Red light and sleep cycle

[forbero]

I know there have been many posts on the use of red heat lamps, but I have not yet found a good answer for my question. I just put a 250 watt red light in the coop and it's been really cold the last couple of nights (below 0 F), so i've had it on. My chickens do not seem to be sleeping like normal- when i go to check on them, they seem much more alert than normal. usually when i go in there they are pretty comatose, but when the light's on they are roosting and calm, but awake. Or could it be the cold?

 

[Tala]

My roo often only "half sleeps" so I assume that's what they are doing under the red lamp. I think they are able to rest if they want to.

I know my babies move around and eat under the red lamp, but eventually they settle down and sleep - and it doesn't seem to have any ill effects on them

 

[gsim]

They are likely to adjust to it over time.

 

[Ken H]

Mine don't seem to mind the red heat lamp light either. Egg production seems uneffected too.

 

[edselpdx]

I had a red heat lamp on for one night last week in a (failed) attempt to keep the water in the coop liquid during our recent very cold (for us) weather--teens and 20's for 5 days straight. That one night, I did notice that the girls were "up" at 10 pm wandering around the coop looking confused. I usually don't keep food and water inside the coop at all, and had only water (ice) inside that night. Normally they are always up on the roost from dusk until dawn, so it definitely changed their sleep patterns. I don't know if it matters at all, but they were acting differently with the light on.