Night lite in the coop...

[seanb]

Good idea or bad?

Also, are visits to the coop several hours after dark harmful in any way?

 

[Capvin]

When I first put my chicks in the run with their coop I did put a night light inside. The reason was to help them learn to go up the ramp themselves and put themselves to bed. After they got the hang of it and after a couple of weeks I took the light out and they were fine without it. As far as visiting the coop after dark we do it all the time and I can not see what harm it would do. We liked to see what they were doing and what the sleeping arrangements were. At first they all huddled together in a corner and slept tht way. After a while they began to sleep on the roosts and it was interesting for us to see how that progressed.

 

[magicpigeon]

Mine went in to roost before it got dark, I didn't need a nightlight. Then again, ours was a small coop only built for a few chickens. Make of it what you will

 

[ll]

We had a nightlight the 1st night then switched it to a small solar garden light. Goes on as it gets dark and shuts off in a little while, just enough for them to get cozy. The solar light is permanent, suspended and aimed inside at the coop ceiling so it's not blinding.
We've made security check visits to the coop multiple times/multiple nights, and is totally fine.

 

[Cetawin]

I like having a nightlight of some sort in there....the birds have horrible night vision and I like to have something there so I can see them clearly, they can see me and I can see if anything is in there that should not be. Nothing bright or startling, just a soft ambient type lighting is all you and they could need.

I visit my coop during the night with no problems....as a matter of fact about to go check on the young ones out there after this post....I will go in and as soon as the door opens, speak to my 13lb rooster so he knows it is me coming in and I will go to the babies little brooder/coop inside and check on them and make any adjustments to fans, windows and etc before I lock the door till morning. It really does not bother them and I think my older birds enjoy it because they softly coo to me and my big boy brrrrruuuuuuuuurrrs to me and waits patiently for me to do my things in there and come to pat him before I leave.

 

[swatchick]

I hung a small battery powered camping lantern from the ceiling in my coop. I hardly ever use it, but I know that it's there and easy to switch on if I need to be in there at night (because short of the moon, there is no ambient lighting around here).

 

[Cakela]

My coop has lights on at night to make sure they all get into it, but my coop is in the barn with the other animals so if I don't lave the light on they all try and sleep with the pig, LOL!

I turn them out when I make my last late night check, never had any issues with visiting them after dark.

 

[swatskee]

We have a small light outside of the coop so we can see back threre... No problems at all that i can see. At Target you can buy very small wattage standard bulbs.... like 15w or something like that. Perfect for adding a little light to the area.