Thinking of putting Fairy lights in my Coop

[Rivers]

Ive only had my hens a few days, but I feel bad about how short the day is for them. Its winter here and the days are very short.
I dont have a run, so at night they get locked in the coop where they have to sit in the dark between 4pm and 8am. So Im thinking of putting in a light to stay on till 10pm or so.

One solution I was looking at was solar powered fairy light like these:

They probably wont be very bright. Has anyone used something like this? Would they provide enough light in a small coop so that chickens can see their way around and possibly continue to drink water and peck some snacks after dark?

Im also worried about the birds being distracted by the lights, as they recognise bright specks as food. Might they think the lights are food?

 

[allieloveschickens]

Seems like those lights would work fine, if you hang them up high enough the chickens shouldn't try to eat them.

 

[gryeyes]

I have thought about doing the exact same thing. The solar lights won't last all night long, which I think is good... And it will give ME enough light to see what's up, since I get home from work after dark.
Plus providing any slim benefit to the chickens.

 

[Cargo]

I have LED Christmas lights in my coop set on a timer. Works great. Doesn't cost much to run.

 

[wolftracks]

Oh I like those. Where did you get them?

 

[patandchickens]

You'd have to try the solar ones to see if they'd be bright enough to stimulate laying -- all the solar-powered xmas lights I've seen have been way too dim for that, but maybe there are other brands. You basically need to be able to read a newspaper fairly easily at chciken level, to stimulate laying. Dimmer than that and it won't help laying but they *may* still wander around and feed and stuff.

Note that anything that runs off a battery (and yes, Virginia, solar-powered xmas lights DO run off a battery, which the panel charges during daytime) tends to perform poorly in the cold. So that is another thing you'd have to see how it works for you.

I wouldnt be overly optimistic, but it *could* work in some circumstances (e.g. a very tiny, entirely-white-inside coop in a not very cold climate)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[jomoncon]

I also have LED Christmas lights on a timer in both my coop & run. My little girls stay in the run until the lights go out. I use a nightlight in the coop all night & they can easily see their way back into the coop & their roosts.

 

[cheri222]

I found a rechargable led shop light that runs on 4 hours off a 3 hour charge, has anyone tried this?

 

[Rivers]

Quote:
If you are planning to use it everyday for at least 2 hours. You would have to charge it at least every other day. Too much hassle surely?

 

[cheri222]

I rechecked the info and it is 5 hours. I was thinking of bringing it in to charge in the am when I let them out and putting it up again when I close them in. We only wired in the heated bowl and don't have any other outlets. I hate the idea of running a strip extension. But I do want eggs sometime before spring.