chicken coop heater pictures

[patandchickens]

Heat for the chickens and heat for keeping waterers ice-free are two TOTALLY INDEPENDANT things... the ideal solution for one is quite different from the ideal solution for the other. Trying to solve them both at the same time just makes wasted electric bills and fire hazards.

Pat

 

[jubylives]

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Uh right. You said that:

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Anyway I'd still be interested in what people do to in the event the chickens start suffering from too low temps.


jeremy

 

[AtRendeAcres]

Just wanted to share:

Last year I added Plymouth Rocks Roos to my flock!
Their combs were huge & they got frost bite bad so, I added a few heat lamps!
Then I wound up with a humidity problem so all chickens had bacteria forming on their combs! (I was told this happened because I needed more ventilation)

I never had a problem until I added more than 1 heat lamp on the waterer!

 

[jubylives]

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That's a good point. Add heat to where there is moisture and poof nastiness grows. I have good ventilation so I won't have that issue but still good food for thought.

jeremy

 

[Mrs MIA]

It really all depends on how many birds you have, how old they are, how much space they have, etc, yada yada yada. The person posting before my last one was asking if the number of birds she had, and the varieties, would be ok without additional heat. I'm pretty sure they'll be fine. When I said to keep an eye out for distress, I meant discomfort, not illness.

When it got down to -10F here the other day, I noticed that my hens were starting to fluff out a little more, huddle together, and weren't as active as they had been previously. I kept an eye on them, because they looked uncomfortable. They still chose to be outside, though, and when I popped them back into the coop they popped right back out. I figured they were fine. Today we warmed up to 33°F, and now I'm worried that they're going to be too damp - it's 98% humidity outside, 88% in the coop, and the shavings are decidedly damp all of a sudden. Can you imagine what kind of nasties would build up in there if I had it heated?

If I need to add heat, I will likely suspend a covered lamp with a 100w bulb over their roosts... something that they can't get too close to singe their feathers, like some did last year. (That was almost a deadly mistake... I know better now.) But it will be isolated so that IF they're cold, they can get warm under it, but I still won't try to heat the entire coop. We tried a space heater the first year I had birds, and wound up with a $400 electric bill and mold everywhere, even with ventilation. It's just not worth it.

 

[Chicken Woman]

I guess the moisture issue is different in every area. Here it is very very dry climate ! Even tho it is cold and snows it is like powder dry snow. It does not get the least bit muddy when it melts off as the ground is so thirsty.
I am still confused as to how you know that the colds effecting them before they are actually sick / I guess that sounds stupid but I don't want sick chickens.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Considering chickens can get sick in the summer, it would be pointless to worry about them too much. It's just part of the daily routine of making a point to really "look" at your birds to determine if they're happy or healthy or not. You'll know when they start feeling pooky. Whether they get sick because of the cold or not, you'll never know for sure. I think mine are more in danger of getting sick because of the dampness now, which is why I will be out there replacing shavings tomorrow.

 

[Wildsky]

I'm going to go into business selling coop heaters.

seems everyone is already convinced they NEED one, so I might as well get in while the iron is hot.

 

[speckledhen]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Considering chickens can get sick in the summer, it would be pointless to worry about them too much. It's just part of the daily routine of making a point to really "look" at your birds to determine if they're happy or healthy or not. You'll know when they start feeling pooky. Whether they get sick because of the cold or not, you'll never know for sure. I think mine are more in danger of getting sick because of the dampness now, which is why I will be out there replacing shavings tomorrow.

Tori, you're absolutely right about dampness! That will encourage frostbite and if heated, dampness breeds nasty germs. Dry and draft free is more important than warm, by far.​

 

[countryboy]

I don't heat their coop at all, it's ventilated and at least 5-6 inches of shavings on the floor, if they get cold they just light up a cigarette and pass it around.