Supplemental Lighting, but leaving the coop door open

[MyChicksRBuff]

So i added a light on a timer a few weeks back inside the coop, to try to keep the eggs coming. Right now it comes on around 5am. Sunrise is just after 7am. We leave the door between the coop and run open 24/7 (I know, not recommended, but if you saw our run, you would understand that nothing is getting in...the run is as secure as the coop). Today I noticed that they all came out of the coop into the run around 6am when it was still dark outside for an hour or so.
So my question is this....if they keep doing this, does this mean their brains are going to process that as less daylight hours during the day?

 

[Den in Penn]

How light is it in the run, is there an outside light near by or a large amount coming from the coop? The moon is still fairly bright in the morning. Doesn't answer the question, but it would explain why they were out that far before sunrise. If it is light in the run I don't think a hour in dimmer light should hurt much. You may want to consider as the natural days get shorter to remedy that with more light out there or keeping them in the coop till nearer sunrise.

 

[RonP]

I have wondered this myself.

I put a couple of floods in the run on the same light circuit.

 

[donrae]

I used supplemental lighting for the first time last winter. My coop and run are open like yours, I don't have a door, just a hole in the wall. My birds would go out and about in the run, but apparently they got enough light, cause I got eggs from my older birds all winter long.