Do I need heat lamp in coop with the cold weather???

[3chickchicks]

I now have only 2 buff orpington hens which are finally laying. Without the roosters they are friendly and seem very happy in the coop at night. It is going to freeze here this weekend in Oklahoma and I bought a 250 watt heat lamp bulb but think that will grill them. I tried a white 100 watt bulb but they stayed up all night. I tried a red bulb but it is only 25 watt. I found yellow bug bulb 90 watt and will install that in the metal cone shaped lamp which is above their heads upstairs where their laying boxes are located. They seem to perch to sleep at night not in their boxes.
Do you think one 90 watt yellow bulb will be enough when it is 32 degrees or below? Suggestions welcome!

I'm in North Texas and the other day it got down to 26 after it being in the 70's the day before. I got worried about them and put a heat lamp out there but mine didn't need it. They were in the twenty degree weather, wandering around the run like it wasn't cold outside at all.
I'm a newbie but I'm on the "don't heat" bandwagon unless you really, really need it. It's not worth the fire hazard. They won't need it for 32F. Just make sure they can lay cover their feet on the roost and maybe put some Vaseline on their combs.
I put an aquarium heater in their water though so the water wouldn't freeze. I may just bring their water inside next time if the freezing temps are only at night.

 

[bobbi-j]

Honestly, they don't need vaseline on their combs either. Not in 32* weather. Not if your coop is dry (as in not humid) and well-ventilated. I have never, ever put vaseline on my birds' combs. We've only had a few cases of frostbite when we had temps in the double-digits below zero for an extended period of time, and that was just the tips of a couple of combs. Didn't seem to have any ill effect on the chickens. For 32 degree weather, there is really nothing extra that you need to do.

 

[LTygress]

While all of this is good advice, I always go with "they would still appreciate it". We humans can handle low temperatures, but we appreciate the heat. The same goes for chickens, and any animal.

Just be safe with it. My outside brooder is made of wood, and uses a red heat lamp that is only about 12 inches from the wood on the bottom at one end. The wood has darkened (not burnt, just "suntanned" kinda) over time, but it hasn't caught fire. Since it's a brooder, the lamp stays on all the time when there are chicks in it.

I wouldn't do a heating pad, electric blanket, or anything else that could be pecked at and opened up. But as long as you have it installed safely, and it doesn't get hot enough to give the wood a charred (black) look, you should be fine. If you use an extension cord, make sure the connections are protected from rain and/or puddles.

 

[bobbi-j]

"They would appreciate it" until they become dependent on it and when the power goes out don't have it, and they're not acclimated to the cooler weather. Chickens, cats, dogs, horses, and any other animal you care to name are not like humans. They have built-in coats of various types. Chickens have down coats, sheep - wool, most others a thick coat of hair. We do not. We can take our coat off when we go from the cold outdoors to the warm indoors. They cannot. Then they have to deal with a temperature change and can't adjust their heating system. So, come to think of it, they may not appreciate it. Some cold is better for them than too hot. Again, there is no reason to supply artificial heat - especially when it's only 32* ABOVE zero. That's still shirtsleeve weather!

 

[Going Quackers]

"They would appreciate it" until they become dependent on it and when the power goes out don't have it, and they're not acclimated to the cooler weather. Chickens, cats, dogs, horses, and any other animal you care to name are not like humans. They have built-in coats of various types. Chickens have down coats, sheep - wool, most others a thick coat of hair. We do not. We can take our coat off when we go from the cold outdoors to the warm indoors. They cannot. Then they have to deal with a temperature change and can't adjust their heating system. So, come to think of it, they may not appreciate it. Some cold is better for them than too hot. Again, there is no reason to supply artificial heat - especially when it's only 32* ABOVE zero. That's still shirtsleeve weather!

Exactly, my horses are not blanketed, the sheep get calf hutches no fancy barns, my barn cat never comes in the house, the ducks and chickens don't get heat.. i do get the wanting them comfortable, it makes sense to be worried.. BUT heating definitely changes their base(hair, wool, fur, feathers etc), it's like us humans if you live where it's warm, to you cold is probably like 50-60F here? we'd be bloody boiling if it went that "warm" right now.

You get acclimatized and sudden drops can be super concerning, my massive concern with heat is hydro what happens if it goes out? what do you do? if you don't have a generator or a place you can move those birds too they can be in big trouble. We lost hydro in my area for well over 6hrs on Sunday night... bad wind storm complete with heavy rains. There would have been no way to fix heat lamps, had it been cold it would have been a disaster.

We have been decently cold as of late, well below freezing and everyone is doing quite fine, i am already sick of it and it's barely begun lol

 

[LTygress]

I'm down in Georgia where we can get the extreme of both temperatures. Unfortunately, it usually happens in the same week - sometimes within the same day! Just last week we had a low temperature of 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Just two days later, it was above 80. And just one day after that, it was back down in the 20's. It's very confusing for any creature - human, dog, cat, or bird. Of course, they handled it just fine then too. And I seriously doubt they were acclimated to those temperatures - on either end of the spectrum!

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm down in Georgia where we can get the extreme of both temperatures. Unfortunately, it usually happens in the same week - sometimes within the same day! Just last week we had a low temperature of 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Just two days later, it was above 80. And just one day after that, it was back down in the 20's. It's very confusing for any creature - human, dog, cat, or bird. Of course, they handled it just fine then too. And I seriously doubt they were acclimated to those temperatures - on either end of the spectrum!

I think the difference here is, your temperatures fluctuate from day to day. They're not moving from one extreme to the other on a daily basis. Your temps are obviously not sustained for any length of time for them to acclimate one way or another .

 

[Fletch83]

I'm in North Texas and the other day it got down to 26 after it being in the 70's the day before. I got worried about them and put a heat lamp out there but mine didn't need it. They were in the twenty degree weather, wandering around the run like it wasn't cold outside at all.
I'm a newbie but I'm on the "don't heat" bandwagon unless you really, really need it. It's not worth the fire hazard. They won't need it for 32F. Just make sure they can lay cover their feet on the roost and maybe put some Vaseline on their combs.
I put an aquarium heater in their water though so the water wouldn't freeze. I may just bring their water inside next time if the freezing temps are only at night.

Hey 3chicks, I am also in North Texas, in the DFW region. That was an insane weather change from this Thursday to Friday and I think we'll be in the 30's for awhile, at least at night! I haven't been heating my coop but this will be their first full winter outside (got them last Christmas as babies so they stayed inside until they were fully feathered). Anyway I guess we don't have too much to worry about in Texas over the winter, other than the ICE that's coming our way this weekend! I get so cold myself and of course start thinking like a crazy person that I need to bring the chickens inside and have to start talking some sense into myself. Of course you see the same thing around here with people blanketing their horses when the weather gets into the 40's - 50's which does more harm than good in my opinion, as I am of the mindset that it's better to not blanket and let their winter coat grow in fully - but I digress!

 

[3chickchicks]

Hey 3chicks, I am also in North Texas, in the DFW region. That was an insane weather change from this Thursday to Friday and I think we'll be in the 30's for awhile, at least at night! I haven't been heating my coop but this will be their first full winter outside (got them last Christmas as babies so they stayed inside until they were fully feathered). Anyway I guess we don't have too much to worry about in Texas over the winter, other than the ICE that's coming our way this weekend! I get so cold myself and of course start thinking like a crazy person that I need to bring the chickens inside and have to start talking some sense into myself. Of course you see the same thing around here with people blanketing their horses when the weather gets into the 40's - 50's which does more harm than good in my opinion, as I am of the mindset that it's better to not blanket and let their winter coat grow in fully - but I digress!

We're doing our thanksgiving on Sunday when we're supposed to get ice. I'm not sure how that's going to go, lol!
I used to have a horse and rarely put a blanket on him. He'd get so fuzzy in the winter but he was nice and warm. Summer coats are much prettier so people want them to keep it. But the poor horse never gets their winter coat!

 

[chicken8]

It was -10F here this week. My coop is not insulated and I don't heat it. The chickens have been laying everyday and come running out of the coop in the morning.