Non Electric Lighting Help Please??

[wbruder17]

Hi. I'd like to have a light in my coop to help with winter laying, however, there is not an electrical outlet close enough to reasonably stretch an extension cord and it rains quite a bit here and wouldn't feel safe with one anyway. I would need an efficient non-electric light source. Any suggestions?

 

[Olive Hill]

Those battery powered, round, stick-up LED lights you can buy for like $10 at big box stores would work just fine, I bet.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
I agree, that's what I'd do.

 

[wbruder17]

So any light will work? It doesn't have to be a red light or a specific voltage or UV level? How many hours of light do they need to continue production?

 

[Olive Hill]

Whoops! I didn't even read that you were using it for egg production, but yes, any light will work. The general rule of thumb is that it need to be bright enough to read a newspaper in the coop.

Personally, I wouldn't supplement light for that reason. Many hens will continue to lay through the winter naturally, just not necessarily as often. IMO, if they're not laying it's for a reason -- their bodies need the reprieve. When keeping chickens at home we have the opportunity to give them a more humane life than they would have in a factory farm. Why not seize that opportunity?

 

[Judy]

12 - 14 hours. Don't leave it on all night; they won't rest well enough. No, it doesn't have to be very bright.

Red light supposedly prevents pecking because they can't see it, I don't know if that is true or not. At any rate, red is usually used for heat when brooding baby chicks, not for egg laying. Most people use something like a 45W bulb, or even less. I believe commercial operations use fluorescent, probably because it is cheaper to run.

 

[wbruder17]

The only reason I would want to have a little more light is so that I would not have to buy eggs, obviously, during the winter. My girls are certainly not pushed into any type of overproduction and I'm sure that providing a little extra light would not be considered inhumane, especially if their living situation is similar to a taj mahal for chickens. Basically, the light would be used from 4pm (when it gets dark here in the winter) for a few extra hours a day.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
If I offended you, I apologize, that was not my intention at all. Sometimes I think I am providing information for someone who needs it and it turns out I was wrong, and I wind up offending them. I have read on here of people leaving lights on all night, not for evil purposes at all, sometimes just because they think the chickens would prefer it, feel comforted or less lonely or something, or simply did not think it would bother them.

Providing extra hours of light for egg production is, I believe, a personal choice. I would never call it inhumane. Actually, if someone did, I would think they were silly.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote:
If I offended you, I apologize, that was not my intention at all. Sometimes I think I am providing information for someone who needs it and it turns out I was wrong, and I wind up offending them. I have read on here of people leaving lights on all night, not for evil purposes at all, sometimes just because they think the chickens would prefer it, feel comforted or less lonely or something, or simply did not think it would bother them.

Providing extra hours of light for egg production is, I believe, a personal choice. I would never call it inhumane. Actually, if someone did, I would think they were silly.

Since silly is one of the nicer things I've been called, I guess I'll take that as a compliment.

WB -- If you must, you must and it is a personal decision, but do consider waiting it out to see. Like I said a lot of hens will still produce in the winter, just not as often. We just reduce egg consumption in the winter to match production. Most hens -- especially if you got your chicks from a hatchery as most people do -- will not stop laying entirely. So you'll likely get some eggs even without the added work and expense of supplemental light.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

To add more light to my coop, I put in a "skylight". Replaced one of the tin roof panels with a plastic one. I don't use additional light in the winter, personal choice not to do so. Most of my birds laid all winter long without it.