suggestions for automatically dimming lights at night?

[sammyatu]

Anybody have any suggestions for automatic timers that will dim a light gradually at night so the chickens have time to get back into the coop?

I know the standard advice is that if you want to add extra light to encourage laying you should add it in the morning, but I live in the city and my chickens are loud when they wake up, so waking them up at 4am is really not an option. It gets dark at 4pm here in the winter, so I'd much rather have the lights on in the afternoon when humans are awake. But after scouring this forum and online shopping sites, I can't seem to find any automatic timers that will dim the lights gradually that I can use out of the box. There's got to be something out there.

 

[Spartan22]

Maybe you can put 2 different lights on timers, one brighter, let say 15 Watts and one dimmer around 5 Watts. Might work since you want to light them toward the night instead of early morning.

 

[Birdinhand]

the only dimmer with timer I know of is used in LED fish tank grow lights. there are small versions that you could buy and use but I don't know how well they work. maybe just add a second very low light and timer and have it go go out and try experimenting with the timing to see if leaving it on a little longer will prompt them to learn that it's time for bed. fortunately we have a street light in our city that puts out just enough light for them to make it inside to the roost.

 

[centrarchid]

I use the dimmer approach for entire building and a fish room, both for fish. It is pricey. For chickens I use a night fixture and bulb like used in hallway for kids to find bathroom. Such a light place in corner of coop / chicken house and on at all times will generally provide sufficient light for birds to find roost yet get urge to sleep.

Supplemented light can then still be added though evening hours to get photoperiod needed to promote winter egg production with a sudden reduction in light to level produced by the night light.

Birds noisiness can be diminished by giving them something to do. Consider place hay in coop so they can invest physical and mental energy in scratching through it. Place little feeding locations will treats in locations birds must work to reach. BOSS and corn can be good rewards for such effort.

 

[aart]

I think @RonP has a set up.

 

[lazy gardener]

Anybody have any suggestions for automatic timers that will dim a light gradually at night so the chickens have time to get back into the coop?

I know the standard advice is that if you want to add extra light to encourage laying you should add it in the morning, but I live in the city and my chickens are loud when they wake up, so waking them up at 4am is really not an option. It gets dark at 4pm here in the winter, so I'd much rather have the lights on in the afternoon when humans are awake. But after scouring this forum and online shopping sites, I can't seem to find any automatic timers that will dim the lights gradually that I can use out of the box. There's got to be something out there.

I can tell you what I do: If I supplemented light in morning only, it would need to come on at 2:30 AM. No thank you!!! I start ramping my fall light up after the girls have had a chance to slow down or stop laying, and do their fall molt. When egg count is getting low enough that my egg customers are starting to beg, I start ramping up the supplemental light. (9W LED warm spectrum) I add an hour/week until the final schedule looks like this: On - 6:30 AM - 10:00 AM. Back on at 2:30 PM - 8:30 PM. I have a small solar landscaping light adjacent to the LED. The LED keeps the landscaping light charged so that it acts as a bit of a night light, just in case any birds are late getting to the perch. The LED and landscaping light are in front of a window, so the window may keep the solar light charged as well. However, even when not providing the night light, the birds quickly figured out the lighting system, and were never caught on the floor when lights went out.