As we lose daylight

[digitS']

. . . I do intend to get the timer back out to the coop for more daylight, though. Just wish it didn't up the feed bills to use lights. Sigh!

But, that is what eggs are made of - excess nutrients taken up by the hens .

Way back When, I used to run lights 24 hours a day during the coldest weeks. Two of my coops have not had windows or, the one I have now has one door that is replaced with a fixed hardware cloth "screen" during warm weather. They have no light without electricity during the winter. And really, that small door lets in little light thru most of the season - northern exposure.

The 24 hour thing - I re-thought. Probably not a good idea but I wanted them to be able to eat whenever they wanted/needed food. Too cold to be sitting hungry in the dark . . .

Cane', I can only just barely imagine gardening in the dark. I don't suppose showing up before dawn counts??

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

. . . I do intend to get the timer back out to the coop for more daylight, though. Just wish it didn't up the feed bills to use lights. Sigh!

But, that is what eggs are made of - excess nutrients taken up by the hens . Steve

Correct, but now my chickens free-range and that "excess nutrients" is mostly all they eat. My feed bill goes up a lot once I light the coop for hours before I can let them outside - then when they are outside, they're not all that hungry for a while. Granted most of winter is chicken feed, but I like them eating from nature as much as possible.

My other choice, of course, would be lighting the coop after dusk but I can't imagine them being happy with the lights going out suddenly. Last year I would light 1/2 the time before dawn and 1/2 after dusk with a 30 minute red "warning" light that went off 15 minutes after lights out. More confusing, but it worked well for me.

 

[canesisters]

Red, last year I found some solar Christmas lights that had a light sensor. I mounted the solar panel next to the coop door, and ran the lights around the inside roof. They came on at dusk and stayed on till they faded out an hour or so later. Found them at BigLots for $15 or so. They worked for about a month and a half - so next time I would get 2 or 3 of them. Just enough light for them to get themselves settled before it got dark. I'm sure there are similar things online.

 

[Smart Red]

Not a bad idea, Cane.

I have a solar shed light (still in the box) that I could try out. My tiny decorative solar lanterns are very dim, but give off light well after midnight.

That solar light just could work. Wonder why I never thought of trying it?

 

[thistlebloom]

But back to gardening - does anyone garden in the dark??? I saw a special once on this guy who had done this whole amazing landscape - working mostly at night with a headlamp. With the heat and humidity... that just seems like an idea worth trying.

Well duh, I obviously garden in the dark...

 

[Smart Red]

If you call looking for tomato hornworms with a flashlight in the dark gardening at night, I do. Otherwise, I much prefer getting outside very early in the morning before the heat of the day. I find more mosquitoes than tomatoes in the garden at night.

 

[so lucky]

Lotsa folks are pretty much in the dark about gardening.

 

[thistlebloom]

Lotsa folks are pretty much in the dark about gardening.

 

[Mark]

SWEEEEEET !! supplementary led grow lights . the daylight really less.