I agree that in zone 8 your chickens do not need the lamp for extra heat. Please do not leave the light on all night; chickens need their hours of darkness the same as we do. I can't tell you the one "right way" to use supplementary lighting, but I will tell you what I have found works for me. I like to start using my light on a timer around the first day of fall. The days and nights are equal at that point and I will increase their "day length" by adding about ten or fifteen minutes a week until I reach fourteen hours, at which point I adjust it only to maintain it. I add the light in the mornings and let them go to sleep naturally. Because I live in zone 5, I do use a heated pet dish for their water to keep it from freezing. In the event of a bitterly cold spell I occasionally attach the heat lamp to the same timer as the regular light. This gives them a bit of extra heat in the coldest hours without disturbing their day length, but it is an emergency measure only and I seldom consider it necessary.

I'm with Agnespuffin - send us some of that moisture, please. It's so dry here. We haven't had but 1/2" of rain this year. The wildfires are nearly a daily occurrence around here with quite a few homes burned to the ground. With the constant wind we are having, also, the firefighters are having trouble getting the fires put out. We now have several of the Forestry Service planes/helicopters station here to help out. Mary

Before too long in our neck of the woods,the deer "harvest" will begin. What a pretty way to say kill. At least call it what it is,whether you enjoy doing that or wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Good pictures,both of you. It's too bad something so beautiful can be such a pain in the patootie sometimes.

I'm up to 6 peeper dudes now, with four more eggs in the incubator, and a broody hen taking care of another three for 9 total. (never count the eggs before they hatch) Actually, I'm setting eggs specifically from one pair, so once a week, I start a new "mini-clutch". 21 days later, once they're out of the shells, dried and fluffed, I use 10 gallon aquariums for a brooder; they're easy to see (fun to watch), draft free, and just big enough for up to five chicks for about two weeks.