I went to hardware store today and bought a GE 10 watt twisty bulb to put in the hen house for the winter months to keep them laying eggs, never done this before, but for what it cost to feed them, I wanna get some more eggs. Can anyone recommend any good solar lights In can put outside the buildings for some light at nighttime? I guess I'm looking for a exterior solar light that is reliable. Any suggestions? I don't want to run power cords, or direct burial all over the place, so I was thinking solar lights. Thanks.
- Thread starter JayinNY
- Start date
NY stands for New York, I presume- where it gets COLD in winter. Good luck with that flourescent "twisty bulb"- We have 8 bulbs in the barn, and on a 20 degree morning, it was about 50/50 whether even one of them would come on when I flipped the switch. They just don't do well in cold weather.
Ditch the twisty, and get a low wattage incandescent. Green technology is just marvelous, except when it doesn't work.
Ditch the twisty, and get a low wattage incandescent. Green technology is just marvelous, except when it doesn't work.
Use to be you could buy twelve volt incandescent bulbs. Dunno if they are still available or not. Assuming they are, it would be easy thing to wire up a light with a 12 volt battery or two, and a solar battery charger to keep the batteries charged. Not sure if a regular electric timer would work on 12 volts or not, might have to figure something out for that. Go to a good hardware store and see what you can cobble together.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Forget about solar lights and just get a solar panel big enough to maintain a good battery (or just get two batteries and charge/rotate as needed. Then set up your lights ...
I've got the AC version of these and they light up real well...
http://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesaler...mp;sr=8-1&keywords=12+volt+led+floodlight
something like this for inside..?
http://www.amazon.com/LED-Dome-Lamp...mp;sr=8-4&keywords=12+volt+led+dome+light
If you have an IKEA store near enough, you can get pretty creative in the cheap in their light section... May also be able to order online....
Hens laying habits are goverened by hours of day light.Timed lights keep them up late and get them up early.You try to mimic summer time length of day.You can stimulate them with heat but that costs too much.You need a 120 volt line, a timer and a light.With out that you are wasting your time.The big hen houses have a dimmer circuit to dim the lights so the hens can get on the roosts before lights are fully off.Small coops just wake them up early.I have spent many hours lugging feed and water to hens that stop laying in winter.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
musta been doin sumpin wrong.or the hens had too many winters behind them :roll:
I used a 36 watt (4ft) tube and a 2 buck timer set to light from 1600-0800 and they never slowed........
chickens ain't as dum as you think, only takes once or twice of having to roost in the dark before they set their watch....
I used a 36 watt (4ft) tube and a 2 buck timer set to light from 1600-0800 and they never slowed........
chickens ain't as dum as you think, only takes once or twice of having to roost in the dark before they set their watch....
Chickens need 14 hours of daylight, so I'm gonna hang a bulb, the 10 watt twisty in the coop, it replaces a 40 watt incedesent. I was asking about solar lights for outside the building, guess i dident post to clear what I wanted to do. Something solar run that will come on at nite and off in the morning.
Adirondack case guy
Well-known Member
Jay,
Home Depot is running a local add as I post for solar powered exterior lights $60 bucks +/-. That would buy a lot of eggs at Price Chopper.
Home Depot is running a local add as I post for solar powered exterior lights $60 bucks +/-. That would buy a lot of eggs at Price Chopper.
I have 3 3 year old hens that will go into molt soon.No eggs for a while.Keeping hens over 2 years never pays on commercial egg farms.I have an old black hen that is still laying but she will quit soon.I know she is 10 years old.I dont use eggs unless I can get fresh.90% of eggs are layed by cage hens here.I cant take that, the hens enjoy scratching for bugs,dusting and just laying in the sun.Always have a rooster around.Fellow from England said They enjoy having it off too.
I agree, iv got 40 layers, no roosters, I hate there crowing and $aping the hens. There free range, but I'll keep them in for the winter, they won't go out in the snow anyway. Feed is quite costly, so I either make them lay eggs, or butcher them, I'm gonna do both, have some for the freezer, and keep some under lights for eggs. These are only 7 month old hens, It's amazing what lights do to anmials, we used to leave the lights on in all the mares barns at nite to get them to cycle for breeding early in the winter, you want a foal early in the year so it will be close to 2 for racing at 2, thoroughbreds are considered a year older on January 1st of the year after they were born, so one foaled in June 2011 will be considered 1 on January 1st 2012! Lol
Geo-TH,In
Well-known Member
Jay,
Before you spend too much money on solar lights, take a look see and find out what kind of battery they use. I bought some solar lights to decorate with, lasted about a year. They use a cheap AAA Ni-cd battery. Half failed within a year. Some lasted 2 years, very few are 3 years old.
In the winter, when there is less sun light, none make it throught the night. Not enough time to charge the battery to last the long night.
I won't buy any more solar lights. Make sure where you want to put them is in full sun.
George
Before you spend too much money on solar lights, take a look see and find out what kind of battery they use. I bought some solar lights to decorate with, lasted about a year. They use a cheap AAA Ni-cd battery. Half failed within a year. Some lasted 2 years, very few are 3 years old.
In the winter, when there is less sun light, none make it throught the night. Not enough time to charge the battery to last the long night.
I won't buy any more solar lights. Make sure where you want to put them is in full sun.
George
buickanddeere
Well-known Member
A 40w incandescent equivalent is a dim little glimmer of a lamp that's about as bright as sunrise behind heavy clouds.
Need at least four of the 23W twisties in the daylight colour. Warm white is not natural light for animals.
Need at least four of the 23W twisties in the daylight colour. Warm white is not natural light for animals.
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