[Hilbillie]

I'm so fed up, our land looks like the Battle of the Somme at the moment, we are having work done which includes digging out a pathway around the house (the soil came up a couple of feet which was causing dampness) and a trench stretching from the house all the way up to the barn.  The chap doing the digging work isnt coming back to carry on until the end of this week so at the moment it all looks like huge heaps of mud and puddles!  The good news is the electrician\plumber has been and laid the cabling in the trench and we now have water and electricity in the barn!!!!    We have 3 light fittings down the middle of the ceiling which at the moment have bare bulbs in and they dont seem to give off a great deal of light!  Does anyone have any suggestions what sort of light fittings we should put up bearing in mind we are going to be housing chickens and goats.  Will they prefer low lighting or bright?  All thoughts gratefully received.

[MrRee]

I think the main concern is if YOU can see properly and safely work in the barn and not worry about the goats and chickens. But,if you see the animals squinting,up the wattage of the bulbs,if they put on their sunglasses,decrease the bulb wattage! 

[Hilbillie]

Good God yes! I hadnt factored in the cost of taking them to the opticians if their eyesight got damaged!    Thanks for your reply MrRee, you've restored my faith in human nature and given me a giggle into the bargain.  After I posted it I thought what a stupid post and I was waiting for all the tongue in cheek replies.  I dont know what's worse, being told you are being a bit of a thicko or just being totally ignored, the second I think.  We're going out today to the DIY stores to look at light fittings, we'll probably end up with strip lights.  Like you say it is mostly for our benefit, the chickens will probably be outside in the field most of the time anyway.

[Rosemary]

I think most animals see better than us in poor light.

Don't worry about being a thicko - tonight, I was at the stables bringing in Smokey. I had put my car keys in my jacket pocket (it is a jacket with a LOT of pockets). When I made to go home, I couldn't find the opening to the pocket with the keys in - I could feel them but couldn't find the zip. After about 5 minutes standing in the rain with my jacket off, searching, I asked one of the young girls to have a look. Took her all of 3 seconds. Did I feel dim?

Hope that makes you feel better!