Do-it-yourself light in the chicken coop. Principles of supply and exhaust ventilation in a poultry house

Many novice poultry farmers are interested in such pressing questions as: do you need light in the chicken coop in winter, how long should the light be on - only at night or around the clock, and should you leave the light on at all at night? In this article, we will look at all the reasons and nuances of what role lighting plays in general, and we will also find out what lighting time is optimal for chickens.

A hen needs 12-14 hours of daylight to achieve maximum laying efficiency. Thus, more short days and a smaller number sunlight means that the level of productivity of laying hens decreases and sometimes stops altogether.

One solution that some poultry farmers (and most commercial egg producers) use to create artificial conditions increasing daylight hours - lighting at night, or more precisely in the morning and evening in order to get.

This trick fools the chickens' biological clock into thinking that summer is still going on. This is one method that will almost certainly guarantee an increase in egg production during the winter.

Light in winter - pros and cons

However, there are many opinions both in defense this method, and against. Below is a list of pros and cons for using supplemental lighting in winter period.

Pros:

• Increased egg production. The main reason to keep laying hens is to produce eggs. If they don't produce them, it becomes less profitable.
• Fresh eggs on the home menu or more money(if you sell eggs). This reasoning alone is enough for a positive decision in favor of lighting the chicken coop in winter.
• Lighting is also necessary for morning and evening feedings, since in winter the daylight hours last only 6-7 hours. Therefore, the light can be turned on before feeding in the morning and turned off at night half an hour after the evening. During the day, you should focus on the general lighting in the chicken coop - the presence of windows and the intensity of external lighting (sunny - cloudy)

Minuses:

• This is not natural for chickens. In winter, chickens often molt and they need to replenish their body with calcium, depleted during the season. Many believe that continued intensive egg production during the winter will have Negative influence on their health, which seems quite reasonable.
• Continuous egg laying may be associated with higher chances of anal prolapse (prolapse of the rectum) and ovarian cancer. In addition, due to calcium deficiency, eggs can often...
• Incandescent lamps, cords and electricity not protected by a lampshade in the chicken coop pose a risk of fire. Chicken coops are typically made of wood, with floors covered in sawdust or other dry material that can easily ignite.
• Energy consumption increases the cost of egg production or dependence on solid fuels.

Coop lighting time

If you are raising chickens to produce eggs for more than one season, it would still be advisable to give them a rest from laying in the winter (although they will certainly lay several eggs, but not as many as they did in the summer) .

From a purely practical point of view, it is understandable that people would like to get as many eggs as possible from their chickens. Therefore, when deciding to use additional coop lighting in winter, make sure that all electrical equipment is completely safe and well installed.

Quite a lot important factor egg production, in addition to lighting, there is also warmth in the chicken coop, so you should insulate the chicken coop for the winter, not forgetting about good ventilation.

Provide chickens with nutrition that is complete and rich in vitamins and calories, so that the chickens’ body can cope with the additional stress of winter egg-laying without extra effort. In addition, consider purchasing cold-tolerant ones, for which laying eggs in winter is a natural process.

At the end of the day, just be careful to make sure all your pets are as fed and healthy as possible. After all, happy chickens mean abundant eggs.

So that chickens lay eggs in winter, video

website Ideas for a summer residence

Good afternoon, dear site guests and subscribers. Today we will discuss the effect of light on the productivity of laying hens and their physiological state. In poultry farming, light is one of the main technological elements. Intermittent and constant lighting for laying hens has a powerful effect on the nervous, endocrine and reproductive systems, actively influences the growth, development, vitality and productivity of poultry.

In the early twentieth century, it was believed that duration was an important factor in terms of feed intake, ovulation and egg laying. daylight hours. However, back in the 50s, this theory after famous works D. King was refuted.

It has been convincingly proven that under constant lighting conditions, it is not the total duration of daylight for laying hens that is important, but the nature of its change.

D. King, having analyzed extensive literary material on the results of raising and keeping chickens in natural conditions, concluded that fall-hatched chicks are always more productive than spring-hatched chicks. Why?

Autumn-hatched chicks grow and develop when the length of natural daylight gradually increases. And they begin oviposition when the duration of natural daylight hours begins to gradually decrease. After this, he concluded that egg laying in chickens is stimulated not by the total length of daylight, but by its gradual action, as happens in nature in the spring.

Having caught this pattern, he developed constant lighting regimes for growing and keeping them in windowless rooms and as a result received an increase of 60 eggs per hen per year. Not a single breeding program in the entire history of poultry science has achieved such tangible results in such a short time.

After these works, numerous studies followed around the world on the development of a rational constant lighting regime for replacement young animals and adult chickens for egg production. Correct assembly of switchboard equipment allows you to remotely control lighting zones without disturbing the hens.

Among domestic works in this direction, it is necessary to mention the research conducted under the leadership of N.V. Pigarev. Thanks to which a scientifically based program on lighting for laying hens has become the main component of the technology for intensive egg production in our country.

Conclusions on daylight hours for laying hens

Numerous experiments and extensive factual material allowed N.V. Pigarev and co-authors to formulate the following provisions:

1. Increasing daylight hours stimulate sexual development pullet, but somewhat retards their growth. The early oviposition caused by this is accompanied by frequent cases of laying eggs without and small eggs;
2. Shortening daylight hours delays the sexual development of pullets, but contributes to their further good growth, with a significantly greater mass of the first eggs and best use stern;
3. A short, stable daylight period (6 hours per day) delays the sexual development of pullets to a lesser extent than a shortening day, providing higher egg production with a lower egg weight and live weight.

The principles outlined are the most general character and need specification. The attempt allowed us to formulate the following conclusions:

1. Changes in light regimes have little effect on growing pullets up to 10 weeks of age;
2. The critical period for raising pullets, in which the influence of daylight hours on puberty, is the period from 10 to 16 weeks of age, when daylight hours for laying hens should not increase;
3. A constant 6-hour daylight period from one day of age to maturity leads to a decrease in egg mass;
4. A constant 8-10 hour day of light prevents early puberty as effectively as a 6-hour day, but does not affect egg mass;
5. Constantly decreasing daylight hours do not inhibit puberty if its duration is at least 12 hours by 120 days of age;
6. If a stimulating light program is introduced at 16-17 weeks of age, it should be gradually increased.

Lighting for laying hens in the chicken coop

Intermittent lighting for laying hens

IN Lately In egg farming, intermittent lighting is increasingly being used for laying hens. Compared to constant light around the clock, it allows not only to increase egg production, egg weight, shell strength, and the duration of use of laying hens, but also to simultaneously reduce feed costs, livestock waste, and energy consumption.

In addition, with intermittent lighting, the bird behaves calmer, is less susceptible to stress, and there are practically no cases of injury or pecking in the flock.

The digestibility and utilization of nutrients and minerals feed, the amount of feed available is reduced, since the bird consumes 40-48% of the norm in the dark. With intermittent lighting, it is not the total length of daylight that is important, but what time of day the light is provided, and what the resulting length of the “subjective” day is, i.e. the period that chickens in intermittent lighting perceive as daylight.

Depending on the ratio of periods of light and darkness, all modes of the intermittent method can be divided into two types: asymmetric and symmetric. The bird reacts to them completely differently.

Asymmetrical intermittent lighting

Modes of an intermittent asymmetric type (for example, 2C: 4T: 8C: 10T) are perceived by a flock of chickens as a single change of day and night. From the point of view of feed consumption, ovulation and egg laying, chickens perceive the longest period of darkness as night, and the following light period is the beginning of the “subjective” day or “dawn”. The bird ignores other short periods of darkness.

In the herd, there is a general synchronization of egg laying, that is, it coincides with the “subjective” day. Synchronization can be considered to occur if about 80% of the eggs are laid during the “subjective” day. The degree of agreement, however, cannot be strictly “tied” to this value, since it will vary depending on the level of productivity of the bird.

With asymmetric lighting, the productivity of laying hens increases, and feed consumption decreases, or both indicators remain at the same level as with constant lighting. It is regimes of this type that are increasingly found wide application in egg farming.

Symmetrical intermittent lighting

In conditions of intermittent lighting of a symmetrical type (for example, (3C:3T)x4 or (1C:3T)x6, etc.), chickens cannot clearly distinguish between “subjective” day and “subjective” night, since all periods of darkness, as well as periods of light , are identical in duration. In chicken flocks, oviposition desynchronizes, that is, it continues for 24 hours.

However, in general, egg production decreases with a simultaneous increase in egg weight and improvement in shell quality. An increase in the live weight of poultry is especially characteristic, and therefore it is more expedient to use symmetrical lighting for laying hens in broiler production.

Differences in the duration of periods of darkness are a more important factor in the synchronization of oviposition than differences in the duration of periods of light. So, for example, the 6C:10T:6C:2T mode causes synchronization, but the 6C:7T:4C:7T mode does not.

In order for synchronization to occur, a “subjective” day should not exceed 16 hours. From the point of view of chicken productivity, a “subjective” day lasting 14-16 hours is more rational.

The duration of the “subjective” day under intermittent lighting, and its shift towards morning or evening hours days affect the rhythm of egg laying in the herd, as well as the mass and quality of egg shells. Thus, a shift in the “subjective” day towards the morning hours, as well as a reduction in its duration from 16 to 14 hours (while turning on the light after a long period of darkness) leads to an increase in the number of morning eggs and, consequently, an increase in their weight and shell strength, and vice versa.

There is a daily endogenous rhythm of photosensitivity in the bird's body. According to available data, the photosensitive phase for chickens begins 11 hours after the first turn on of the light (“dawn”) and lasts 5 hours, despite the fact that this period can be interrupted short periods darkness.

Intermittent lighting modes for laying hens

Our studies have shown that when developing and using intermittent lighting regimes in egg farming, it is advisable to take into account the duration and frequency of alternation of photoperiods in the photosensitive phase.

Changing the duration of light exposure during the photosensitive phase can be used as a method to regulate the daily rhythm of oviposition and egg mass. Thus, reducing the duration of illumination from 5 to 1 hour during this period leads to a significant shift in egg laying by morning time and an increase in egg mass, and vice versa.

Taking into account the above patterns, researchers have developed intermittent lighting modes.

• When raising replacement young animals, there is a constant daylight hours with a decrease in its duration from 23 hours at a daily age to 10 hours at a weekly age, followed by transferring the birds to intermittent lighting according to the 3C: 2T: 3C: 16T scheme with a total duration of the “subjective” day of 8 hours a day up to 17 weeks of age.

• When keeping industrial laying hens from 17 weeks of age until the end of the productive period - 2C: 4T: 2C: 9T: 1C: 6T with a total length of the “subjective” day of 15 hours a day.

• When keeping poultry: 18th week - 3C: 2T: 3C: 14T: 0.5C: 1.5T; Week 19 – 3S:2T:3S:12T:1S:3T; Week 20 – 3S:2T:3S:10T:1.5S:4.5T; from the 21st week to the end of the productive period - 3C: 2T: 3C: 9T: 2C: 5T with a total duration of the “subjective” day of 15 hours a day.

• For breeding hens with artificial insemination: 18th week - 3C: 2T: 3C: 16T; Week 19 – 0.5S:2T:3S:1.5T:3S:14T; Week 20 – 1S:3T:3.5S:1T:3.5S:12T; from the 21st week to the end of the productive period - 1C: 4T: 4C: 1T: 4C: 10T with a total duration of the “subjective” day of 14 hours a day.

• When keeping breeding animals from 17 weeks of age until the end of operation - 1C: 2T: 4C: 1T: 4C: 12T with a total duration of the “subjective day” of 12 hours a day.

Many years of experience have shown that replacement young animals raised under constant lighting can be switched to intermittent lighting for laying hens during the productive period, but the reverse option is impractical.

Of course top scores gives the use of an intermittent method until the end of the life of the chicken family.

How to switch to intermittent lighting?

Laying hens can be switched to intermittent lighting at any time during the productive period, only the first switching on of the light after a long period of darkness should be done no later than with constant lighting, and even better, 2-3 hours earlier. When using intermittent lighting, 25-30% is advisable daily norm Distribute food before evening lights out.

It is known that a source of feed calcium is completely digested in approximately 12 hours. Consequently, if it is fed at 14 o'clock in the afternoon, then by 2 o'clock in the morning, that is, just at the moment of intensive shell formation in many chickens, the feed will be completely removed from gastrointestinal tract. When there is a shortage of food sources, 30-40% of calcium comes from the bone depot.

However, the quality of egg shells is always higher when the body uses a feed source of this element to form it than calcium bone tissue. With a floor-based system for keeping breeding birds, it is not advisable to use intermittent lighting modes. Because a large number of laying hens in the herd will stop using the nest and the number of dirty eggs will increase sharply.

Collapse

Farmers are often unaware of how important lighting is to chicken development. This increases the number of eggs, accelerates the maturation process of chickens, and improves the quality parameters of the chicken (weight, egg size, shell thickness).

Chicks need more light than adults. In the first three weeks, the light intensity should be 30 lux, for adults - at least 10-15 lux.

Features of daylight hours for laying hens

Normal daylight hours: 12-14 hours

Is a regime necessary for laying hens? It improves bird productivity. If there is 14 hours of daylight every day throughout the year, chicken productivity improves. When they sleep less than 10 hours, their body gets tired.

With activity less than 14 hours, egg production decreases, diseases appear, and carcass weight decreases. By properly organizing lighting, you can speed up puberty, influence the weight and shape of eggs, and increase the laying period.

The brightness of the lighting in the first days of a chick’s life is 30-40 lux. At three weeks of age it decreases by 5-10 lux and remains in this position until the end of puberty.

Lighting for mature hens should have an intensity of 10-15 lux, and for parent flocks - at least 15, so that the roosters become more active. Brightness above 20 lux leads to cannibalism in birds and increases the likelihood of injury.

15 suites - enough for adults

You need to turn the light on/off in the chicken coop smoothly, at the same time of day. The bird gets used to the regime, due to which the metabolism in the body improves. Chickens should not be raised in constant lighting conditions.

Chickens need to be accustomed to the dark so that in the event of an emergency shutdown of the lights, a stampede does not begin. Daylight hours lasting 12-14 hours are most optimal for birds of any age.

The length of daylight increases slowly, every day by 5-10 minutes, so as not to injure the bird. It is recommended that the lights turn on at 6 am and turn off at 7-20 pm.

Favorable lighting modes

An effective type of lighting is intermittent light mode. Used in the process of raising chickens of any breed. It is not the duration of the light that is important, but the time of day at which it is turned on. It is divided into two types:

• The asymmetrical regime is perceived by chickens as a change of day and night with a clear boundary. Therefore, turning off the emergency lights does not force the chickens to sleep. Dawn and sunset comes at set time. Poultry productivity increases and the amount of feed consumed decreases.
• Symmetric. There is no clear boundary between the onset of day and night. Laying hens lay eggs at any time within 24 hours. There is a decrease in the egg production of chickens, but the quality of eggs and eggshells improves.

What lamps are suitable for a chicken coop?

The productivity of chickens also depends on what kind of light to use. During observations, it was found that blue light calms birds and reduces aggression. When exposed to blue-green light, chicks develop faster, while red-orange light causes birds to go through precocious puberty.

Red light leads to a decrease in egg production of chickens. But cases of cannibalism among birds are decreasing. Moreover, during the operation of red lamps, the most electricity is consumed.

Red light is ineffective

The number of lamps depends on the area of ​​the room: 60 watts per 6 meters square. Farmers use lamps with a flickering effect.

However, the pulsation intensity should not exceed 26,000 hertz, as this impairs the vision of laying hens. To ensure uniform lighting in the chicken coop, the light bulbs are placed at the same distance from each other.

Sodium light bulbs are also installed in the room. They have common cartridge, consisting of two devices. Each of them has a power of at least 50 watts.

They are included both together and separately. The peculiarity of such a lamp is that the lighting covers the entire area of ​​the chicken coop, dark corners disappear.

Do not run electrical cables through the floor of the chicken coop. It is wet, so a short circuit can occur, which is life-threatening for the chickens. A panel is installed outside the perimeter of the chicken coop, allowing you to turn the light on and off. To prevent chickens from touching the light bulbs, use thick shades.

What light regime is needed for egg production in chickens?

Is intense light good for egg production? The goal of farmers when installing lighting is to accelerate the sexual maturation of chickens. After all, at puberty they begin to lay eggs. Egg production increases (up to 20 eggs per month per chicken), but the number of small eggs increases.

Intermittent mode is the most optimal

The greatest sensitivity to light is observed at the age of 9-12 weeks. As a result, light stimulation begins during this period. If the young are raised in constant light, intermittent lighting is used at five months of age, when egg laying begins.

If the birds grew up under the influence of intermittent lighting, then at an older age it is not necessary to use constant lighting. So farmers often use intermittent lighting in young and adult years.

They are beginning to use this type of lighting both in winter and summer. You need to turn on the light after dark no later than you turned it on before. It’s even better to start lighting the room 2-3 hours earlier.

Intermittent lighting has a better effect on birds than constant lighting. Chickens are calm, not subject to stress, and cases of cannibalism and injury are rare. Birds eat 40-50% of their food in the dark, digestion improves and food waste is reduced.

Therefore, it is advisable to scatter 25-30% of the food into the feeders before the birds go to bed. Feed calcium is digested on average in 12 hours. If you distribute it at 2 p.m., then by 2 a.m. (when the chickens' shells form), it will be completely digested and eliminated from the body.

So, if chickens have 12-14 hours of daylight, their productivity increases. They lay eggs daily or every other day, and the duration of oviposition can last almost all year round at constant light mode.

Video

←Previous article Next article →

Preserve egg quality poultry A constant flow of fresh air will help, which is vital both in summer and winter. Ventilation in a chicken coop can be natural (using open vents or doors) or forced (by installing special pipes or ready-made systems).

From this article you will learn how to properly make supply and exhaust ventilation with your own hands, and photos and videos will help you choose suitable materials and install the system.

How to properly make a hood in a chicken coop

Chickens are very sensitive to the microclimate of the room in which they are kept. Therefore, it is important to ensure not only a stable temperature, but also a constant flow of oxygen.

The temperature regime should be paid attention for several reasons.:

• If it is low, birds use the food they eat not to produce eggs, but to increase body weight, and egg production decreases;
• At elevated level The weight of chickens decreases, their egg productivity decreases and the quality of the shell deteriorates.

Providing an optimal microclimate plays an important role. To do this, it is necessary to conveniently place perches and nests. Examples of internal poultry house equipment are shown in Figure 1.

Determine optimality temperature regime bird behavior will help:

• If it is normal, the chickens are mobile, evenly spaced in the house, eat and drink well;
• With a reduced indicator, chickens begin to crowd together and loosen their feathers, as a result of which weak individuals may die;
• If the room is hot, birds refuse food, drink a lot, open their beaks, fluff up their feathers and mostly lie down.

Note: The temperature level depends on the humidity of the air (the drier it is, the faster the moisture evaporates). That is why the chicken coop must be equipped with a good supply and exhaust system. This condition is especially important when keeping laying hens.

The easiest way to ensure a flow of fresh air is to use regular vents. However, it should be taken into account that in winter time cold can penetrate through them, so the windows need to be additionally insulated.

Construction rules

If you want to ensure a constant flow of oxygen into your poultry house in winter, you need to know what requirements the system must meet.

Figure 1. Ensuring the optimal microclimate of the poultry house: equipment of perches, nests and feeders

In general, room ventilation is carried out according to the following rules:

• Sufficient supply of fresh air: than more birds contained indoors, the more powerful the system should be.
• Keeping the room warm also plays a role important role, especially in the cold season. Therefore, it is recommended to install grilles on exhaust pipes that will allow oxygen to pass through but will prevent heat loss.

The finished system must be positioned so that birds cannot contaminate the pipes with leftover food or droppings, and the pipes themselves must be freely accessible to humans for periodic cleaning and disinfection.

Peculiarities

A more practical ventilation option is to install supply and exhaust pipes. For their manufacture Any will do material, but it is better to use wood. In addition, it is necessary to install several plugs on each pipe, with the help of which it will be possible to regulate the flow of oxygen in the future (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Options for arranging natural and supply and exhaust ventilation

The supply and exhaust system also ensures optimal room humidity (60-70 percent). However, it is important that this system does not create drafts, which adversely affect the health of the chickens. Recommendations for making a supply and exhaust hood are given in the video.

Ventilation in a chicken coop in winter: diagram

The most effective ventilation for a poultry house, which you can build with your own hands using a photo, is considered to be supply and exhaust ventilation (Figure 3).

The essence this method is that carbon dioxide is removed from the room through one pipe, and oxygen enters through another. With its help, you will solve several problems at once: provide a flow of fresh air, protect birds from hypothermia and protect them from drafts. In addition, despite the ease of installation, such a system is considered quite effective.

Construction Features

To build a supply and exhaust hood in a poultry house, you will need two pipes 2 meters long and 20 cm in diameter.

Note: For a small poultry house, one pair of pipes is enough, but if the farm contains many birds, it is recommended to install several sets of pipes.

To make such a system with your own hands, use the following diagram:

1. Make holes in the roof, the size of which will correspond to the diameter of the pipes. The exhaust pipe is installed above the perches, and the supply pipe is installed opposite them, away from the birds.
2. The exhaust pipe is attached so that its end protrudes outward by about one and a half meters, and no more than 20 cm remains inside the room.
3. The supply pipe protrudes above the roof by only 30 cm, and its lower edge is only 20-30 cm above the floor surface.
4. The upper parts of the pipes protruding onto the street must be covered with a canopy to prevent precipitation from getting inside the house.

Since pipes tend to wear out, it is better to wrap them with putty and paint them.

Principles

Any type of ventilation is built on general principle: exhaust air is exhausted through one hole, and fresh air enters through another.

Figure 3. Supply and exhaust ventilation arrangement diagram

In the case of natural ventilation, these functions are performed open windows or vents, and when using supply and exhaust - pipes located on at different levels above the floor surface. In large poultry houses, it makes sense to install automated systems that will provide an uninterrupted supply of fresh air without loss of heat and the formation of drafts.

Ventilation methods

There are two main ways to ventilate a poultry house in winter: natural and forced. By natural we mean the supply of oxygen through open windows or vents, and by forced we mean supply of oxygen.

In addition, you can ensure an uninterrupted flow of fresh air into the poultry house using electric fans, but this method is only suitable for large farms, since it is associated with serious financial costs.

Natural

The most simple option Natural ventilation is considered to be a vent or window. They can be opened for ventilation both in winter and summer (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Options for natural fresh air flow in the chicken coop

To increase the flow of oxygen, you can open both the window and the door at the same time. But in this case, the main thing is to ensure that there are no drafts, as they can cause colds and even death in poultry.

It is better to place a window or window above the door, but not opposite, but next to the opening. When opening doors and windows Fresh air will flow through the door, and excess gases will be discharged through the window.

Principles of supply and exhaust ventilation in a poultry house

Such a system is considered more complex in construction, but at the same time it provides more efficient air exchange in the room (Figure 5).

Note: The supply and exhaust system is considered the best option for winter, since its arrangement is simple, and there will be no drafts and cold in the room, which are dangerous for birds.

For construction, two pipes 190-210 cm long are installed indoors, and their edges are brought out. In this way, pressure will be created in the pipes, with the help of which exhaust air will be discharged outside, and fresh air will be brought indoors.

Air ventilation system in the chicken coop

Most modern system ventilation is considered mechanical, but it is rarely used in households due to high energy costs.

Figure 5. Arrangement of supply and exhaust ventilation in the poultry house

In such systems, air is supplied using powerful fans that start working from the control panel or automatically at a given time. As with other methods, supply and exhaust pipes are installed in the room. A fan is attached to each of them, which performs the function of pumping out carbon dioxide and supplying oxygen.

Lighting in the chicken coop

Natural and artificial lighting of the poultry house plays an important role in maintaining the egg production of birds. This condition is especially true in winter, when birds do not have enough sunlight for normal productivity (Figure 5).

To preserve the egg production of poultry, it is recommended to install ordinary incandescent lamps and turn them on at night. However, at night the light is still turned off, gradually reducing its intensity. In winter, the length of daylight for normal egg production should be at least 14 hours.

You can determine whether the lighting is correct by the behavior of the birds. If they are lethargic, do not lay eggs well and eat little, it makes sense to make the light more intense. Conversely, when displaying aggression or pecking, it is necessary to reduce the lighting so that the birds behave calmer.

Automatic poultry house lighting

For lighting, you can choose any lamps: incandescent, daylight or fluorescent. In small poultry houses, the lights can be turned on manually, but for larger farms it makes sense to install an automatic system.

Figure 6. Ways to light a poultry house in winter

Its essence is that the light automatically turns on and off at a given time without human intervention. To do this, the system is connected to a timer, which is programmed to turn on and off at certain time intervals.

Lighting in a chicken coop in winter: video

You will learn more about methods of lighting a chicken coop in winter, the features of installing the system yourself, and the benefits of artificial lighting of a poultry house in winter from the video.

Since it gets dark early in the fall and the sun rises in the morning later and later every day, you need to turn on the electric lighting in the chicken coop quite early in the morning and evening.

It’s especially annoying in the morning to get up so early when everyone is still sleeping. Waking up at sunrise to turn on the light for the chickens is too much! Therefore, you just need to make lighting in the chicken coop with a timer, on which you can set the time to turn on and off the electric lamp and the problem will be solved: you don’t need to go and turn it on manually, everything will work automatically by itself.

Lighting control timer

You can choose the simplest lighting control timer: the name contains the word mechanical, which implies manual adjustment.

Mechanical or electronic timer sockets are on sale everywhere. This hybrid socket with a timer is very convenient to use in the country (especially in the absence of the owners) not only for lighting, but also for automatically turning on many other various devices and equipment:

• inserted in the right place into an installed regular socket (with an electrical connection)
• the on/off program and duration of action can be configured by simply moving your hand clockwise and pressing the desired segments on the timer
• insert the plug of the device (lamp) into the timer socket
• that's all: you can sleep peacefully

Socket with daily timer

A socket with a daily timer is used for those devices that should not operate 24 hours, but only at a certain time of day.

On such an outlet, the timer can be set to turn on, run for a long time, and turn off at specified hours and minutes (15-minute intervals).

The daily timer is designed for devices that have a constant daily operating cycle, so the program is set once and repeated every day accurate to the minute:

• electric heating devices: you can turn on exactly at 17-00, 1 hour before coming home from work, so that you can enter your apartment or house, and it will already be warm and cozy there
• electric kettle, toaster and other kitchen appliances that do not have their own software, for example, exactly at 7-00, 10 minutes before you get out of bed
• lamps to illuminate the seedlings on the windowsill so that you can turn them on in time (at 16-00) when you are still at work and it is already getting dark outside. In the winter-spring months, without additional lighting, plants become very elongated and become frail. Turn off the lighting for the plants exactly at 10:00 p.m., when you may have already gone to bed: it’s stressful to get up and turn off the lighting for the seedlings every day.
• for automation of aeration and water heating devices in an aquarium. Nowadays large aquariums have become fashionable: in offices, clinics, children's institutions
• lighting and heating lamps (infrared) for chickens that definitely need a stable mode
• pump for drip irrigation of beds open ground or in greenhouses

In general, you can set ALL appliances in the house to turn off at a certain time (when you leave for work) in order to:

1. save energy
2. Don’t remember with horror in transport that you forgot to turn off the iron.

Timer for coop lighting

As already mentioned, a timer for lighting the chicken coop is simply necessary:

• so as not to run around the chicken coop all the time if you live on the site permanently
• so as not to run to the coop at all if you come only on weekends
• so that the chickens lay eggs every day

Laying hens require 12 hours of light, preferably 15-16 hours. Some people turn it on in the morning at 5-6 am and turn it off in the evening at 8-9 pm. According to our human standards, this is a standard. But for chickens, not so much, because in accordance with their natural instincts they prefer to go to bed early and get up early: larks. Early in the morning, for example, they may start looking for something to eat at 3 am. This is especially true in the summer, when it begins to get light at 2 am. And accordingly, if the chickens got up early, then they begin to roost early for the night: they are tired and have run around during the day.

At what hours the chickens will have light is up to you.

In any case, you need to set the timer for lighting the chicken coop so that daylight hours smoothly turn into artificial ones, so in the evening it is better to turn it on an hour earlier, before the intensity of the sun's light begins to decrease.

Although in winter months, in any case, there is not enough natural light both for the seedlings, which gardeners illuminate on the windowsill, and for the chickens: in the chicken coop and in the run, both in the morning, during the day and in the evening. Therefore, in winter it will be possible to reset the timer to a higher long time lighting than in early autumn or even for the whole day.

And at the same time, there is no point in buying a more complex timer (weekly or electronic) for a chicken coop, because you still visit the chickens at least once a week, which means you can reprogram the timer at any time.

Socket with mechanical timer Rexant

Socket-timer lighting control Rexant 11-6005

Socket with mechanical timer Rexant 11-6005 - we purchased such a device in a store (which was available at a reasonable price: 320 rubles) and installed it in our chicken coop.

The device consists of:

1. the socket itself for connecting an electrical appliance
2. operating mode switch: 1 - timer, 2 - always on
3. time scales
4. softkeys (segments)
5. time indicator

To program the lights on and off in the chicken coop, you need:

• Set the mode switch located on the side to “timer”
• insert the lamp plug into the socket
• By rotating the dial clockwise, you need to set the current time opposite the arrow so that the timer knows where to count all other settings from and so that it starts counting from this moment
• At the desired number for turning on the device with a timer (for example, at 6 am), you need to press (squeeze) the segments that are located around the dial at intervals of 15 minutes. When the segments are pressed, the light is on. If the segment is not pressed, the light turns off. That is, on a running timer, the dial rotates, reading the pressed segments.
• When the current time arrow reaches the first pressed key (segment), the light will light up and remain on for at least 15 minutes (one key) or as many times as 15 minutes, as many segments (keys) are pressed.
• the same thing needs to be done with the evening time: click on the segments located in the interval from 17-00 to 20-00.

You can leave in peace: smart lighting has been installed in the chicken coop. The lighting control timer will now work autonomously, without your participation, providing the required light regime for the chickens every day at the specified time.

Tags: