It's time for a new lighting strategy for our chickens. Penny was cackling loudly this morning at 6am - I think she just laid an egg.
I have a light in the coop, which I turn on each morning at 4:30am (the time I leave for work). This extends their 'daylight' to about 14 hours. Unfortunately I don't think our neighbors will appreciate a chicken making noises while it's still dark outside.
Everything I've read says to add lighting in the morning instead of the evening, but this seems to be primarily so that the hens won't be suddenly in the dark at night and unable to find their roost. With 2 chickens, I think I will be able to set them up on the roost myself and then turn off the light for them. If this will keep down the noise and make us better neighbors, it'll be well worth it. I'm going to transition them from morning lighting to evening lighting - dusk to 9pm.
Do you use artificial light for your chickens?
We usually don't light the coop, but did this fall because our pullets looked like they weren't going to lay until spring otherwise. We chose to use a timer and add the light at night and there's been no problem at all about chickens not getting on the roost. They settle on the perches when it gets dark outside and just chat for those extra "daylight" hours, but the light has still been enough to boost our egg production considerably.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna! Ours seem to be doing the same thing - 2 nights of lighting now and they were on the roost by the time I turned off the light at 9.
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