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

[mintunz]

This is all very helpful! It's going to be 8 F tonight, our girls are only 9 months old! They seem to be fine, it's usually not colder than 25F

 

[mintunz]

:cd

 

[annagarret]

I live in Michigan and it has already been in the single digits at night. I do NOT heat my coop. I have 2 barred rock and 1 rhode island red, cold hardy hens. The only problem was to much wind. My husband put up Visquine (plastic sheeting) on 3 sides of the run and they liked that. It keeps out the wind and snow. I read on this site that chickens have as many as 8,000 feathers to keep them warm. When it is really cold I feel past their feathers and their skin is warm. I also feel like they should be freezing too, like I am at low temps. As hard as it may be to wrap our head around they are very different from mammals and WILL survive cold winters. I have noticed the other smaller birds still flying around outside and they don't seem to be bothered by the cold either and they have no shelter or humans to take care of them!!

 

[Janejane77]

I live in michigan and have 6 Buff Orpingtons. It's supposed to get very cold this week. I have a decent store bought coop and they've been walking around in the snow. Tonight I've partially covered the coop with a tarp, as tomorrow will be colder & windy. Do you think this is enough to keep them warm?
Also, I have 1 chicken that had a minor injury a few days ago. I had to move it from the other birds until it heals. It's in a dog kennel inside my garage with a blanket floor. Do you think this is enough to keep this one warm in 5 degree weather? I just worry since it doesn't have the others to snuggle & stay warm.

 

[JonB]

I live in michigan and have 6 Buff Orpingtons. It's supposed to get very cold this week. I have a decent store bought coop and they've been walking around in the snow. Tonight I've partially covered the coop with a tarp, as tomorrow will be colder & windy. Do you think this is enough to keep them warm?
Also, I have 1 chicken that had a minor injury a few days ago. I had to move it from the other birds until it heals. It's in a dog kennel inside my garage with a blanket floor. Do you think this is enough to keep this one warm in 5 degree weather? I just worry since it doesn't have the others to snuggle & stay warm.

They should be fine. Keeping the wind off them, and keeping their coop/bedding dry seem to be the keys to hardy, healthy chickens. It's been lots of teens and single digits for awhile now, with some below zeros as well. Our flock of 5 seem to be doing well...

 

[mrealm]

I was also concerned about the severely cold temperatures and on the fence about using a heat lamp for my full grown reds. Understanding the concept of heat and moisture I decided to wait it out and see how the girls acted in the cold. They have a nicely built house and have plenty of draft free space. To my surprise, even at low temperatures, they were full of life out in their run and seemed to prefer to sit outside. The one thing that did clearly piss them off was when their outside water source froze. The important thing to remember in the cold is that they still need fresh water. My girls have an inside and outside water source. I removed the outside water, to prevent freezing, and bought one of those water heaters to prevent the inside water from freezing. As long as they have something to do (peck and scratch) they seem to prefer the cold over the severe heat. Plenty of food, water and a draft free spot to roost and the girls seem fine.

 

[citychikinranch]

Hi chickin people!, my wife and I are new here, and really enjoy the site.

As a child we had a large old chicken coop on our farm and when I got old enough my parents got me a flock of 20 or 25 various hens and a couple of roosters. I showed a trio every year through 4-H at the Wyoming county fair in Pike NY. Good times as a child, lol. I loved those chickens and had some ribbons and small trophy's.

I raised the chickens in a small portion of the coop, there was no heat/electric down there. I dont believe in the 10 years of Western NY winters I ever really lost a chicken or sustained any credible damage to my birds, it may have been slightly drafty in the pen my dad and I built but always dry with lots of straw. So now my wife and I after 25 years or so picked up a flock of 10 assorted hens. They were due to start laying in mid to late Oct. and a few in Nov. then we've had an early and lengthy cold spell and so alas'...no eggs. And this is after raising them for a few months and we were eagerly awaiting our first egg.

We knew(?) it would be slow at first but didnt expect no eggs. So I've decided to put the average $4.99 450 watt red bulb in the basic Tractor Supply $9.99 brooder lamp on them in the morning early enough to equal 14 hours just to give them a "kick start". Our coop was all reclaimed wooden shipping boxes from my work and they have a large fenced outside area made with reclaimed posts and such, we wanted it to be as green as possible and keep costs to a minimum. We like them as pets but arent planning to use energy keeping them comfy once we get closer to spring. I will probably leave it installed for any severe temps that could possibly come up in the future, but rest assured that unless there are circumstances that dictate whether you want to or not, Chickens need to be dry and have shelter, chickens dont need heat. I'm not a chicken expert though so if you end up with a "chickencicle" dont blame me!

Please wish us luck pappa need a sunnyside up. Any thoughts on my plan to give them a little "kickstart"?

 

[bobbi-j]

Hi chickin people!, my wife and I are new here, and really enjoy the site.

As a child we had a large old chicken coop on our farm and when I got old enough my parents got me a flock of 20 or 25 various hens and a couple of roosters. I showed a trio every year through 4-H at the Wyoming county fair in Pike NY. Good times as a child, lol. I loved those chickens and had some ribbons and small trophy's.

I raised the chickens in a small portion of the coop, there was no heat/electric down there. I dont believe in the 10 years of Western NY winters I ever really lost a chicken or sustained any credible damage to my birds, it may have been slightly drafty in the pen my dad and I built but always dry with lots of straw. So now my wife and I after 25 years or so picked up a flock of 10 assorted hens. They were due to start laying in mid to late Oct. and a few in Nov. then we've had an early and lengthy cold spell and so alas'...no eggs. And this is after raising them for a few months and we were eagerly awaiting our first egg.

We knew(?) it would be slow at first but didnt expect no eggs. So I've decided to put the average $4.99 450 watt red bulb in the basic Tractor Supply $9.99 brooder lamp on them in the morning early enough to equal 14 hours just to give them a "kick start". Our coop was all reclaimed wooden shipping boxes from my work and they have a large fenced outside area made with reclaimed posts and such, we wanted it to be as green as possible and keep costs to a minimum. We like them as pets but arent planning to use energy keeping them comfy once we get closer to spring. I will probably leave it installed for any severe temps that could possibly come up in the future, but rest assured that unless there are circumstances that dictate whether you want to or not, Chickens need to be dry and have shelter, chickens dont need heat. I'm not a chicken expert though so if you end up with a "chickencicle" dont blame me!

Please wish us luck pappa need a sunnyside up. Any thoughts on my plan to give them a little "kickstart"?

A simple 40 watt bulb would be just as effective in giving them that "kickstart". Although, if you have pullets, I don't know if it's going to make a difference or not. That may all depend on hormones and when they're ready to lay. A first-year pullet will generally lay through the winter without supplemental light once she starts laying. It could be a combination of the move (when did you get them?) and the cold that has set them off. Or, they're older than you were told.

 

[citychikinranch]

A simple 40 watt bulb would be just as effective in giving them that "kickstart". Although, if you have pullets, I don't know if it's going to make a difference or not. That may all depend on hormones and when they're ready to lay. A first-year pullet will generally lay through the winter without supplemental light once she starts laying. It could be a combination of the move (when did you get them?) and the cold that has set them off. Or, they're older than you were told.

We got them in September and they are all almost full grown, they were half the size that they are now, I had also come to the 40 watt bulb conclusion as it seems the light is whats important not the heat...I just went with the Red bulb because thats the one that most were recommending.

 

[chickenkeeper12]

This Friday it's supposed to be 12 degrees during the day and -6 degrees at night. I'm really nervous what should I do. Btw I'm in southern Connecticut!!