chicken coop heater pictures

[Candiss]

Thank you all for the ideas, I like the hound heater and the sweeter heater. I live in Alabama but I guess I am a sucker, I feel bad for them in the cold.

 

[James Cherry]

Well, down to 2deg last night and I felt sorry for the girls. And it was very windy. 2 sex linked, 2 amerucana. So thinking on it, I realized a plate warmer would work, or a griddle that could be turned down really low. The coop is fairly air tight, and the opening is protected from direct wind. I found a Presto Griddle model 21-664 (Stock number 07074) on sale for $18 at Walmart. Last one on the shelf. 10x16inch cooking surface. Heat control, and it will go low enough you can hold your had on it. Perfect. Tonight is the first night of use. I have a wireless temp sensor in the coop so easy to tell how well it is working. I set it up in a corner with a floor tile on top, and on top of that a brick to keep the girls from knocking the tile off. It will absorb any excess heat and help distribute it a little.

It is under the roost and for now I had a couple large wood clamps on the roost to keep them from roosting directly over it for obvious reasons. It was about 35deg in the coop when I put it out there this afternoon and turned up the thermostat until the "on" light just came on. I checked it a couple hrs later and the light was off, but the tile was nice and warm. I think it will work perfect. The heating elements are inside a cast iron bottom so no exposed hot wires. If this works out I think I might look into installing vertically it on the back door, which is about 3x4ft and swings out. That would put it out of the way of the roost, off the floor obviously and away from dust, shavings, and of course poop. The roof slopes down towards the back, so the heat would rise and go towards the front, cool down, drop down and circulate back again.


Link to walmart showing the girddle http://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-Cool-Touch-Electric-Griddle/3576547

 

[beesong]

James, I really like your cool-touch griddle idea. Do you have more to report now that you've used it for a while? Have you been able to tell how much electricity cost it uses? The 1500 watt rating kind of worries me on that front, but maybe when it's kept at the minimum setting for "coolness," it doesn't use so much. I'd be grateful for any add'l info you've learned.

 

[Tambo26]

Ugh. I can't read every single post on this thread...
I'm a new chicken mom and like everyone one here is very attached to my girls. I'm worried about our Maine winters. (I know it's June!) So anyway, I built this awesome coop, 4X4 totally insulated. *** My concern is that I only have THREE chickens. Will they be warm enough in the winter or should I purchase a panel heater or something to take the sting off? My thought is that THREE chickens arent going to produce all that much heat.... plus the chicken door will likely be open during the day.

 

[henney penny]

I`m from northern Maine,put in a heat lamp over there roost and they can get under it whenever they want,mine go out in the daytime if its not snowing if I put straw down for them to walk on they hate the snow on there feet.My big girls don`t have a heat lamp unless it get down to below zero with the wind blowing.My coop in insulated but has a lot of ventilation up next to the roof to keep the hummidy down in the coop which is not good for them,they can tolarate a lot of cold but not drafts or a lot of mooisture.My silkies have a heat lamp that comes on at dark and goes off at 9 or so in the morning depending on how cold it is.They are a smaller breed so I feel they need a little more warmth.I like to keep it just above freezing for them.Welcome to the world of chicken keeping,I love it

 

[chestypuller]

Any tips 2 keep my 2 hens alive in the winter here in anchorage alaska? should i section off a small part of the coop adn run blueboard iinsulation all around them?

 

[chestypuller]

well i sectioned off a small part of the coop 2x2x4 feet with 2 inch thick blue board all around, i did leave it pretty loose tho.

 

[Bob1313]

Because of the possibility of fire in the coop, I think that it would be a HUGE mistake to buy cheap crap from a store such as wal-mart. If you feel that maybe saving a few bucks is worth risking your birds, good luck.

 

[Hokum Coco]

@ Henny Penny:
Quote:Originally Posted by Candi1777
When me & Zack checked chickens this morning the lamp was on the ground. Luckily the bulb broke off and didn't start a fire, dodged a bullet there. So I made some adjustments to secure the lamp, an eye bolt and carabiner.

You were lucky not to suffer the full effects of Murphy's Law.
Do you run your heat lamp 24/7?
Most heat lamps have a wire cage to enclose the face of the bulb when it is housed in the light fixture ?
Depending on your demand that heat lamp could cost you as much as $20.ºº or more on your hydro bill.
What type of birds do you own?
What is you plan if you loose Hydro?
Your heat lamp looks quite secure to me now.
I would even have it so the light would suspend by the cord should your first line of defense fails...

 

[trooper]

I've just read this thread, because I am in the process of building another larger coop. [What can I say? chickens really are addictive.]

My original 6' x 8' coop has no insulation in it. I use a round metal, practically antique, water heater that I put in a rubber bucket of water. I have a 60 watt light bulb that goes on at 4:00am to lengthen the day for continued egg production. It gets very cold in NH - can be -20F, but usually stops at -10 to 0 degrees. On those cold days, I close up the chicken door and shut the window (and also if it snows, so it doesn't get damp inside - wet is worse than cold). I have commercial crosses with both single combs, and haven't had a frostbitten comb for several years. This winter, I will have some fancier and more valuable chickens in the flock. I plan to rub vaseline on their combs if the weather plans to be really cold, just for added protection.

I do plan to insulate my new coop - walls and ceiling - and cover the insulation with vinyl flooring for easy cleaning that I got real cheap at Job Lot. There will be a lot of ventilation on all four sides. But it is a lot bigger - 12' x 18'.

I think we humans have a tendency to inflict animals with our own desires, and we like it nice and warm. I raised sheep for many years, and one of the worst things people new to sheep did in their barns was to close it up tight so the sheep wouldn't get cold. Instead, they caught pneumonia from the condensation dripping back onto them.

Chickens grow feathers and down to keep themselves warm. If your roost is wide enough so when they settle on it, their feet are covered by their bodies, they should be fine.

I think keeping water heated is the biggest chore. And shoveling the snow so I can open the door.

As humans we want our animals warm and I most definitely understand that , but when we heat the coops ,that is possibly one of the worst things you can do.I have a light setup under my water for thawing and I am in the process of putting a light under my nests to keep my eggs from freezing.I have lights that come on at 5:30 or so in the morning to extend the light,but no heat.If your chickens get use to heat and you loose power they are worse off than not to have heat.Most people don't realize that heat is harder on chickens than the cold.Watch them get outside when it's cold , or raining,or what ever the weather is.Mine are out in the cold when I get up in the morning to feed them.They are in and out;but they get out in the cold.On the roost they do huddle for the extra body warmth,but when they are outside they aren't ,and don't seem to mind it.I do have a fan in the summer so that there is a slight breeze and this helps to dry the deep litter.As I have said that the summer is harder on them than the winter.