another heat lamp debate

[freedom chick]

Okay, I was anti heat and understand the pros and cons of heating a coop.

so what is considered a heated coop?

It's been getting into the single digits and teens here in Ohio. The girls have an 8 by 12 foot shed coop that we had built for them, so it's a large space. Temps inside the coop have been between 20 and 30 degrees. I have 6 girls in this coop.

We did end up installing a heat lamp, very securely, about 6 1/2 ft up and 4 ft away, yet still aimed at roosts.
Coop temps, like I said, are still 20 and 30, with outside temps 18 degrees or so at night. I do apply Vaseline to combs.

Is this terrible? Their coop is by no means cozy. My aim is to take the edge off at night. Even considering a timer for maybe 2 hours late night/morning.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[JackE]

You, really your chickens, don't need it. We get winter temps down into the single digits as well. You can see in the pic below, the front of my coop is wide open. There is no added heat. These temps are nothing to a chicken. What people need to do, is stop putting their own limitations with the cold, on their birds. They are well adapted to handle it. I have some BRs, and they have some big combs compared to the others. I have never put any vasaline, or anything else on them, and none of them has ever suffered from frostbite. Worry more about good ventilation/fresh air flow in the coop, and put the heatlamps away.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Okay, I was anti heat and understand the pros and cons of heating a coop.

so what is considered a heated coop?

It's been getting into the single digits and teens here in Ohio. The girls have an 8 by 12 foot shed coop that we had built for them, so it's a large space. Temps inside the coop have been between 20 and 30 degrees. I have 6 girls in this coop.

We did end up installing a heat lamp, very securely, about 6 1/2 ft up and 4 ft away, yet still aimed at roosts.
Coop temps, like I said, are still 20 and 30, with outside temps 18 degrees or so at night. I do apply Vaseline to combs.

Is this terrible? Their coop is by no means cozy. My aim is to take the edge off at night. Even considering a timer for maybe 2 hours late night/morning.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

A "heated coop" is any coop in which supplemental heat is being used in the general atmosphere (meaning not just heated waterer). Is it terrible, no, but it is entirely unnecessary. At the end of the day, you have to decide what is right for you and your flock and do that.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Any thoughts/suggestions?

It must be giving you piece of mind knowing you are keeping your birds warm.
If your hydro fails your birds would have not experienced temperature drops and will not be as conditioned to the cold.
That may put your whole flock in jeopardy when it comes to illness.

DO YOU HAVE A BACK UP PLAN?

I personally feed extra corn to give them substance to combat the cold no matter what the temperature plummets to and forget about the heat.

However it is your coop and do what YOU think is right..

 

[freedom chick]

Is there a big temp variance in such a large space? I suppose I could measure temp on roosts.

I feed them corn at night and something warm in the mornings, like mash. I did read that chickens don't actually start to suffer until -20.