Want to put lights into coop to jump start laying - solar options?

[MontanaChickDoc]

Does anyone have a good solar powered light I can put on a timer in my coop, to fake my girls into thinking it's spring? I used to give them the winter off and let them come back into lay naturally, thinking it was prolonging their egg-laying lives and general health, but I lose so many to predators of one sort or another come spring and summer that I'd rather get the eggs while I can Feed is expensive and I sell all the extra eggs I have. Right now I have 30 hens and am getting 4-6 eggs per day. Thank goodness for my 4 ducks that lay 3-4 eggs/ day. They are pulling their weight at least!

 

[cavemanrich]

The problem with SOLAR POWERED,,, lights is somewhat complicated to be effective egg enhancer.
First,,,, the light needs to be available on a daily basis, and extend the daylight to total 14 hours. (light + daylight) without fluctuation.(some days more,some days less)
The added light is best when added in the morning before sun-up. So something about ON at 2:30AM ,,, off at about 6:30AM (at sunrise) .
This way chickens start eating as light comes on. Then go outdoors and continue their daytime activities. At dusk,(4:30 during winter ) they go to roost and sleep. You may need to keep adjusting the time, as days do get longer after Dec 21. More than 14 hours is not necessary.
This can be done, with Solar, and a timer,,, but needs a more complex setup which includes Storage Battery, as well a good solar panel to charge battery. The light also needs to be bright enough.
An entry level solar light will come on at dusk and provide light, but not for long period. It is an effective item to allow chickens to find their way around inside coop once it is dark outdoors. This setup will not enhance egg production very much. It does encourage chickens to enter coop after dark, in case some stragglers forgot to enter at dusk.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

Ah dang, you're right, I had not really thought it through...the other issue is that my girls (and boys) are locked in at night with automatic coop doors that open at dawn and dusk. So given the extra light inside the coop, they won't have much to do until their doors open at daybreak. All their food and water is outside. I really don't want them to go out in the dark of dawn because that's when the hungry beasties are at their hungriest. This time of year it's hawks and owls. I have electrified netting which keeps out the ground borne predators except the ones smart enough to climb trees and come in that way. They mostly get the dummies that don't get into the coop before the doors shut (mostly the dumb polish). Soooo...do you think it would be a problem for them to just mill about in the fake light of their coop for a few hours until their doors open?? or will they get pissed off and irritated.

 

[cavemanrich]

You would need to provide feed and water inside the coop for the duration of light on to be effective in encouraging egg production.

 

[feathermaid]

Ah dang, you're right, I had not really thought it through...the other issue is that my girls (and boys) are locked in at night with automatic coop doors that open at dawn and dusk. So given the extra light inside the coop, they won't have much to do until their doors open at daybreak. All their food and water is outside. I really don't want them to go out in the dark of dawn because that's when the hungry beasties are at their hungriest. This time of year it's hawks and owls. I have electrified netting which keeps out the ground borne predators except the ones smart enough to climb trees and come in that way. They mostly get the dummies that don't get into the coop before the doors shut (mostly the dumb polish). Soooo...do you think it would be a problem for them to just mill about in the fake light of their coop for a few hours until their doors open?? or will they get pissed off and irritated.

I wouldn't risk leaving them locked in with nothing to do or eat. When the lights turn on their crops will be empty and they'll be hungry and thirsty. Hungry birds can get mean and stressed, and stress can halt egg laying, which defeats the whole purpose. It would be hardest on the lowest ranking birds.

Even if your coop is bigger than 12x12 (bare minimum for 30 hens + ?boys) maybe you'd be ok if you kept food and water available inside, along with some other distractions like lots more roosts, line-of-sight obstacles and something interesting like flakes of hay to scratch through.

Is it possible to cover the top of your outside area with more netting to make it safer so you can set your auto door to open when the morning lights go on? And add a "porch" light outside as well? Sometime lights will help deter predators.

I don't know a good brand of solar lights to do this, but when/if you start at this time of year, you can only start increasing the fake daylight by about 30 minutes per week for it to effectively activate the pineal gland. Here's a general how-to:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/supplemental-light-in-coop-why-how/

 

[Acre4Me]

We have light on a timer and use it fall/winter/early spring. We have it turn on early morning and they have water in their coop. We don’t add feed in the coop until it is really cold outside and they need the extra calories. They fill up just fine during the day in cool/cold weather, and we don’t want to attract mice when they are seeking refuge in the fall. Our chickens are fine to be in the coop for a few hours with light before being let out in the morning.

here is our setup, installed by an electrician (#stupidmicechewingwiresinbarn, #addontobarnrewiring, #ishouldhavebeenanelectrician$$)

everything is attached to the studs, not the walls in case we needed to replace the wall panels or enlarge the coop, etc.

 

[MontanaChickDoc]

That's fancy! I can get electricity to the coop but it would be via extension cord...I hear you about the electrician thing. I went to school 11, no, 14 years to get my various degrees and I'm pretty sure they get paid more per hour than I do...

 

[Acre4Me]

That's fancy! I can get electricity to the coop but it would be via extension cord...I hear you about the electrician thing. I went to school 11, no, 14 years to get my various degrees and I'm pretty sure they get paid more per hour than I do...

me too, advanced degrees, but when you need an electrician, gotta pay their bill. But, the coop is only about 2 feet behind the barn, so it was a sensible extension to the re-wiring of the barn. Still pricey. We would not have done it if it was just the coop since an extension cord would have sufficed so close to the barn. Would never have realized electric wiring was chewed by the mice if we hadn’t decided to rip out the damaged wall boards in the workshop, and remove the old hokey cabinets in the workshop (under which was a size able stash of candy the mice had stored). So, I guess re-wiring the barn was better than a barn fire due to electrical wiring.

 

[Kusanar]

One thing to keep in mind, when using lighting to change an animals day/night cycle, the darkest corner needs to be bright enough to comfortably read a newspaper in. If it is dimmer than that it will not trick their biology. That counts for when they go outside as well, it needs to be as bright if not brighter outside before they go out there or it will mess up all of the efforts.

 

[Acre4Me]

That counts for when they go outside as well, it needs to be as bright if not brighter outside before they go out there or it will mess up all of the efforts.

Or if it is so overcast and dim outside all day long, day after day...they may stop laying. My experience this past winter. We had added light (even in darkest corner), but sooooo very overcast and dim for weeks, that some of my pullets stopped laying all together for a few weeks.