To light the coop at night or not??

[twilightgecko]

It get a little cold there too doesn't it!

yes.. very cold.. my girls are more pets than anything.. so if they don't wanna lay, that's fine with me..

 

[Carladuckie]

yes.. very cold.. my girls are more pets than anything.. so if they don't wanna lay, that's fine with me..

Ditto! they are so funny when I come home and they run up to the gate..adorable!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Chanticlers were developed in Canada to survive the harsh weather. They also have the flat combs that do not get frostbite .

 

[Carladuckie]

Chanticlers were developed in Canada to survive the harsh weather. They also have the flat combs that do not get frostbite .

Interesting! I've also heard that you can put a little Vaseline on their combs to prevent frostbite. I had no trouble last year even though it was super ugly cold for forever!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us I also subscribe to the theory that the girls need to rest over winter. And as long as they are dry, draft free with plenty of ventilation, they won't need any additional heat.

 

[igorsMistress]

Say no to the light. I think the birds need a break from laying and shouldn't be forced to do it by artificial means.

There are other ways to warm your coop if you really think it's necessary. I don't live where it gets especially cold, but I've read tons about chickens that do here. Many don't get supplemental heat and do fine.

 

[Carladuckie]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice! I'm a little confused about one thing still. One post noted to use a red light if you need because they can still sleep?? Is the red light the same as not having a light on?? Excuse my ignorance

 

[RonP]

Birds stop laying naturally when light hours diminish (and cooler temperatures set in) due to higher survival hatching rates, and when food and other resources are scarce..

This does not occur naturally near the equator, where light hours remain near constant. The birds and chickens flourish producing year round without a break.

Ask any Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Colombian... where backyard flocks are very common.

This is also not a concern where food, water, and shelter are provided unnaturally, as when we provide for our flocks.

That said, this is an ongoing topic that comes up often. Here is my reply to a previous query, hope it helps if you decide to provide light as I did:

There are a lot of opinions on supplementing light to keep the chickens laying during time periods where there is less than 12-14 hours of available daylight.

My coop gets 16 hours of light 365 days per year. Birds continue to molt regardless, as they do if living on or close to the equator, where the light hours are consistent all year.

Having had to install electricity for the thermostatically controlled water heater, I took advantage and installed a lighting system.

My system has two timers. The first is set to turn the lights on at 5am, off at 9pm.

Power goes on, passes through a photocell, then to a 300 lumen LED bulb, 4.8 watts, in the coop, and two 4.8 watt LEDs for the outside run.
All bulbs are warm white - 3000K

I light the run because I found the birds huddled outside the coop door in the dark one 5:30am morning... They have access to the run 24/7, as it is as secure as the coop.

The lights are on only when it is dark enough outside to be necessary (photocell).
The time on very closely mimics my Summer Solstice.

The second timer is set to go on at 8:30pm, off at 9:30pm, a diffused 200 lumen LED 4 watt bulb. This dim light allows the birds to settle in before all lights out. No stress as immediate darkness may induce.

This system costs less than $5 per year to operate. My egg production does not fluctuate due to seasonal lighting deficiencies.

Also added:

Most of my current flock of around 12, consists of the hybrids that produce quite well for the first 2 years or so. As such, I cannot tell them apart very well. There always seems to be 2 or 3 raggedy looking ones in the group, year round. This morning, there are 2 as I write this. I do not know how often they molt, I do not track nor do I care to. All seem very healthy, some are now in their 7th year, I have 3 heritage birds remaining in the flock, now in their 11th and 12th years...

In my experience, the hybrids do not have the long life expectancy as the heritage breeds.

They do not go completely bald, or have severe molts. Just a disheveled look, missing feathers, as if they survived an attack…

At first, I thought they did…

This may be breed specific as I have had heritage breeds explode their feathers under the same conditions.

Also added:

Thanks to the advances in LED lighting technologies and reduced retail pricing, my run is now lit up like a baseball stadium, except that I use warm 3000k LED light. I often see my flock enjoying the outdoors soon after all lights on early mornings, and active doing their chicken things until the “stadium lights” go dark. This seems especially true for the younger flock members.

The 30-minute low-level coop lighting during the evening seems more than sufficient to guide the outdoor birds safely, calmly back into the coop, onto their roosts, and settle down before all lights go dark for the remaining night.

All stress free…

Hope this helps.

 

[Carladuckie]

Wow, so interesting!! I will continue to ponder this and most likely print this off for my hubby as he would be the one hooking everything up! For the present, I have the lights off and they seem to be settling in at night ok. We just got our first big dump of snow, so now it's all about making sure that they have a clear area to go out in! All the joys, wonders and labors of love.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Thanks, even if it goes to -15 celcius?

There are plenty of people that say they have kept cold hardy breeds in extended periods of -40 in an unheated (but dry, well-ventilated, draft-free) coop. We are about to enter our first winter with chickens. We're in Maine and it can approach -30 deg C here, though it doesn't tend to stay that cold very long. It does stay -20 deg C here for long periods of time...

Given the challenges coop heating presents we decided to go unheated with cold hardy breeds (australorp, RIR, and barred rocks). Ours are pets so we are not supplementing light either. I do have electricity and a light in the coop. But that's more for human convenience than anything

Welcome to BYC!!