Supplemental light for the winter?? Type of light??

[Skibunny6703]

Hi I want to give the birds a supplemental light but what is ideal?? I got rope lighting to go around the inside of the coop will that be sufficient to trick them? Or should I just use Led christmas lights?? Or Should I stick with a traditional LED 20 W bulb??

I also have an infarred bulb that will go on onlt when the temp dropps below 34degrees. ( plugged into a thermoblock outlet.) I don't want them relying on the heat light but i do want to give them something to avoid frost bite.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Where do you live? If it isn't way below zero I wouldn't worry about frostbite unless you don't have sufficient ventilation to get rid of the humidity.

Any light bright enough to barely read a newspaper by at roost height is sufficient.
If I add light, I use a compact fluorescent (13 watt). If it gets cold enough that it doesn't come on, I switch to an incandescent.

 

[Skibunny6703]

Thank you.. I was hoping the rope lighting would work instead of a light bulb. I have the rope lighting going around the ceiling of the hen house for a few hours in the evening and an hour or two early dusk. I have cool white LED Christmas lights around the outside of my entire coop just for vanity purposes. I have a few reels of the cool led lights because i stupidly didn't look at the colors. Actually it was before LED had Warm white. They are on a Dusk timer but go off after 6 hours. I am in Massachusetts and we do get a few days where it gets below in the morning and evenings. I have friends in the Berkshires and their chickens have gotten frostbite. I am not too worried because my neighbor's chickens rough it for the last 20 yrs on a 60 W that stays on 24 hrs a days for some heat. So technically nothing because their coop holds 25 chickens and is a walk in and a mear light like that might not give enough for such a huge coop. Mine on the other hand is a 4x4 space with 3 nesting boxes and 3 roosts plus an open

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The LEDs may be fine if the total output allows the intensity I described and would probably be cheaper to run.
Except for a few Mediterranean roosters with big combs and wattles in below zero temps I haven't put heat on chickens in 60 years. No frostbite.
I have big openings and the wind blows right through. No humidity buildup and no frostbite.
It also doesn't get an ammonia buildup. Warm and moist is a recipe for disease.