Any Northerners NOT Use A Heat Lamp? - Page 6

Back in the day, when I grew up on the farm and chickens were chickens we never heated the chicken house and they did just fine. I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mtns. The henhouse was well built, relatively free of drafts and they snuggled down, the accumulated body heat kept them warm along with plenty of hay to snuggle in. Snow built up on the roof during the winter and my Dad assured us that it added to the insualtion to keep them warm. They came out during the day and hunkered down at night, I don't ever remember losing one to the cold.
I think that all the worry has come about because we now have put the chickens into the catagory of pets. I have tried to explain to my hubby and son that the word chicken and pet should not be in the same sentence. They don't need a luxury condo, just a well insulated hen house. They don't need a heater (what's next? an air conditioner?)

Thanks for your reply,jls.Any suggestions on how to gradually get the lamp out.Saturday will be one week in the coop with the lamp. I was thinking to turn it off during the day after Saturday and only have it on at night,then after a few more days shut it off entirely.

Up here in Michigan/Wisconsin we do not heat.  They have an 11'x22' house with a wide open cupola for ventilation and deep litter bed.   We have power hooked up so we use the pan heaters to set the water cans on.  Chickens produce about 50 btu per bird and maybe more with added grain or corn to the diet.  They are pretty good at producing their own heat as long as they have a draft free area and the humidity is kept down with frequent addition of fresh shavings or litter.  Keep adding litter over used bedding to make a deep bed, the decomposition adds heat.

Check out this poll...
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=422186


BTW... I don't heat my birds...

Zero degrees here last night. No heat in the coop, all birds so far just fine. Even got seven eggs from eight hens today!

I guess that all depends on how cold the coop will get and how quickly. What wattage is the bulb? You may be able to lower the wattage progressively. I'm just thinking about how it is when you brood chicks. The temp is decressed weekly until they can tolerate 70F with out a bulb (usually about 6-8 weeks old). How warm have you been keeping it? They are fully feathered so they'll be able to handle the lowering temps pretty well. After all they have nice down jackets.

Anyway, that's what I think I would do. Hopefully someone on BYC will have first-hand knowledge on how to wean your're birds from the heat.

If you do add heat, and use a lamp, please be sure to dust it off every day, and take every precaution to secure it well... two coop fires with loss of lives in the last few days on the news...