Should I leave the light on inside the coop?

[AKnewbie]

So the temperature is really starting to dip now, the chickens are in their run and seem to be doing fine.
I was wondering though if they will go inside the coop when they get too cold even if the coop is dark?
Or should I be leaving the light on?

 

[countrygoddess]

Hens need 12 - 14 hours a day of light to lay, so that would be a good reason to have a light in the chicken house. I have a timer in my hoop coop that gives them a couple of hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening, on either side of natural day light. Also, chickens can tolerate really cold temperatures--colder than we can tolerate--without feeling like they need to go inside. There's a good article on this site about that. I think it said they can be comfortable down to ZERO! But that's without windchill, i.e., no drafts.

 

[countrygoddess]

I thought of this, too: if you want it to be light in there during the day so they don't have to go in and out of a cave, you can use a CFL bulb. They use far less energy so you won't notice on your electric bill that you've been leaving a light on all day.