Skylight?

[Opa]

Skylites or bigger windows will not help egg production. They will allow more light into your coop; however, the amount of light a chicken receives is referring to the length of day.

 

[sillybirds]

Quote:
FarmerSadie, it sounds like you're talking about the Sequentia Super 600 that Lowes carries. I REALLY wanted to use that in terra cotta color for my coop, but NO ONE around here carries that color. I would have had to special order it for big bucks. Our Lowes has at least the white and the clear. It also comes in hunter green, sky blue, and graphite. I do like the semi-opaque nature of it, such that it'll let some light in but not so much as to make the coop an oven. The light transmission percentages are: clear 95%, white 70%, hunter green 35%, terra cotta 35%, sky blue 45%, and graphite 20%. Here's a link to the manufacturer: http://www.cranecomposites.com/sequentia/super600.asp

 

[nightshade]

I dont have them in our coop but we do in our horse barn, we have the semi white roofing pannels and I just love them. And the turken that wont stay out of the barn doesn't seem to mind the loads of light they let in. She lays right on. lol

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
However, if they are inclined to spend time indoors because of bad weather or a small run, having more windows in your coop WILL effectively extend their day somewhat, compared to a dark poorly windowed coop. Reason being, if there isn't all that much daylight getting in, the indoor "dawn" comes a lot later and "dusk" a lot earlier. Windows and skylights will never increase effective daylength beyond what the sun and season provide but they can at least prevent your days from being *shorter* (from a chicken perspective).

I still see no possible advantage of skylights though. When windows are SO much easier. Those who are saying they don't leak, how long have you had your skylight in commission? They do not always do it right away, but just about all of them, even the translucent roof panels IME do start leaking around the edges with time, like a year or five years. And those leaks are not generally very fixable. (I am talking about any application you're likely to do in a chicken coop -- it is *possible* to keep a skylight leakfree for ten or twenty years in a house roof, although frankly that is probably more the exception than the rule, but I don't think you want to spend quite that much money or aggravation in a coop...)

JME (and this is with lots of skylights in OTHER peoples' barns, not a comment on my own construction skills <g>),

Pat

 

[1acrefarm]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I believe the barn is effectively shortening their days. It is almost like a dark cave in there. I will most likely go with windows instead of skylights. I am unemployed and cheap so I will use whatever someone else throws to the curve. I already have one window on the barn but it is so old and stained it does not let light in. The pane is held in by a trim piece with rusted screws so putting in a new pane is not an option. Atleast it opens for ventilation. Any windows I put in will have to be high due to my crazy billy goat.

 

[mudman]

Our coop is set so the roof pitches North. Heat wasn't a propblem with windows open in summer. They hold almost no heat (you said that wouldn't be a problem) so I'm going to enclose the joist cells with plastic.