Heat Lamps: When to add them

Do. Not. Do. It. Heat lamps are incredibly dangerous. It just breaks my heart when I read about a heat lamp mishap burning down a coop and incinerating every single chicken.

I've had a chicken scorch her head on one when the lamp was nudged and it dropped down to an unsafe level. Thankfully she wasn't seriously burned, but I have heard of a rooster hitting a heat lamp and catching his feathers on fire and dying.

If you really must use a heater, get one of those electric oil filled heaters that don't get hot enough to burn when you touch them, and then I would only use the very lowest heat setting.

Most chickens, barring roosters with very large combs, do splendidly without heat of any sort, even in the most beastly of cold temps. It's better to heat your chickens from the inside with extra calories than to try to heat their coop. I give mine a pre-bedtime treat of BOSS and scratch grain for their crops to work on during the cold night.

azygous said:

Do. Not. Do. It. Heat lamps are incredibly dangerous. It just breaks my heart when I read about a heat lamp mishap burning down a coop and incinerating every single chicken.

I've had a chicken scorch her head on one when the lamp was nudged and it dropped down to an unsafe level. Thankfully she wasn't seriously burned, but I have heard of a rooster hitting a heat lamp and catching his feathers on fire and dying.

If you really must use a heater, get one of those electric oil filled heaters that don't get hot enough to burn when you touch them, and then I would only use the very lowest heat setting.

Most chickens, barring roosters with very large combs, do splendidly without heat of any sort, even in the most beastly of cold temps. It's better to heat your chickens from the inside with extra calories than to try to heat their coop. I give mine a pre-bedtime treat of BOSS and scratch grain for their crops to work on during the cold night.

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Thank you, I have added straw, pine shavings and scratch in the coop because they would much rather spend their hours inside this time of year [like all the others] so it is pretty warm.....With out the heat lamp! HEAT LAMPS ARE A NO FOR ME!

Unless it gets really cold, and I'm talking well below 0F, then nature has equipped the chickens with sufficient means of keeping themselves warm. Adding heat can actually be a detriment because it could prevent them from developing these defenses against cold, meaning they would be have to spend most of their time inside the coop (doesn't sound like much fun) or wind up totally defenseless if the source of heat is removed, like during a power failure (definitely not fun!).

And of course there is also the danger of fire and as far as lights are concerned; how would you like to have to try and sleep with the lights on all night?

We had - 38 degrees F last night. Temperature reading, not wind chill. No heat lamp, mine are looking fluffy and active this morning.

Don't think warm, think DRY.

Mrs K

Mrs. K said:

We had - 38 degrees F last night. Temperature reading, not wind chill. No heat lamp, mine are looking fluffy and active this morning.

Don't think warm, think DRY.

Mrs K

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You got us beat. I think we only got down to -29. It was -23 when we woke up this morning. It's up to -4 now, and supposed to be in the 20's tomorrow. That will feel balmy if there is no wind!

ETA - When I went out to feed and water, I found everyone fluffed up and moving around, no shivering noted. My White Giant rooster does have frostbit comb and wattles, but they are large so I am not surprised. My EE mix rooster has a rose comb and smaller wattles - no signs of frostbite on him. I did notice that my hens in the larger coop have kind of scruffy looking feathers on their backs, and after some observation saw a little feather picking going on. They are on layer feed that has 20% protein. I am going to start scrambling the eggs that freeze outside and feed them back to the birds in that coop. I don't know if protein is the problem or boredom. I scattered some BOSS in their straw today, and they were busy scratching and pecking when I left. I am going to get them some alfalfa bales soon so I can throw in a slice of that now and then.