in August and cut back the time about 15 minutes every couple of weeks. I think too many hours of light would be pushing the girls too much to produce.