# New to Forums and chickens



## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Just made it to week 8 with our 12 chicks.
All are looking good and I had a couple of
Questions hopefully someone can help me out with. I do shift work and get home around 2am.
Is it OK to turn lights on and disturb the chickens
At this time? We leave for work around 2 and are gone for 12 hrs. Not sure if we need to wait til around noon when we get up to check on them again.Don't want them to feel neglected!


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## Biring (Sep 24, 2020)

It’s probably fine to check on them quickly. In Indonesian/Malay there is the expression “tidur tidur ayam” - chicken sleep. It means to sleep for a moment, wake up, fall asleep again, wake up again. Your chickens will be fine.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

What Biring said. 

Don't turn them on and leave them on. You might want to think about having something that isn't as bright as what you would normally use. Think about how it irritates you when someone turns a bright light on when you're sleeping in a dark room. They react the same way.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Welcome to the Forum! What kind of birds do you have? Folks here love to see pictures!


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Biring said:


> It's probably fine to check on them quickly. In Indonesian/Malay there is the expression "tidur tidur ayam" - chicken sleep. It means to sleep for a moment, wake up, fall asleep again, wake up again. Your chickens will be fine.


Thank you for the response!


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Plainschurch said:


> Thank you for the response!


Hi! There was some confusion when we bought them from the local feed store so I am not exactly sure what we have. Thinking we have 2 light Bramas, 4 isa brown, and 6 questionable black ones. I will put some pics so people can let me know. Thanks again!


Poultry Judge said:


> Welcome to the Forum! What kind of birds do you have? Folks here love to see pictures!


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Plainschurch said:


> Thank you for the response!


Thank you! I have 2 60 watt led white lights in there and also 2 60 watt led red lights that I can control separately. I ordered some 40 watt dimmable red bulbs and will include a dimmer switch for them. They have just started to get up on there perches at night, should I keep the red lights on til they get settled or just let them get used to natural light?


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Poultry Judge said:


> Welcome to the Forum! What kind of birds do you have? Folks here love to see pictures!


I posted some pics, please let me know if i am doing things correctly ! Thanks


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

They all came thru for me- looks awesome! Your blacks look identical to my Australorps I raised, but others are far more knowledgeable in this than I!  Pretty birds and great coop!

Can you buy an inexpensive timer to come on around the 'correct' time, rather than having to do the switch yourself? They're pretty inexpensive if I remember right- I have a couple of simple ones on my hermit crab tanks.


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Thank you for the reply! 
I am going to go with Australorps for those then.
They seem to be the most friendly. The lights are actually on Kasa lighting control switches so i can set timers anytime. My concern was messing them up by having too much light on them before they mature. Even though its red light i didn't know if its problematic. I basically 
Have had continuous red light on them until these last few days. Sure I am overthinking it!


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Nah, they're still young enough the red isn't a big issue especially! I missed where you had said that- oops!

Our Australorps both turned out to be roosters, unfortunately, but they were really sweet boys. Just had too many to keep them, but they went to a good home together. The ladies are supposed to be pretty good layers though! Here's a shot of my boys around 10&12 weeks to compare, you may be able to see if they look similar to you. (Other than the boy part lol) Penn and Checkers

































I am looking at supplementing our coop a bit in the mornings too, once we get it set up appropriately etc. All the info You get now helps me too!


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Wow those are some amazing pics! Nice job.
The facial features are definitely the same as mine. I will let you know if anything interesting
Turns up with my lighting thanks!


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Wow, thanks to everyone for the great pics! In regard to the lights, it's one of those things you will find a bunch of opinions on. OM's suggestion on an inexpensive timer for your red lights is good. Some people just leave red (or even blue) LED lights on. I have several red strings.


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Thanks! 
I might try gently dimming the red light down until they are sure about the roosting thing. Mostly good except for one stubborn black one that has to jump and land on the others knocking them off.


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## Plainschurch (Oct 9, 2020)

Here is a screenshot of them roosting.
I can watch them on my phone from work.
Really fun to see there eyes open and close when they move around. The IR in the camera makes them shine.


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Awesome! We are about to purchase a security system for our biz, and my husband promised me we'd put a few in/around the coop- I'll feel much better then!

We miss our goofy little Lorpies (they acted just as that nickname sounds!) They were so attached to one another even tho they were both boys. I'm glad they went to the same place, and not for food!


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

Chicken Cam!


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Poultry Judge said:


> Chicken Cam!


I can only imagine the hilarity that will be captured from time to time!


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

All the time! It would be like a soap opera. People would pay to watch it!


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

New chicken media platform!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Most of the funny things on video are things caught by accident.


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