Solar Coop Light Help

[walkerkm]

Hello-
on Friday I purchased a solar shed light from harbor freight to supplement a little daylight for my hens. I figured that i would give them an extra hour of light in the am and an hour in the PM since i am in NE and the days are starting to get shorter.

It says that the light is 4 watts with a fluorescent light with output equivalent to 30 watts incandescent (seems like 10 watts on the output)-not bright at all. Had my husband hook it all up and i turned it on last night, and it didn't seem like 30 watts.

My questions are:

How many watts lightbulb do the hens need to make a difference in supplementing light due to the natural light change? and..

Is it possible to hook this solar panel up to another light (something brighter-maybe LED)-that connects with the same type of plug?

The plug is just like any other adapter. Basically the pannel is recharging the batteries in the light.

The pannel is a polycrystalline silicon solar panel.

I don't want to add any stress to my hens, but would like to continue getting eggs this winter. They have really slowed down-fast.

thanks!

 

[backdoorchicken]

"How many watts lightbulb do the hens need to make a difference in supplementing light due to the natural light change?"

from what i have read it just needs to be enough light that you are able to read a newspaper by it.​

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
If your coop is smallish and has light-colored walls and ceiling, it *might* be all you need. Poultry science guys say that hens need 1-3 footcandles of light (depends on breed) for it to "count" as day length w/r/t egglaying; this is like a 60w bulb on an 8' ceiling of a 10x10 coop. As the previous poster said, if you can read a newspaper (at chicken level) without undue squinting, it is prolly enough light to stimulate laying.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat