Solar Powered Chicken Tractor

[cmcruiser]

Hey guys,

I've been lurking around here for a few days checking out some of the stickies, but I figured I' d go ahead and get some general advice on my situation before I start running numbers.

I am building a chicken tractor (basically a portable chicken coop that you move around your yard) for a few egg laying chickens. Chickens lay best when they have more daylight hours. To keep egg production up, you can trick the chickens by providing them a light in the coop (especially during the winter months.) You shoot for a 14 hour day. So if you have an 8 hour day, you run a light on a timer for about 3 hours before dawn and 3 hours after dusk. I want to avoid running it off an extension cord if possible, just to avoid the hassle of having to move it around all of the time and to eliminate the chances of having to replace my wife's poodle should he decide that he just can't resist taking a bite out of that bright orange menace.

Not being very solar savvy, I thought it would be pretty simple to power a light bulb. Boy did I open a can of worms, haha.

My original thought process was use a standard 120V LED light (about a 60 watt incandescent equivalent) which draws 9 watts. But then you have to power an inverter (lose energy) and a timer (lose more energy). Now I'm not even sure if I need to go AC or just try to run the whole thing DC. The major drawback to DC seems to be that timers are significantly more expensive than AC timers. But if I can eliminate the need for an inverter maybe it would be a wash.

Any wisdom or advice is greatly appreciated, because at this point, I really don't know where to start.

Thanks,

-cmc

[inetdog]

My original thought process was use a standard 120V LED light (about a 60 watt incandescent equivalent) which draws 9 watts. But then you have to power an inverter (lose energy) and a timer (lose more energy). Now I'm not even sure if I need to go AC or just try to run the whole thing DC. The major drawback to DC seems to be that timers are significantly more expensive than AC timers. But if I can eliminate the need for an inverter maybe it would be a wash.

If you search for "solar light controller" you will find some single boxes that take PV input and connect to a battery and lights. The controller charges the battery and based on the light indication from the panel lets you program the lights to come on at dusk and stay on for a selected number of hours. There is no fixed time clock option in any I have seen, so the question you would have to ask is whether the light not coming on until it was actually getting dark outside would do what you need.

You may also need to change the programmed on time a couple of times per year.

But the most important design factor is that you have to have enough panel to recharge the batteries in winter when you will have the least sun and the light will need to be on for the longest time.

[Mike90250]

You can get some of the 5 or 10W LED MR series 12V flood lights (you don't want a spotlight)
Wire up to a Morningstar Sun-Light controller http://www.morningstarcorp.com/Sun-Light and you have your PV charge controller, and a flexible lighting timer all in 1 low power system

That's what I'd be looking for

[Sunking]

First thing I would do is check with your local Ag Extension Office and see what colar of light chickens respond too. LED's have quite a bit of Blue Light and I do not know if chickens can even see the light a LED produces. Natural sunlight is 5000 to 6500 Kelvin.

[FloridaSun]

First thing I would do is check with your local Ag Extension Office and see what colar of light chickens respond too. LED's have quite a bit of Blue Light and I do not know if chickens can even see the light a LED produces. Natural sunlight is 5000 to 6500 Kelvin.

The ol 'light bulb in the chicken coop' trick was learned back in incandescent days but the birds may appreciate a full spectrum CFL bulb.

[Sunking]

The ol 'light bulb in the chicken coop' trick was learned back in incandescent days but the birds may appreciate a full spectrum CFL bulb.

Well FWIW LED's are not that efficient, certainly no better than CFL and not even close to T5 in application. Both CFL and T5 have natural daylight temp lamps. I do not know squat about chicken except how to slaughter, clean, cook, and eat them. All th echickens on my relatives farms were more or less free range and scratched for food in the chicken yard covered with chicken wire to keep the Chicken Hawks and Coyotes out.

[Sunking]

OK I just learned something. Chicken eyes are most sensitive to infrared light and they see morning light almost an hour before we do. Chickens require full-spectrum natural sunlight for vitamin D and overall health. (They should never be forced to live under continuous or fluorescent lighting, which harms their immune system, color perception, and ability to transport calcium through cell membranes.)

[inetdog]

OK I just learned something. Chicken eyes are most sensitive to infrared light and they see morning light almost an hour before we do. Chickens require full-spectrum natural sunlight for vitamin D and overall health. (They should never be forced to live under continuous or fluorescent lighting, which harms their immune system, color perception, and ability to transport calcium through cell membranes.)

OK. Looks like we need a parallel combination of an infrared LED and a CFL grow lamp to do the job.
In this case they will be getting natural sunlight most of the day, so their health should not be in question.

PS: So why does the rooster wait until we think it is dawn before waking us up? Does he have a delay timer?

[FloridaSun]

OK I just learned something. Chicken eyes are most sensitive to infrared light and they see morning light almost an hour before we do.

interesting... then I guess they see incandescent just fine. Still, CFL would be best IMO

Chickens require full-spectrum natural sunlight for vitamin D and overall health. (They should never be forced to live under continuous or fluorescent lighting, which harms their immune system, color perception, and ability to transport calcium through cell membranes.)

and that is why industrial chickie farmers have to use so many antibiotics. The birds never see the sun and have flourescent lighting.
The chicken tractor is a good idea and can help prep a garden row in a day.... those hungry lil monsters.

[FloridaSun]

PS: So why does the rooster wait until we think it is dawn before waking us up? Does he have a delay timer?

Depends on the bird. Some of those rascals don't wait. I bought a bunch of dif breeds one time (chicks) and the roosters all got named... dinner, lunch, supper, picnic, etc until only two with decent hours remained.

[Sunking]

The chicken tractor is a good idea and can help prep a garden row in a day.... those hungry lil monsters.

Beats me but I have a lot of family that are farmers in OK AR, and TX. Most raise cattle or cash crops but most have Guineafowl yard birds. They use them to controls ticks in the yard and garden insects. Some even eat the young ones as I understand they taste like Pheasants and pretty good eating while still young and tender like chickens.

In youth days when I spent summers on one of my uncles farm in AR around Bentonville he had quite a few chickens and a coop. He raised them mainly as a food source of eggs and meat for the family. Today they would would be called Organic Free Range Chickens they charge $6/lb for at Green Markets which is outrageous. But i distinctly remember they tasted better than anything you could buy in a grocery store. I learned how to ring their necks and clean them for my aunt to fry up for dinner, and fresh eggs for breakfast. Most all eggs had the mark of Mr Rooster with the little Red Spot on the yolks. The shells were brown and some kind of a grayish green color which I thought was unusual as a ignorant city kid.

[FloridaSun]

Beats me but I have a lot of family that are farmers in OK AR, and TX. Most raise cattle or cash crops but most have Guineafowl yard birds. They use them to controls ticks in the yard and garden insects. Some even eat the young ones as I understand they taste like Pheasants and pretty good eating while still young and tender like chickens.

In youth days when I spent summers on one of my uncles farm in AR around Bentonville he had quite a few chickens and a coop. He raised them mainly as a food source of eggs and meat for the family. Today they would would be called Organic Free Range Chickens they charge $6/lb for at Green Markets which is outrageous. But i distinctly remember they tasted better than anything you could buy in a grocery store. I learned how to ring their necks and clean them for my aunt to fry up for dinner, and fresh eggs for breakfast. Most all eggs had the mark of Mr Rooster with the little Red Spot on the yolks. The shells were brown and some kind of a grayish green color which I thought was unusual as a ignorant city kid.

Guineas are great drive alarms. After the squawkin any vehicle that comes in will have it's front bumper immediately searched for bugs.
Yeah, most people don't know what a real egg is any more. Paper thin shell, factory produced eggs are cheaper unless you DIY. That araucana breed with the green eggs is cool. I used to have a few of those layin.

[Sunking]

Guineas are great drive alarms. After the squawkin any vehicle that comes in will have it's front bumper immediately searched for bugs.
Yeah, most people don't know what a real egg is any more. Paper thin shell, factory produced eggs are cheaper unless you DIY. That araucana breed with the green eggs is cool. I used to have a few of those layin.

Like I said I do not know much about chickens other than what little I picked up spending summers on my uncles farm.

I know they eat about anything including each other if given the opportunity. My uncle fed them outside each morning with at the time I thought was strange. He would take a cup full of this chicken feed he had which consisted of Cracked Corn, Wheat berries, Sun Flower Seeds, Soy Bean Meal, and what looked like chopped up feathers. But what struck me as odd was he had one of those bug zappers, and each morning he would empty out the tray, mix it in with seed mixture and what left over breakfast meat they had like bacon, ham or sausage, or even bits of left over fried chicken from the night before. The rest of the day they would scratch for bugs, worms, grass, weeds or whatever they could find.

Don't get me started on what he fed the hogs. A pig will eat anything that will not eat them first including each other.

[cmcruiser]

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm not terribly worried about providing them with full spectrum light for the health benefits. They will still have plenty of real sunlight during the day time to provide that, since I won't be confining them in a barn like a commercial operation. Mostly I just want to trick them into laying year round for as cheap as possible. Even without this little solar project, these are getting to be some expensive eggs. I figure I'll have 300+ dollars in materials building the tractor before I even touch this solar add on. But, from the get-go I knew this was not going to be a cost effective adventure in terms of beating the cost of store bought eggs. Still coming out better than the folks that buy the prefab tractors from Williams-Sonoma. They look great, but man are they pricey.

Based on the backyard chicken forums, people seem to have really good results with the "warmer" LED lights. Some have just put a few strands of Christmas lights in their coops and that seems to do the trick. I'm certainly not opposed to going CFL or T5 though if it's going to be cheaper. It seems to be that this project is best suited to stay DC and not fool with an inverter, but I'm far from an expert. It's been a few years since all of those college physics classes.

Based on a few calculations I made using Sunking's handy walk-through, I came up with this tentative set up. It's certainly open to suggestion and/or modification.

Panel - 100 watt Renogy monocrystalline on Amazon ($180)
Charge Controller - HQRP 10 Amp on Amazon ($26)
Battery - Deep cycle marine from Advanced Auto 100 Amp hours(I've had really good experiences with their warranty program)($95)
DC timer unit - draws 4.4VA on eBay ($20)
Light - 12V 40W Incandescent equivalent LED, draws 6.5 Watts ($25)

The Math:

Watthours-
Bulb: Watthours = Wt Wh = (6.5)(6) Wh = 39
Timer: Wh = (4.4)(24) Wh = 106
Total Wh = 106 + 39 Wh = 145

Fudge Factor-
FF = Wh (1.3) <-- I used 1.3 instead of 1.5 since there is no inverter in this setup. I think that's ok?
FF = (145)(1.3) FF = 189

Solar Insolation-
In my area (central Mississippi) insolation in December is 3.64

Array size-
Array = FF/insolation Array = 189/3.64 Array = 52 watts

Battery-
Battery Capacity = Wh(5) BC = (145)(5) BC = 725

Amp Hours = Wh/V Ah = 725/12 Ah = 61

Charge Controller-

CC = Panel Size/Voltage CC = 100/12 CC = 8.5 (i used 100 here because on Amazon, 2 30W panels was going to be basically the same price as 1 100W)


I realize this might be a little overbuilt, but maybe the extra wattage will let me run a CFL instead of an LED. Haven't run those numbers yet though.

What do y'all think?

[cmcruiser]

I didn't think that Morningstar unit that Mike recommended would do what I wanted it to based on just the linked page. But after downloading the Owners manual and reading through it, it will get the job done. Instead 3 hours after dusk and 3 before dawn, it will let me do 4 and 2. Close enough!

Unfortunately, that bad boy is about $80. Which makes it about $40 more than my stab at a setup. You guys would know. Is it worth the extra money?