Can I turn my lights on when a few of my hens are still molting? How long do the lights need to be on?
We turned our lights on a few weeks ago when we started having less that 12 hours of real light. The coop is under a tree and even without leaves, it tends to be shady there and can be dark. I have the lights set to go on 4:30 am to 7:30 am and then 3:30 - 6:30 pm. As it gets darker and more dreary in the northeast in winter (coming on soon) I will just put the light on from 4:30 am to 6:30 pm. My girls usually put themselves up on the roost by 4 pm anyway unless it is summer.
I just installed my lights in the coop and in the pen - they come on at 6:30 AM, go off at 9:30 AM, then come back on at 3:30 PM and off at 9:30 PM. There is a 5 watt night light in the nesting area off the coop that is on 24/7 during the winter. The chickens really like it.
