Why do chickens need red light? Lighting program for laying hens

Raising chickens is not that difficult. It is only necessary to adhere to the necessary rules. Experienced poultry farmers are well aware that chicken coop lighting has great importance and use this circumstance to obtain greater benefits from the management of their economy.

The lighting in the chicken coop is not installed for the convenience of the owner. The fact is that chickens are very sensitive to light, at dusk they see almost nothing. When dusk comes, they become less active, and when turned off, they immediately fall asleep. By increasing the length of daylight hours, the period of active wakefulness of the chicken increases. Chickens lay more, their eggs are larger, their shells are thicker.

Increased daylight hours means achieving optimal conditions for the assimilation of feed, and hence for the full growth and development of birds. In addition, good lighting helps to avoid injuries that happen in the dark. Chickens with a bright poultry house are much more active and healthier, they gain weight faster. But the light in the chicken coop should not be on all the time, the birds need time to rest, which they must spend in the dark. This has a beneficial effect on their immune system and normalizes calcium metabolism, which ensures the formation bone tissue.

Video “Correct lighting in the house”

From the video you will learn about what lighting should be in the house.

Lighting planning

Due to the peculiarity of chickens, it is difficult to see with a lack of light, the lighting of the poultry house must be properly planned. As a result, it is a solution to many issues: the brightness of lighting, the time to increase the length of daylight hours, the range of the emission spectrum of lamps. By adjusting these parameters, you can influence the amount of food eaten, the rate of weight gain, behavior, and even regulate the process of molting. The room is zoned according to the intensity of lighting: in the nest area there should be twilight - below 5 Lx, and near the feeders - bright and intense light - 50-70 Lx.
If chickens are kept together with adult chickens, then in the zone of young animals the illumination should be more - 30-40 Lx, than for adults - 10 Lx. Up to 15 Lx increase the intensity of light if a rooster lives in a chicken coop with a family. It happens that chickens start fights and injure each other. In order for the birds to calm down, the brightness of the light must be reduced.

The light is turned on a few hours before the start of the natural daylight hours and a few hours after sunset. In order not to cause stress in chickens, the light should not be turned on at once at full power. If possible, it is better to equip the lighting system with a timer with a dimmer.

When used, the light turns on and off gradually, reaching maximum power in a few minutes, simulating sunrise and sunset. If this is not possible, then the light is first turned on away from the perches and nests where the chickens rest, and after a few minutes the general lighting is turned on. In the evening they do it in reverse order. Completely turn off the light when all the hens perched. The optimal length of daylight hours is 10-14 hours.

Characteristics of chicken coop lamps

The cheapest light bulbs are incandescent bulbs. They have good spectrum range, no flickering, they are safe. In addition, the lamp itself works as a spot heating element. Its disadvantage is the high power consumption. But in small farms, with a small number of lamps, it is still used. In this case, incandescent lamps with a power of 40-60 watts are used. For every 6 sq. m chicken coop relies 1 light bulb. For large poultry houses, more economical options are used, for example, the use of LED lamps. They have a very long, more than 50 thousand hours, service life, White light warm filling in the range of 2800-3200 K, operating temperature range from -20 to +50 degrees, dust and moisture protection. Fluorescent or fluorescent lamps are also used.

It is necessary to choose lamps with a flicker frequency of at least 26 thousand Hz so that it does not affect the eyes of birds. These lamps are very cost-effective, you can choose the right shade of light, in our case - warm white. Their disadvantage is the content of harmful mercury and the need to dispose of them. When arranging lighting in a poultry house, you need to take into account the effect of color on chickens: red reduces the number of eggs laid, orange promotes reproduction, with green light, chickens develop and grow better. Blue colour soothes birds, which is used when chickens need to be vaccinated, wing clipping and various other manipulations.

When mounting the lighting system, take into account that the house is quite damp. Therefore, the electrical panel is located outside it, and in the room itself they strive to conduct as few wires as possible. All lamps must be covered with thick-walled glass shades.

Lighting in winter

Decide what kind of lighting you need winter period and how long should it be in the chicken coop in winter? With a decrease in the duration of daylight hours, the intensity of all processes in chickens slows down, the number of eggs becomes much less.
Therefore, starting in November, they increase the natural daylight hours by turning on electric lamps in the chicken coop for several hours before dawn and after sunset. By extending daylight hours to 12-13 hours, egg production can be increased by 30%. In winter, it is especially convenient if the lighting is mounted using automatic timers and relays.

Video “Lighting in winter”

From the video you will learn how to make the right light in the house in winter time.

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Proper lighting in a home chicken coop is a guarantee good performance bird development, increasing the level of egg production. The owners of chickens sooner or later are puzzled by the need to make artificial lighting for the winter. Do-it-yourself installation significantly reduces the cost of work and increases the profitability of poultry keeping. Experts offer options for arranging a chicken coop, as well as photo and video tips on how to correctly distribute your forces and make the lighting effective and safe for the bird.

Why is there light in the chicken coop

A natural feature of chickens is terrible vision in the dark. Due to the shortening of daylight hours in winter, people came up with the idea of ​​lighting up chicken coops artificially. This allows you not to lose the productivity of the livestock in the cold. This is the number of eggs laid, and reproduction, and the development of young animals. In the agricultural technology of growing chickens, two aspects of illumination are important.

intensity or brightness. It is calculated by a luxmeter or approximately, by indirect signs. By adjusting this value, you can:

• reduce the risk of bird pecking;
• manage the development of pullets;
• call seasonal molt and reduce its terms;
• help find water and food for day old chicks;
• manipulate livestock without stress to facilitate wing trimming, vaccination, trapping, etc.

The intensity of lighting affects the life of the bird

day length. By turning on and off the light, you can adjust:

• broiler development;
• molting;
• maturation and start of oviposition;
• heat release by chickens (in summer).

Selection of intensity and color of lamps

A well-lit chicken coop has a positive effect on the quality of life of the bird and, as a result, on the efficiency of its rearing. It is also convenient for maintenance. However, round-the-clock lighting is detrimental to chickens. The conditional "night" in the bird strengthens the bones and immunity.

Another important factor in lighting installation is the perception of the light spectrum by birds:

1. Purple chickens do not see at all.
2. Blue is perceived as a dark time of day. It has a calming effect on them.
3. Red reduces the amount of plucked feathers, positively affecting the livestock. However, the number of eggs laid is also reduced.
4. Green activates the development of young animals.
5. Orange has a positive effect on reproduction.

Orange color has a positive effect on bird reproduction

With their own lighting equipment, experts advise considering that in different parts chicken coop need different brightness:

• at the location of the feeder and drinker - intense light about 69 Lx (lux);
• on the perch and places for oviposition - 0.5-1 Lx, which corresponds to twilight;
• for lighting newborn chicks, about 30 Lx is needed, for older chickens - 5 Lx.

Attention! If there are only chickens in the room, 5-10 Lx is enough in the central part of the chicken coop. If there is a rooster, increase the brightness to 15 Lux.

The choice of lamps for lighting

Proper chicken coop lighting fixtures should be:

• resistant to dust and moisture;
• economical;
• do not need frequent maintenance;
• safe;
• with brightness adjustment function.

In the store you will be offered a choice of several options for lamps:

• incandescent lamps;
• luminescent;
• energy saving;
• LED;
• fluorescent.

Proven incandescent lamps are not economical. In large farms they were replaced long ago, and in a small chicken coop such a lamp will still serve. They are simple, environmentally friendly, have a wide spectral range, emit little heat and allow you to adjust the brightness (with additional equipment).

Fluorescent lights are popular with chicken coop owners. They are also cheap, save energy and are easy to maintain. The disadvantages are the light spectrum that is inconvenient for birds, a slight flicker that irritates the eyesight of chickens, and environmental friendliness. You need to adjust the brightness of the fluorescent lamp using a dimmer. In the aggressive environment of the chicken coop, it quickly fails.

For home use, you will need a few lamps

In private households, energy-saving light sources are also used. Their advantages are obvious. And the disadvantages include the high cost and reduced life in a chicken coop. It is impossible to regulate the intensity of such a lamp, and it cannot be thrown into a landfill after failure.

LED lamps are the most advanced way to light a chicken coop. They are also not cheap, but they pay off better than energy-saving ones due to a longer service life, resistance to pollution and mechanical damage. Otherwise, the diode lamp is ideal for the poultry house.

Fluorescent lamps can also be used for the chicken coop, but only with a frequency of at least 26 kHz. Moreover, such lamps must be placed at an equal distance from each other. Otherwise, flickering will have an extremely negative effect on laying hens.

How to calculate lighting in a chicken coop

The number of lamps is determined by their power. The standard ratio for a chicken coop is 1 W/sq. m. The load should be distributed taking into account the areas of rest and feeding. In a large room, several lighting lines are mounted.

Advice. When chickens are caged, the wires are mounted above the batteries. If the feeders are inside the cage, add extra light inside each one.

Lamps are positioned so that a person does not touch them with his head, but at the same time he can easily get his hand for replacement or repair. Usually the ceiling height is 1.8-2 m.

It is useful to install shades on the lamps that will protect them from dust and moisture. The protection must be strong enough to prevent the bird from accidentally breaking the lamp.

In the feeder area, the lighting should be brighter

When calculating the location of the wiring, keep in mind that in the middle of the chicken coop high humidity. Try to take out the bulk of the commutation outside the room. Install the shield there. Only lamps, switches, lighting control systems and the wiring leading to them should remain inside the chicken coop.

Building a chicken coop lighting system

To automate the on / off of the light in the chicken coop, devices based on a relay with a timer are mounted. Serious devices with the "dawn-sunset" option make it possible to fine-tune the level of lighting at every moment of the day, smoothly transition from dark to brightly lit.

Owners of a small room can not spend money on this equipment, but simply unscrew the lamps or change them to less bright ones. However, a Chinese electronic timer with several modes will not be expensive, but it will significantly expand your capabilities.

Advice. The easiest way to solve problems with winter lighting in a small chicken coop is a window with natural light and 2-3 lamps around the perimeter. If the chicken coop is young, the window should be closed with curtains on a too bright day.

Wiring and installation of fixtures are done according to the usual scheme. Select the wiring based on the declared power of the lamps. Fix the lamps with metal corners. The line can be brought to the shield or to the outlet. The timer in the circuit is installed directly in front of the lamp.

By their physiology, birds are more sensitive to light than humans. Their visual acuity is higher, but they are well oriented only in the presence of a sufficient amount of light. In the dark, chickens see almost nothing. This feature is widely used in the technology of keeping birds - when the light is turned off, the chickens stop all activity and fall asleep.

What does light affect?

In the process of growing, the farmer operates with two factors of illumination.

Intensity

It is measured in lux (Lx) and measures the brightness of light. To measure it, use special device- luxmeter.

If you have some skill, you can determine the intensity of lighting approximately, "by eye". Almost complete darkness is 0.5-1 Lx, bright twilight is about 5 Lx, bright artificial light in the room is about 50-70 Lx.

By changing the intensity of lighting in the poultry house, you can achieve the following goals:

• help day old chicks find food and water;
• reduce the amount;
• carry out manipulations with the bird without stress (trapping, vaccination, wing trimming, etc.);
• to provoke an annual molt, to reduce its terms;
• control the development of the young.

At large poultry farms, the cost of organizing lighting is up to 20% of the construction budget.

Daylight hours

The second important factor is light in the poultry house. In terms of the time of turning on and off the light, the following processes are regulated:

• feed intake;
• broiler growth;
• puberty and the beginning of oviposition of laying hens;
• annual molt;
• in the hot season, the production of heat by birds is controlled.

Based on these two indicators, a lighting program is compiled. It can be continuous - with one block of darkness or intermittent (with two, three or even four blocks of darkness). In a farm environment, it is better to use continuous programs. They will be different for broilers, replacements and laying hens.

Periods of darkness are very important for all birds without exception. At this time, bone tissue is formed, calcium metabolism changes (which is important for the strength of the shell), important factors immunity.

Therefore, round-the-clock lighting for broilers and layers is contraindicated!

As for the color vision of chickens, then practical value has a low perception in the violet part of the spectrum. Blue light is perceived by chickens as darkness, therefore, when catching and regrouping the herd, blue lamps are used.

A bright poultry house is convenient for both chickens and staff. When arranging the lighting system, different intensities are provided in different areas of the chicken coop. So, chickens prefer to feed when the illumination on the feeder is 60 Lx, and for egg-laying and resting on the perch, they need twilight of 0.5-1 Lx.

The lamp mounting example shown in this photo is suitable for a small chicken coop.

Depending on the size of the room, several lighting lines are mounted. With cellular content, they are placed above the passages between the batteries. The height of the lines should be such that workers do not touch them with their heads, but can easily reach them with their hands for changing lamps and other maintenance (about 1.8 - 2 m). It is recommended to purchase and use shades for lamps to protect them from dust and moisture. If necessary, the shades can be painted blue or red (reduces pecking in chickens).

If the feeders are inside the cage (in the middle), then lighting should be additionally arranged above them in each cage.

Turning the light on and off is advisable to automate by installing simple electromechanical relays. In small farms, the brightness can be reduced by replacing the light bulbs with weaker ones or unscrewing them through one (although the uniformity of illumination will suffer).

The simplest automation of lighting in a chicken coop using a time relay (photo from the author's site).

In large farms, it is recommended to install a dimming system that includes a "sunrise-sunset" function. It allows you to adjust the light intensity throughout the growing cycle without fussing with bulbs. In addition, with such a block, the light in the house does not turn on abruptly, but smoothly, imitating the natural course of events. With this on and off, chickens do not experience stress.

In small farms, it is quite possible to get by with natural light by providing windows. And to increase the length of daylight hours in the winter season, hang one or more incandescent lamps over the feeders.

Too much sun can be a problem when early development pullets - in this case, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of setting darkness in the house (closing the windows with curtains or shutters).

Let's talk separately about which lamps are best used in the lighting system.

Advantages and disadvantages of different types of lamps

Ideally, lights used in a poultry house should be low energy, dust and moisture resistant, low maintenance, and dimmable. In poultry farming, several types of lamps are used.

Incandescent lamps

"Light bulbs of Ilyich" on large poultry farms are no longer relevant due to high energy costs. However, in a small chicken coop, they are quite appropriate. Their advantages are as follows:

• low cost of the lamp;
• ease of maintenance;
• environmental friendliness;
• good spectral range of light;
• it is possible to regulate the degree of heating with the help of thyristor installations;
• if necessary, they provide additional spot heating

Fluorescent Lamp

The classic fluorescent lamps for rearing chickens are also becoming a thing of the past.

It is fairly widespread. This type of fixture gives a uniform white light, they are relatively inexpensive and consume little electricity. They are durable, easy to install, and the cost of maintaining such a system is low. The cons include:

• cheap fluorescent lamps give a flickering effect that the human eye does not catch, but which a bird sees;
• from the point of view of chickens, such a lamp has a poor spectral range;
• to be able to adjust the intensity of lighting, you need to purchase lamps with dimmers, which are very capricious in a chicken coop and often fail;
• spent lamps cannot be thrown into the trash - they must be disposed of.

Energy saving lamp

The advantages of such lamps

• low energy consumption;
• the ability to select the desired spectrum (warm white).

The disadvantages include such moments

• high price;
• inability to adjust the desired brightness well;
• in the conditions of the poultry house they do not withstand the declared service life;
• used lamps must be disposed of.

There are special colored lamps for poultry farming from the Gazolek company on the market. They are called "Orion" and work on the principle of conventional "energy saving". True, the cost of such light bulbs is several times higher.

According to the manufacturer's recommendations, the combination of different colors (blue, white, red and green) in the house increases the productivity of broilers and layers. Note that science on this issue does not yet give unambiguous answers.

Energy-saving lamps do not require complex automation and ceiling lamps.

LED lamp

Today it is the most progressive type of lighting in poultry farms. The advantages of LEDs are many:

• long service life;
• resistance to pollution and damage;
• good spectrum of light;
• ease of maintenance;
• the possibility of fine regulation of intensity;
• low power consumption.

Such systems are quite expensive, but even compared to energy-saving light bulbs LEDs pay for themselves many times faster.

The photo shows various versions of single LED lamps.

Lighting programs for broilers and egg birds will differ in both day length and intensity. When day-old chicks are settled in a poultry house, all types of hens need bright light and a long daylight hours. So chickens find food and water better, get used to each other and to the environment in the room.

The first 5-7 days for broilers and 7-14 days for replacements give only one hour of darkness and maintain a brightness of 40-50 lux. Further, programs are used depending on the goals pursued.

As for an adult laying hen, the light day for her should last 13-14 hours a day with a light intensity of 10-20 Lx, which is approximately 6 W per day. square meter gender.

With the cellular content of laying hens, the light regime comes to one of the first places, along with the choice of cross and feeding.

How to develop your own program

If you are serious about growing broilers, then in terms of maintenance, you need to follow the recommendations of the manufacturer of each particular cross. Suppliers post this information on official websites and distribute it in the form of a content guide.

To organize lighting in the chicken coop with your own hands, we recommend using the recommendations of our website.

The goal of any program is to organize feed intake in such a way as to stretch the chick's crop and allow him to first form the bones and then build muscle mass.

• Start significant light restriction when birds reach 100-150 grams, generally starting at 7 days old. It may be necessary to start before day 7 (if overweight is achieved).
• After the first day of light restriction, chicks will reduce their intake to 20% of normal. It's not scary, it will recover within 2-3 days. In the future, the bird will consume the amount of feed normal for its age, but with less hours of light. Chickens will develop larger crops.
• Use one block of darkness. Apply darkness at night even with dense walls to reduce the effect of light penetration.
• Keep the off time the same throughout the grow. Changing the lighting period is done using the light on time.
• In open-walled houses it is very important to know the time of sunrise and adjust the time of darkness accordingly.
• In general, reduce the period of darkness after the 21st day or when the chicks reach 800 g.
• Before slaughter, increase the time of the "day" to 23 hours. 24-48 hours before catching, increase the intensity of illumination to 10-20 Lx to acclimatize the bird to catching.
• During the hot season of the year, you need to reduce the number of hours of darkness. Let the bird eat in the cool of the night.
• In summer, combine the greatest block of darkness with the dawn. In winter, match the time the lights are off with the onset of dusk so that the bird wakes up during the coldest part of the night.
• It is best to organize a smooth on / off within an hour using a sunrise-sunset device.

Examples of lighting programs for broilers

It is irrational to be tied to age, because. There are many crosses of various productivity. Therefore, they are repelled from the estimated weight.

Weight less than 800 gr. at the age of 21 days

Weight 800-850 gr. at 21 days

Weight more than 850 g in 21 days

The last two programs show that darkness is being used to slow down the growth rate. muscle mass on a still unstrengthened skeleton.

Programs for replacement young animals

Light directly affects the puberty of pullets. That's why Golden Rule for laying hens says: never increase daylight hours during development. If natural light enters the house, then the following can be recommended:

• Use additional lighting so that the length of daylight hours, starting at 8 weeks, is similar to natural light at the age of 18 weeks.
• Use supplemental lighting to ensure long enough daylight during the growth phase and then cut back to natural daylight at 18 weeks of age.

In general, the lighting program for replacement hens looks like this.

In this way, we prepare the birds for laying eggs and increasing feed intake.

Summing up, we note that light plays an important role in the growth and development of chickens. You can regulate these processes with the help of proven programs for additional lighting, where you set the duration of daylight hours and the intensity of lighting. There are programs for adult laying hens, for replacements and for broilers. They can be applied in ready-made, and can be slightly modified depending on the resulting productivity.

Chickens naturally have poor eyesight. And in winter, the light becomes less, so it is necessary to provide the bird with artificial lighting. Thus, it is possible to reduce losses due to a decrease in the productivity of chickens: with the right light, the bird continues to actively rush. In addition, under normal lighting, young growth grows and develops better, gains weight well.

Chicken coop lighting red in winter

With regard to aspects of illumination, it is important to pay attention to two main points here:

• light intensity;
• lighting brightness.

Proper adjustment of these two parameters allows you to achieve:

• reduction of pecking of eggs by hens;
• optimal development of young animals;
• decrease in the timing of seasonal molting;
• the fastest finding of water and feed by chickens.

In addition, by adjusting the light, it is possible to reduce the stress of birds when trapping for slaughter, wing trimming,

Lack of lighting may be one of the reasons why

Adjusting the duration of lighting, will help to achieve the following goals:

• accelerating the development of young birds;
• increase the appetite of chickens;
• decrease in the molting season;
• optimization of the start and timing of egg laying.

As a rule, the need for additional lighting of the chicken coop arises in our climate starting in October. If this problem is not taken care of, chickens may stop laying eggs or significantly reduce productivity.

Too bright light for the chicken coop is also useless. In such an intensely lit room, chickens usually become cocky, aggressive, restless: bright light has a bad effect on their natural biorhythms and psyche. For example, a ten-meter chicken coop area will be enough to equip with one 60-watt light bulb.

You may also be interested in information on what to do

On video - general information About chicken coop lighting:

Pros and cons

Winter chicken coop lighting has both its advantages and disadvantages. In the following, these important aspects consider.

pros

Thanks to artificial lighting, egg production of chickens does not decrease in winter: such a peculiar way of deceiving natural biorhythms. If you leave the birds in natural poor lighting, the poultry farm will suffer losses.

Additional lighting will allow young animals to develop better, save chickens from some diseases that occur in conditions of high humidity, dampness and darkness.

Artificial light will help you quickly and conveniently make the morning and evening feeding of birds.

Minuses

Artificial lighting disrupts natural bird biorhythms. In winter, chickens usually molt, and they also need to make up for the lack of calcium at this time, which was formed during active summer egg production. Due to the fact that additional lighting is being built in the chicken coop in winter, the bird's body does not have time to recover.

Due to the lack of a break in the laying, the birds are more likely to get sick, and the eggs themselves are more likely to be defective.

Artificial lighting is a fire hazard: especially if it is made on hastily with technology failures. And due to the fact that electricity costs a lot, the cost of maintaining a chicken coop increases.

In order to rush normally, develop fully and feel good, the chicken needs 12-14 hour daylight hours. Therefore, the light in the chicken coop in winter begins to turn on early - from about six in the morning. And when it finally dawns, you can turn off the lamps. In the evening, the light is turned on when it starts to get dark outside, and you can turn it off, setting the chickens to sleep, as early as 20 o'clock.

DIY lighting

Consider the main points on equipping a chicken coop with artificial lighting.

Number of lamps

To calculate how many lamps you need, you need to know exactly the power of the latter. The optimal and standard ratio is 1 W of power per 1 sq. m of chicken coop area. Do not forget to correctly distribute the lamps into zones, given that in some of them the brightness and intensity of lighting should be lower.

If the chicken coop has big sizes, you will need several lighting lines: here, most likely, you can’t do without the help of professional electricians.

On the video - the organization of lighting in the chicken coop:

Lamp arrangement

The lamps must be placed in the chicken coop in such a way that you do not bump into them with your head when walking, however, you can repair or replace them without the help of ladders and ladders. Therefore, the height of the ceiling in the chicken coop is usually about 1.8-2 m.

Place the lamps higher under the ceiling, or close them in a tight dome case

It is better to hang not just bare lamps, but protect the latter with translucent shades: such protection will protect the lamps from dirt, moisture and dust. Choose strong enough lampshades so that they serve for a long time and do not break.

Wiring

When pulling electrical wires, keep in mind that the very center of the chicken coop is usually the most humid. Therefore, the main communications should lie outside the premises - this will be more secure. The shield also should not be inside the chicken coop.

Automatic system in the chicken coop in winter

In order for the light to turn on and off at a certain set time, electrical equipment is usually installed, equipped with a relay with a timer configured as necessary.

With this convenient function, you can adjust the intensity and brightness of the lighting, set the desired mode for turning on and off the lamps.

However, if the chicken coop is small, then it would be more rational and expedient not to spend money on automatic lighting, but to either unscrew some of the lamps on your own, reducing the light intensity, or replace them with less powerful ones if necessary. Or you can buy an inexpensive Chinese timer with limited functionality, which will fully justify the money invested in it.

The wiring is laid in the usual way. The same applies to the installation of lamps. Just be sure to consider the power of the lamps depending on the chicken coop area. Fixtures are best fixed with metal corners for reliability.

But in addition to lighting, it is worth attending to the question of whether

On the video - lighting in the chicken coop using a timer:

Smooth transition timer

It is recommended to equip the chicken coop with a timer, as this device can make life much easier for the poultry farmer. You can choose the most simple model: if the chicken coop is small and the livestock is small. The timer is plugged into an outlet or connected to lighting wiring. Each device implies the setting of a specific program: it must be selected. Usually, any person with at least a little familiarity with the technique can easily cope with the setting.

After setting up and checking the mode, the poultry breeder can sleep peacefully: the light in the chicken coop will turn on and off at a strictly defined right time. And if you purchase a more advanced timer, you can also adjust the decrease / increase in light intensity, decrease / increase in its brightness in certain areas of the room. Organizing the correct maintenance of chickens, you should take care of.

On the video - how to set a timer with a smooth transition for the chicken coop:

Types of lamps

The chicken coop can be equipped various options lamps - let's take a closer look at the strong and weak sides the latter.

Incandescent lamps

This option is the most budgetary, and also compared to others - environmentally friendly. Incandescent lamps are easy to use, uncomplicated, easy to change, they additionally heat the room a little, they shine quite well. Such lamps can be used at cold temperatures, as well as for spot heating, say, cages with chickens. Minus - short term services.

Such lamps are installed, including for disinfection of the premises.

LED

Such lamps are characterized by a long service life (more than 50 thousand hours). Now manufacturers produce, among others, special models of LED lamps designed for poultry farms.

A great option that can be installed high under the ceiling

This option is simple and unpretentious in operation, it can work at different external temperatures. In addition, the LED lamp is economical, resistant to moisture, dust, pollution. It is possible to control the intensity of lighting, which is important in this case. Minus one - the high price, but such a lamp pays off very quickly.

Fluorescent

Also a great option for a chicken coop. Fluorescent lamps exude even white light, durable and reliable. In addition, the price for these models is lower than for LED ones, and they are not inferior to the latter in terms of efficiency. The disadvantages include the need for disposal fluorescent lamps, non-environmental.

Such lamps are installed both on the wall and under the ceiling.

energy saving

Such lamps will reduce energy costs, as well as adjust exactly the spectrum of lighting that is needed. Minus - expensive cost, non-environmental (mercury), the need for disposal. In addition, many farmers complain that in a poultry house, energy-saving llamas for some reason serve much less than the period declared by the manufacturer.

Since such lamps are quite expensive, it is best to use them in a special box.

As for the color of the lamps, then the best choice will be white. But if it is possible to equip lamps of different shades, then keep in mind that:

• blue calms;
• orange has a beneficial effect on reproduction;
• birds do not peck eggs under red lamps;
• Grow better under green. But it is worth paying attention to how to organize

So, we got acquainted with the features of the winter lighting of the chicken coop. With proper lighting, chickens will lay in winter as well as in summer, and young growth will quickly grow. As you can see, it is not difficult to equip the chicken coop with the necessary lighting on your own. Using the tips from the article, you can provide the chicken coop with the necessary light, and the birds with all the conditions for successful growth and development.