Cold chickens.....when to use heat lamp? - Page 12

So, I read about half the posts in this thread. I have Austrolorps, Barred Rocks and Wyandottes.   I live in California and in my neck of the valley it gets down to the mid-teens on the coldest night of the year.  My dozen hens are 3 months old and I have had a light in the coop since they moved into it.  I think, from reading this thread, that I don't need the light on anymore and it may reduce their ability to cope when it gets really cold.  Is that right?

Thanks!

There two concepts here.  First is light for egg production and the other is heat, which can come from a heat lamp bulb or any other device.  No, you'll never need heat where you live.  We've already had 15F for overnight lows and it is still just fall.  The birds could care less.  They don't mind at all.  They just snuggle and tuck their heads under a wing to sleep.

The pre-dawn light for egg production is usually on a timer.  It produces little, if any, realized heat.  Some folks have the 25watt light come on at 5 am and snap off at 9 am, just to make their days a little more like summer.

The pre-dawn light for egg production is usually on a timer.  It produces little, if any, realized heat.  Some folks have the 25watt light come on at 5 am and snap off at 9 am, just to make their days a little more like summer.

I really appreciate that.  Simulating the additional hours of daylight will keep egg production up?  I don't think I'll get eggs before Christmas. Should I start that before they start laying or wait till next fall?

Seems like most are having a hard time keeping the water from freezing.  We decided to use a nipple water system that runs from a 5 gallon paint pail filled with water, down a hose to a 2 foot PVC pipe with two nipples in it.
To keep it from freezing I wrapped the hose leading from the bucket to the PVC with a plug in heated wire.   We have had a few nights that went to 20 degrees and since the wire only comes on below freezing, it kept the water flowing all the way to the nipple.
I wrapped with wire around the hose using an insulated tape sold in HD for $4 per roll.

We will see how it performs this Winter.  Now if I could just get them to lay in the darn nest boxes!

I wish more of these postings included the lowest INTERIOR TEMP OF THE COOP you have experienced, or the interior temp when frostbite happened. That would be most helpful. I know humidity is a main factor, but how cold is too cold? And why not some hygrometer readings as well, if that is really the issue? It is is all so imprecise, and I know much of it must remain so, but any way that we can get more numbers would be great.

I had a dutch bantam and a sebright bantam in a hen house when the temps got down to -10 or worse outside at night a couple of winters ago, and the dutch got frostbitten comb. I did not have a thermometer in the henhouse then like I do now. There were no drafts, but maybe they were just too small to keep warm enough at that temp with just two of them. And I tell you, that hen, always super-friendly before, was really ticked off at me for some time after that! Scolded and pecked me whenever I reached in.

On another note, someone posted this:

Something I just learned today about water:  Cold water takes longer to freeze.
So, if you put boiling hot water outside it will freeze faster than lukewarm water.
Wierd huh?

I am SO TIRED of people saying things like this this and not knowing what it means, thereby confusing other people ad infinitum. The time something takes to happen, and the rate at which it happens, are different things. (Think about the time it takes to drive someplace, versus the speed [rate] at which you will need to drive.) So, here's the deal....  If you have identical containers, one with cold water and one with hot water, under identical frigid conditions, the cold water will freeze first. Cold water does not take LONGER to freeze. It cools at a slower RATE , because the temperature differential is not so great. The RATE (speed) at which the cooling happens is greater for the hot water. Still, the cooling is NOT fast enough that the hot water catches up with the cold water and freezes first.

Agree.  You need to read "What Einstein Told His Cook".  Great read.  Fascinating explanations on all types of cooking science.  From how to soften dark brown sugar to the differences in sodium chloride. 

As for the heating.  Our coop is 4'X4'X4' and has a 250w IR heat lamp.  I keep a wireless thermometer in the coop on the opposite side to prevent a false reading and the lowest, so far keeps the coop about 7 or 8 degrees warmer than ambient.    Lowest was 26 inside.   We have Easter Eggers and they are pretty hardy and they are covered in down.

Not that it's likely to have practical application to chicken keeping, but the "warmer water freezes faster than cold water" thing HAS been observed under controlled conditions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect

I live in florida so thankfully this is not an issue i am specifically faced with but i always thought about the idea of using the little tiny stand up space heaters from walmart or Dollar general- for safety reasons- These newer heaters will automatically shut down when tilted just slighty (to prevent them from getting knocked over and starting a fire) As far as i know , no heat lamps provide this safety feature.
Just a thought  , from a paranoid house fire survivor.

lol I though of using one of those "eden pure" things. Not so much for the chickens but for me . Long walk to coop and it gets longer in winter.

Since I've only got a handful of birds (five now but will up this to six or seven this spring).  I have been known to bring them into the mud room on super cold nights. I'm talking 20 below or worse.

I get egg boxes from my local market. ( ) These are large boxes divided down the center; each half the exact size to hold one hen in comfort. So in they go. If I were to photograph them you'd smile seeing how they react to the warm temp in the house. They settle right down and are perfectly happy in the boxes overnight in the house.

I have used a shielded lamp in their shack with success too. It's difficult for me to sleep when it's super cold and I know my girls might be shivering somewhat! Their little shack is only about 4 x 4 x 3 so it's easy to keep warm with a light bulb or even a sealed gallon of HOT water placed in there at dusk during most cold nights. It's those arctic cold fronts that worry me and I bring them into the house.