To light the coop at night or not??

[cmom]

First As long as your coop is vented but not drafty your birds should be ok. Lights are a personal preference. I have 3 watt lights in each of my coops. I also have electric wire around my coops and pens to keep out predators. If I can see the lights on at night then I know my electric fence is working. It's been quite a few years since I lost a bird to a predator. I also have good heavy duty netting over all of my pens. I had an owl kill some of my birds so I put up the netting. I couldn't figure out how something was getting in so I put up my game cameras and saw the owl on video. I have heard critters touch the electric wire (probably coyotes). Once they touch it they don't come back to test it out again.

 

[cmom]

I also breed and hatch out all of my chicks and the lights have helped (with some evening treats) to get them into their coops at night.

 

[Carladuckie]

Brrrr!! We just have had our first big snowfall and it's pretty cold today. Our Black Stars seem to be handling it ok. I'm really leaning on keeping the lights off, especially since we seem to get quite a few of power outages in our area and I would hate for them not to be acclimated to the weather if that happens. Thanks for your reply Maine!

 

[Carladuckie]

I also breed and hatch out all of my chicks and the lights have helped (with some evening treats) to get them into their coops at night.

Hi, I've started bringing them out oatmeal with raisins to encourage them to go in and keep them warm! So far we have been very lucky with predators, most likely since the dogs are out all day making sure they know to stay away!

 

[cmom]

That's good that the dogs keep the predators away. I see a lot of critters at night with my game cameras such as coyotes, foxes, possums and once in awhile a dog. I have seen raccoons and bobcats but not too often.

 

[Carladuckie]

We have had bobcats in the area before. My ex neighbor lost a few to one! It didn't help that he didn't have a roof on his coop! Easy pickings. We close the coop up each night just in case! We found out the hard way about the ravens when one of our ducks was sitting on her eggs. The one time a day when she went out, a raven flew in a took an egg. We couldn't figure out where the eggs were going?? Soon fixed that with a net over her roosting box! Live and learn

 

[HoopyFrood]

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

I believe that comment was referring to a red heat lamp, as opposed to a clear heat lamp. A way to heat while letting them sleep. An infrared ceramic lamp would do the same. But if you're not heating (or not heating via heat lamp) then it doesn't apply to you.

 

[lazy gardener]

Hope all of your questions have been answered. There is a big difference between light being offered to encourage them to lay through the winter, and a heat lamp which is used to provide heat. I'm at 44.5 parallel, and my winter temp sometimes stays below 0*F for days/nights at a time. Some cold snaps last 1 - 2 weeks, often the day time temps don't get up above 20*F. My birds do fine without supplemental heat. The only time I consider adding heat is if the temp goes down to or below 0*F for extended periods of time AND they are showing signs of hypothermia: decreased activity, decreased appetite when they actually should be eating more. Ventilation is very important, even in a cold snap. Recommendation is for 1 s.f. of ventilation per bird, or 10% of coop floor area. I close it up some at night if we are in a cold snap. But if I've cut the ventilation at night, I always open things up again in the morning when the sun starts warming things up.

I have used supplemental light the past 3 winters, and am currently waiting to see if I need it this winter.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Chickens should not have light on all night so they can sleep, but I have used a 25 watt red fluorescent bulb in a large coop, which was not too disturbing. In winter when there is only about 8-9 hours of daylight, I do put a light on a timer at 5 am, which goes off at daylight, then back on between 4 and 5 PM. I find that 12 hours of daylight is enough to have the older girls lay through the winter.

 

[Carladuckie]

I really like the idea of just using supplemental lighting. I think I will set the timer to turn on in the am for a couple of hours too!
Thanks everyone for all your super helpful suggestions!! Really super wonderful site!!