Author Topic: Lighting (Read 4217 times)

oor wullie · « **on:** December 18, 2012, 04:46:38 pm »

I'm wanting to install some lighting in the hen house to encourage their laying. It must have a timer (I'm not getting up at 3am to turn it on) and it must be battery powered as it is too far away from the mains.

After much searching the only realistic thing I can find (without being too expensive) is Christmas lights, ie a string of about 50 LEDs with a timer which runs on a 6hrs on 18hrs off cycle. They can be set to be on steadily and not flashing.

I have never heard on anyone using these, Is there a reason why? The only thing I can think of is the hens might peck the LEDs if they got a chance. Seems worth a try at less than £15.

These lights come in different colours. Is white best for hens? Would waking up to pink or green light cause them to have a nervous breakdown after a while?

hughesy · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2012, 04:51:29 pm »

Sounds good to me. I've been thinking about battery operated lights for our coops but the cost has put me off a bit. I'd rig them around the inside of the roof to keep them away from interfering beaks. Can't see why it wouldn't work.

hughesy · « **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2012, 05:03:28 pm »

Just been on ebay now you can get a string of 24 white LED lights with timer for £4.99. Got to be worth a try.

chrismahon · « **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2012, 06:31:51 pm »

Sounds a good idea. We used a 12v timer which cost £45. Good quality piece of kit though with an internal battery to save the time whilst the main battery was charged. Don't know what effect the dust that chickens generate will have if it gets into the lights?

hughesy · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2012, 02:50:54 pm »

Good point re the dust but for £4.99 if they last a winter they'll do.

oor wullie · « **Reply #5 on:** December 20, 2012, 11:56:11 am »

I just ordered a set so will hopefully soon find out how well they work.

colliewoman · « **Reply #6 on:** December 20, 2012, 02:51:29 pm »

Solar christmas lights switch themselves on when dark and off when light

darkbrowneggs · « **Reply #7 on:** December 20, 2012, 03:34:05 pm »

Daylight hours begin to increase from after tomorrow, though its not noticable till Christmas day (hence the celebrations - Christ's birthday wasn't celebrated on the 25th Dec till 4th C. when the Church finally gave in - if you can't stamp it out, lets call it something else)

You may find the birds get a bit more interested in laying anyway come the New Year

oor wullie · « **Reply #8 on:** December 20, 2012, 05:04:57 pm »

Darkbrowneggs, what age do you expect your Marans to start laying?

It is 26week old Marans (and some Scots Dumpys) that I am waiting to start.

I know the days will soon lengthen but we only get about 6hrs daylight just now, some days it feels like none at all and I am not particularly patient.

darkbrowneggs · « **Reply #9 on:** December 20, 2012, 06:29:00 pm »

Hi there - my earliest started at about 18 weeks, but that is unusual.

A lot of Marans, especially the French varieties will take longer, and 26 weeks at this time of year is certainly not unusual.

I think, as well, late hatched pullets take longer to mature, so its a bit "how long is a piece of string". But I do find that Christmas is normally a turning point for pretty well all my birds. They seem to be up and about. Mine are up by around by 8 - 8.30 ish and thinking of bed at 3.30 ish so maybe its a bit lighter here than with you?

It takes around 26 hours to make an egg and I have read somewhere it is not the hours of daylight that makes the difference, but the fact that the birds are not eating enough to make an egg. ie 6 hours of eating and 18 hours of fasting, so apparently, though I have not tried, it is best to light them half way through the night so they can get up and eat then go back to sleep, but that would need a dimmer, otherwise they would not find their way to the perches.

hughesy · « **Reply #10 on:** December 20, 2012, 06:32:41 pm »

An interesting point about the feeding time vs the hours of light darkbrown eggs. Ours seem to eat the same amount of food though even now when the days are short and they're not laying.

HesterF · « **Reply #11 on:** December 20, 2012, 10:00:14 pm »

I've got a friend with chickens in the North of Sweden - not quite at the arctic circle but not so far off - and they're still laying with the help of a few hours artificial light. Mind you when we compared notes, we reckoned hers get 12 hours light a day whereas mine (in the South here) have only 8. Certainly I'm not hopeful of getting eggs until the days start to get quite a bit longer - I can completely understand that a hen asleep for 16 hours a day doesn't have much chance to eat enough to keep her energy levels up. Not sure I'll go for artificial lights though - sounds like a hassle (oh, and solar lights would be tough - you'd have to somehow charge them outside and then move them inside at night? Or can you have the charger out while the lights are in?)

H

colliewoman · « **Reply #12 on:** December 20, 2012, 11:05:31 pm »

I stick the solar panel bit on the goat house roof, poke the cable through a hole and run the lights underneath

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #13 on:** December 30, 2012, 12:17:04 pm »

We get round this one by keeping only the very best of our pullets each year. They'll begin to lay at the end of November or early December and carry on right through until the moult the following year. Also means we have young birds to go through the winter, which can be vicious on our exposed hilltop.