Winter Heater

19marvinn

Chirping
Jul 1, 2015
155
7
64
Is it necessary to have a heat lamp in the coop during the winter? I have a lamp but I don't want to run an extension cord across the yard. Any ideas?
 
Depends on age, breed and your location. For adult birds in much of the USA, no, they do not need heat, just dry and draft free with good ventilation.

Mine did well down to 0°F a few times last winter, although they did lose parts of their combs to frostbite. Simply cosmetic, however.
 
Here in Northern Wyoming, in a Basin between 3 mountain ranges and not far from Yellowstone Park, I use no heat in my coop all winter. It's not insulated either. But it has lots of ventilation so moist air can escape instead of settling on the chickens, and they are perfectly fine. I keep their pop door to the run open all of the time, as well, and they spend a lot of time out there. With plenty of ventilation and a nice wide roost so they can sit on their feet, they do very well. We had no frostbite even though I expected some.

I don't even use a heat lamp for brooding chicks - hate the hot, dangerous things - and my chicks are brooded outdoors in a pen in the run - no matter what the weather is. I use Mama Heating Pad. The chicks spend most of their time exploring, and just dash under for a quick warmup. It was between 17 and 19 degrees the day this video was made.

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