Skylight?

[1acrefarm]

Has anyone ever installed a skylight on the coop? Did your egg production improve any with the extra light? The days are already short and my girls are staying inside. It is pretty dark in there.

 

[slyfoxpeeps]

Hi, we have 2 skylights in our coop. It stay nice and bright, my girls seem to be laying well but I really don't have any thing to compare to.
sly

 

[patandchickens]

A lot of people think this sounds nice when they first think about it, but in reality, skylights are going to cause heat problems (in summer) in southern climates, and heat-loss and condensation-drip problems (in winter) in northern climates. Also which they tend to leak around the edges no matter whatcha do, later if not sooner.

A MUCH easier and more leakproof and less thermally-problematic solution is just to have real nice big windows. If they can open for ventilation you get that extra benefit too. And you'll get just as much maximize-light-in-wintertime egg-laying benefit as you would from a skylight.

Sorry, JMO,

Pat

 

[arabookworm]

we are in the planning stages of our coop, and while looking through home depot and lowes's roofing options, I found a clear corrugated pvc something or other, and we think we might use that.

where we are, they'll be in shade in the summer, and the winter doesn't get extremely cold, so we shouldn't have a problem

 

[La Banan]

Yep - we have a built in skylight - our coop is small and mainly roof - the bottom part of it had already been built so Ron added the roof and a door. Both the door and roof have plexi windows in them. We don't have any leakage and believe me we'd know as it has been blowing gales here all fall! Ron put them in so they are overlapped by the roofing itself - can't explain but you can have a look at our design.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=11106-babes-hideout

We do scrape the snow off the skylight but that is no big deal. We had a big snow storm here this past week and today is really the first day the girls and boys have been out. We shovelled out their run and they've been enjoying the fact that it is a bit warmer out.

I like the window and they can see out of it so that's nice too.

Good luck.
not sure about egg-laying as mine aren't laying as of yet but more light cannot hurt.

 

[Chicken Salad]

I'm converting a playhouse and I'm taking 2 bubble-shaped windows out and putting them in the roof as skylights. They'll be on the north side of the pitched roof so I don't anticipate any oven-like temperatures - just more light. The other side of the roof will actually be made to open. The 12"x12" windows on each side will be done over in some spare plexi and some hardware cloth over that. I have some roof-leak stuff leftover from the wood stove install that I'll use on them between the shingles and the plywood.

 

[Featherland]

I have 2 skylights that can be opened for vents. They are the kind you install in travel trailers. They provide more light in the coop and I have never had problems with leaks. My husband used an expanding foam around the edges. One faces east and the other west so it still stays cooler in the coop in the summer. I have windows that open in my coop but I love being able to open the vents for extra ventilation in the summer. I don't know if the extra light helps increase egg production.

 

[jubylives]

I wanted to have a sky light on my coop. I could never find a good one to use. As far as leaks, even shingled roofs will eventually leak after time. With some flashing and tar it will last for years just like on houses. Plus going up there every couple years and adding another layer of tat will be a little that goes a long way.

I like the idea of the camper ones. Maybe I can find me one or two.


jeremy

 

[catnip]

I have 2 skylights in my coop. They are roof vents made for sheds. So ventilation plus light. Picked them up in my local big box lumber/home supply retailer in the roofing vent section for around $15 a piece.

 

[FarmerSadie]

Hi arabookworm! The clear panels can be problematic (they work a little like a magnifying glass in the summer). But there is a semi-opaque panel at Lowes that is SUPER awesome. They are white, but actually left loads of light in - I can't find the name on their website, but look for a sticker on the panel that says semi-opaque or something... I've use them in the roof of my goat barn and they rock. No heat, lots of light.