When to turn the lights on? ACK!! post 29

[so lucky]

Put a heat lamp on your lights.

I think that might qualify as a First World Problem, Bay!

 

[digitS']

The CFL bulb that I have in the coop might be a couple of years old. I know I didn't change it thru this summer, anyway, and am fairly sure I didn't change it last winter.

The things don't last 5 years, or haven't . . . It has only been down in the single digitS' the last few winters but I don't recall any problem with those bulbs when it was much colder.

Yes, it runs during the summer thru the daylight hours. That way I don't have to mess with the timer and daylight changes quickly here. What's it got - 11 watts? I'm not sure if it is even that big. The insulated side of the coop is only 32sqft. (The other side, of equal size, is enclosed with wire, roofed & floored.)

Steve

edited: Here is what wikipedia says, "CFLs are available with cold-weather ballasts, which may be rated to as low as −23 C (−10 F).[56] Light output in the first few minutes drops at low temperatures.[57] Cold-cathode CFLs will start and perform in a wide range of temperatures due to their different design."

However, both front and backdoor lights are CFLs. I know it takes awhile for them to get up to full brightness in the cold but they always work thru the night and don't fail early, that I've noticed. Certainly, I've used them outdoors to -15.

 

[so lucky]

I guess when/if my DH gets tired of eating store bought eggs, he will complete the major project of putting an outlet in the coop, so we can get a light going out there. Or spring will get here with longer days, and no light will be needed.

"Doing nothing is a decision, too." :/

 

[lesa]

Glad your birds are finally laying! I still remember finding 17 eggs in a lovely little nest among the flowers in the garden... no where near the chicken yard! I am glad I got new birds this year. Really enjoying more than a dozen a day. Nice to have some to share and enjoy! Kept a few of my easter eggers. Still no eggs from them. Could have been a mistake! Enjoy!

 

[897tgigvib]

Is that determined broodiness when they find a secret hiding place to lay their eggs? Does that mean they want babies to hatch?

It'd sure be cool if I could breed Chickens!

 

[ducks4you]

The professionals ALSO wear out their hens. Hens lay ~ 2 eggs/3 days, more or less. My single 1 1/2yo layer and my four 6mo EE pullets FINALLY stopped their strike and gave me a 3 eggs on Thanksgiving. A friend who buys "organic" eggs said that her store goes out of eggs around this time of year for about one month, then the hens are laying and everything is normal again. By the time that my birds go outside again--they are in a stall, AGAIN, for the 3rd year, but the COOP IS COMING IN 2014!!!!!--the days will be ~ 13 hours long, so 13 hours of light on an indoor timer is mimicking this for them.
Now I'm getting 3-4 eggs/day from 5 layers, which is plenty for two people to consume. Come February the September pullets will begin laying, and we'll be swimming in eggs...AGAIN!!...like last summer.

 

[ducks4you]

Is that determined broodiness when they find a secret hiding place to lay their eggs? Does that mean they want babies to hatch?

It'd sure be cool if I could breed Chickens!

They want a secluded place to brood, nothing more. When I had one hen go broody, it was in the summer, so they like warm weather. The chicks would peek out from her wing feathers, but I kept missing the opportunities to get a good shot at that.
She laid on a whole clutch eggs, from her and two other hens.

Here's a picture of the broody hen and her two surviving chicks--3 hatched and one died.

There were 3 hens and one rooster. Next year I'm keeping 3 roosters from the 25 mixed group I bought from McMurray Hatchery, so that I get good fertilization.
I'm so surprised that you don't have chickens!! They really are very easy to care for and chicken manure is so GOOD for gardening.
OH, and get THIS!! I found at least one dead mouse in with my chickens. They'll eat them, especially if they are small and tender, and then they play "keep away."

 

[Ridgerunner]

No, Marshall. Chickens will not catch gophers. Theyll eat them if youll catch the gophers for them, but they are no good at catching them.