The Chicken "Party" Light is working!

[Esteri]

Don't know about you guys but over in our coop right around the autumnal equinox egg production dropped off a cliff. We rapidly went from 7-8 to 3 eggs per day out of our 9 pullets (Feb chicks). We figured we probably needed to add some lights to the coop. Since we tractor our girls, and there's no electricity anywhere near, lighting became a bit of a puzzle. We found a schematic on a UK site that showed how to hook up lights using a photo-cell, a digital thermostat as the timer, and a battery. A little trial and error, using LEDs instead of incandencents, and adding a small solar panel to the mix and the Chicken Party Lights are working great.

In fact, within 48 hours of install we started getting 6 eggs per day. Not as great as the 7 or 8 during the summer but WAY better than 3!!

Anyone else solve their lighting problem with solar?
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[MakNugget]

I tried twice, but didn't get enough light out of it. I wasn't expecting much to begin with, but the one garage light fixture doesn't last long enough on one charge due to the weather. It was the perfect unit for me too, since the solar panel had enough reach, and the unit was turned on by a pull of a lanyard. I no longer am allowed the lanyard since my alpha hen pulled it back into the coop. She turns it on when she wants

I then tried a series of lights, but the unit lasted one activation. Dismayed, I grabbed the 4' fluorescent shop light and run an extension cord, timer, and voila! I may downgrade to a smaller self contained unit later since the tube is exposed right now and it's just a good peck away from disaster