Chickens of the Night

As the days started getting shorter we started getting fewer eggs. Chickens need about 12 hours of light a day in order to lay eggs. Some people just deal with fewer eggs in the winter and others supplement with light. We are suplementing of course.

We have a light on a timer so it turns on about 6am and stays on a couple hours till the sun comes up; then it turns on around 6pm and stays on till 10pm. During the darkest part of winter the light will probably have to come on around 4!

It's fun to look out in the back yard, where it is pitch black, and see a square of light coming down from the coop. For the first couple days the girls went to bed as soon as it got dark out, even though their light was on. After awhile they began to brave the night life. So now we look out into the pitch black yard and see a couple chickens scrathcing around in the run. Living so dangerously!

This is kind of how dark it is, but you can see the chickens better than this. My camera just isn't good enough (or I don't know how to fix the settings).



Here they are!



Here's the inside of the coop with some of them trying to sleep and others hanging out.