Winter lighting

[h8snags]

Ok, we woke up to snow this morning, and it got me thinking about the lighting and egg production. Since I am new to this I have done alot of research, and am trying to figure out which route to take. Do I turn the lights on a few hours only in the morning? Or do I do it both in the morning and evening? We haven't installed any lights yet, but we're thinking of putting one in the coop and one in the covered run, both on timers... What do you do?

 

[AlienChick]

I plan on adding lighting a few hours early in the morning before the sun comes up.

I generally do not want to add the lighting after the sun goes down because my chickens use the fading sunlight to get settled in for the night.

If the light suddenly goes OFF at night, they may not be settled in enough and will cause some stress.

 

[h8snags]

Quote:
That's what I was thinking!

 

[Rosaleen]

In think it depends on how your coop is set up. My coop is on the back wall of the barn which goes out to the run through a window. The girls come in a little before dusk and get settled on their favorite roosts. I get home from work around four o'clock and turn the overhead light on and turn on the radio. After they come in I go out and lock up the window. Then I go back out around 9:30 or so and turn out all the light and radio. The barn is not a far distance from the house so going back and forth will not be an issue. Keeping a path open when the snow arrives is my only headache.

 

[srothove]

I've read that SOFT white florescent lighting is the type of light to use. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Five Dog Farm]

I agree with a soft white light. I use a timer to turn on the light at 5am and off at 730am. I dont use lighting in the evening because I dont want to interfere with their ability to find the roosts.

 

[mommissan]

I just wanted to add my experience with light at night. My light comes on just before dusk and stays on for 2-3 hours after dark. They don't seem stressed at night. They don't have trouble finding their roost. I find that they have learned to compensate for the lighting by simply roosting while the light is still on. In fact, when my timer wasn't set right (power outage) they were reluctant to go in the coop because the light didn't come on at bedtime. I prefer the light on for a few hours at night since it book-ends the artificial lighting schedule and provides a consistent 14 hours of light a day. Chickens can be much more adaptable than we give them credit for.

 

[h8snags]

Quote:
Here is my set up... there is a fenced in run that leads to the covered run, which connects to the coop. My biggest worry is that they won't be able to find the roost at night once the lights shut off! Do you think they will just go inside at dusk anyway?

 

[AlienChick]

If it's too dark for them to see, they won't go to the roost.

Chickens do not see very well in the dark.

That's the primary reason why I do not use lights at night - only in the pre-dawn hours.

 

[Nicole01]

I leave the light on until 7pm. That's when the chickens are ready to go to bed and jump up on the roost. I wake them up around 7:15am. I turn on the light and clean the nightly poop right away and throw some cracked corn in their run for them to scratch.

I use a 60 watt bulb that is caged at the top. Our coop ceiling is 8-9ft tall.