Keeping the coop warm in the winter, HOW?

Thank you all for the replies, I greatly appreciate it. Like I said this is my first time with chickens. yes i have lost a silkie pullet in august, and a RIR just up and disappeared. I almost lost my fav little gray silkie, a hawk swooped down and grabbed him when my back was turned and i thought he was a goner! so beside myself, yet when i went to the coop about 30 minutes later to check on his buddy, there he was! boy was i glad! anyway, yes there is pine shavings on the ground in the coop and there is straw in all the boxes. on the ground under the boxes, there is more straw for the little boys to sleep on if they want. (they dont though) and on the wall opposite the nesting boxes is where i have the heat lamp. The window is not in the direction of the wind, so i could crack it open i suppose, but then im afraid it will take the heat out from the lamp therefore eliminating the purpose of the lamp to keep them from freezing. I do have a tote with a snap lid in there now to hold their feed so i dont have to keep going to the garage and back. Their treats and grit are kept in there also. I do not enjoy they sitting on top of the boxes. I need to block that off, tired of scraping poop off everytime i clean the coop.. gag! lol.
I started with 6 RIR and 3 silkies, got rid of 2 RIR because the were mean, and gained a silkie rooster who i often fight with, lost a RIR and a silkie, so now I am at 6 total. I do plan on getting more in the spring. as far as protection, the coop is right near our pole barn, and there are big old shrubs around it they can hide in as well as some around the house.
I will say that I am grateful for back yard chickens, there are so many knowledgeable people who can help when a newbie like me has questions.. lol THANK YOU all again!

They will not freeze. Chickens are designed to be outside in cold weather like any other bird. They have down coats. They can adjust the amount of air they store in their insulation by moving the feathers in or out. The only reason they would be cold AT THE SKIN LEVEL is if there is a draft that blows their feathers such that they can not keep the warm air trapped. And if you don't have adequate ventilation, your chickens will suffer from frostbite and inhalation of ammonia.

Note this: You will go broke trying to heat that shed. A 250W heat lamp would run 6 KWh per day and not provide enough heat to do a thing. I had to use the 1 gallon plastic waterer last year so I enclosed it in a corner of a stall with the 1/2 height stall door as one wall. I put a piece of plywood and a saddle pad over the top. The wire "safety cage" of the heat lamp was nearly touching the top of the waterer. When it was really cold (meaning -15F or so) the water in the jug was mostly liquid as was only the 1/4 of the drinking ring that was closest to the lamp. the rest of the water in the ring was solid ice. The space was ~3' on a side and 4' high. Figure out how much useful heat your lamp is going to add to that nice sized shed.

AND: None of the chickens spent ANY TIME AT ALL in that "heated" triangular "room" EXCEPT when they were drinking. Not even the Black Australorp that moulted the first week of February. Now don't you think if they were uncomfortable, they would be somewhere near that heat lamp?
 
Chickens are designed to be outside in cold weather like any other bird. They have down coats.


Not, all birds can handle the cold, many species (even some chickens) are not cold tolerant regardless of their feathers... And in many cases unhealthy, injured or elderly birds can no longer handle the cold nearly as well or at all...

The only reason they would be cold AT THE SKIN LEVEL is if there is a draft that blows their feathers such that they can not keep the warm air trapped.

Not, true injured, molting birds can have issues, and there are also exposed areas of skin that the feathers do not cover and protect...

And if you don't have adequate ventilation, your chickens will suffer from frostbite and inhalation of ammonia.

Even with proper ventilation chickens can suffer frostbite as the temperatures continue to drop... 

Note this: You will go broke trying to heat that shed.

I guess the definition of 'go broke' varies...

I heat a 1200+sqft coop and I'm not going broke... Cost about $50-$75 a month to heat it to just above freezing aka about 40°F total cost of about $150-$200 for the entire winter season unless we have a lot of extreme weather, then it might be a bit more... But, in the end, I'm not paying to heat the water, I'm not paying for heated nesting boxes and because it's 'warmer' the birds are consuming less food, so that washes out and negates some of the overall cost... In the end the cost to heat is less than the replacement cost of one breeding age peafowl and to me that is a bargain for the security and piece of mind knowing I have no frostbite or exposure concerns...

The short of it is that everyone needs to evaluate their specific situation and weigh the pros and cons... Heat is generally not needed for healthy, cold tolerant birds if they have a well ventilated draft free coop, but as soon as you get away from those three previous qualifiers then the answer to heat or not is not nearly as black and white...

Also IMO heat lamps should be pretty much totally avoided in a coop, there are MUCH safer alternatives that don't pose anywhere near the fire risk or dangers of heat lamps.... For smaller areas there are hard panel radiant heaters out there that only get warm to the touch and pose little to no fire risk or burn risk...
 
So glad I live in the South and don't have such a quandary about a heated coop...I would probably run myself ragged
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