Heat lamp for 25+ week old flock and molt

[MrsEarthern]

I'm a first time flock owner in the Northern part of Clermont co, in SW Ohio on the west side of Harsha Lake; the Almanac is calling for a cold, long Winter but we probably will not get much snow.
My birds are about 25 weeks now (Australorp-Orpington and possibly other breeds), and I got them about 16 weeks old. Two of my males partially molted around 18 weeks, and the other two around 22-24 weeks, just for sex feathers in the saddle area. My two females have not seemed to molt and have really nice feathers.
They hatched around mid-March this year and we are getting into our Autumn weather- nighttime temps 50-60 F, lots of fog and dew into late morning, and staying cooler (70-75) until afternoon.
Should I expect them to molt before Winter? If they do, do they need the heat lamp?
All I have currently is a radiant reflector for CFL, is that enough?
We are going to process two of the roos and I am trying to get a few more females, I expect to have 5-6 birds through Winter; if I get more females they will likely be less than 10 weeks old (Currently), so would the younger birds need the heat lamp even if the older birds do not?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Having burned a coop down with a heat lamp fearing older pullets (12 weeks) would get too cold during a cold snap in November (about 10 years ago), I can tell you do NOT heat the coop unless you are really going into subzero weather...even during molt.

I don't get arctic cold, but we do have a number of winter months of freezing rain and constant dank cold weather in my Pacific Northwest. I have never figured out why birds molt in October-November annually (after the first adult molt). Personally, I'd molt in July. But they do. Most of them have a gentle, slow molt which means a few feathers here and there over a number of weeks rather than a hard molt which means running around with nothing but pin cushion and bare skin. I had a New Hampshire that did that in November...rain and cold...and was just fine.

Usually the first serious molt comes at about 1 1/2 to 2 years of age. At 1 year of age, they typically lay through their first winter having gone through all the juvenile molts. Again, how serious a molt they have (hard or soft) depends on the breed and genetics. Most heritage birds do soft molts while many commercial hybrids are genetically manipulated to do hard molts, which recover faster to keep them from going off line production too long...but to be truthful, the commercial industry typically culls at 2 years of age at that first molt as production is most important, and most hybrid hyper layers are played out by 2 years of age.

All to say, look at your breeds. Typically they'll be the kind for a soft molt, and unless you have really subzero weather (and I'm talking Alaska arctic freezes), you almost never have to heat the coop. Chickens that have been acclimated to your weather that have a coop out of wind and direct weather will be fine. Heating them can actually cause problems as you weaken their immune systems with too much of a temperature change (like greenhouse plants).

My thoughts and experiences.
LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

As to your 10 week olds...if they have been properly hardened to the weather (which you can do a LOT faster than most artificial incubation protocol suggests), they'll be fine.

I broody hen raise chicks. I have had numerous hens brood in January and February during freezing rain and snow storms...one year a blizzard. They had the chicks out in the covered run by day 3 or 4. The chicks ran around in their down jackets using momma as a warming hutch periodically. It completely changed my thinking about chick incubating and raising. My broody hardened chicks mature faster, stronger, lay earlier than any artificially brooded chick (and yes...I've done side by side in one year).

So do not make the mistake of over heating. Chickens have an amazing ability to acclimate to the weather as long as they've been hardened to natural weather and have dry, draft free coops. (And I'll even caveat that with the fact that my adult chickens will stand around in my Northwest drizzle just fine....their top feathers act like a oiled rain slicker while their down acts like a down inner lining).

How they stay warm with molt I haven't figured out...but again most have a very soft molt with minimal feather loss at any given time...but even with hard molts, running around like naked pin cushions, I've never seen them have trouble. (Again I'm not in subarctic weather).

LofMc

 

[MrsEarthern]

As to your 10 week olds...if they have been properly hardened to the weather (which you can do a LOT faster than most artificial incubation protocol suggests), they'll be fine.

I broody hen raise chicks. I have had numerous hens brood in January and February during freezing rain and snow storms...one year a blizzard. They had the chicks out in the covered run by day 3 or 4. The chicks ran around in their down jackets using momma as a warming hutch periodically. It completely changed my thinking about chick incubating and raising. My broody hardened chicks mature faster, stronger, lay earlier than any artificially brooded chick (and yes...I've done side by side in one year).

So do not make the mistake of over heating. Chickens have an amazing ability to acclimate to the weather as long as they've been hardened to natural weather and have dry, draft free coops. (And I'll even caveat that with the fact that my adult chickens will stand around in my Northwest drizzle just fine....their top feathers act like a oiled rain slicker while their down acts like a down inner lining).

How they stay warm with molt I haven't figured out...but again most have a very soft molt with minimal feather loss at any given time...but even with hard molts, running around like naked pin cushions, I've never seen them have trouble. (Again I'm not in subarctic weather).

LofMc

Thank you so much, these are so informative. My very first bird was a feral Wyandotte mixed roo who used to sleep on the fence post by our back door in every weather and I had picked up the radiant reflector for him when we cooped him his last year, but he hated it and would stay out in the run if the light was on. It takes one of the small CFLs and it never got hot enough that I couldn't touch it barehanded but I'd be devastated if I burned the coop down I'm so sorry that happened to you and thank you so much for the warning.
I guess, I'd only ever seen a hard molt because I was expecting bald birds at some point haha! I do think they have soft molted, we had about 3-4 weeks where I collected tons of feathers every day and they are all much fuller feathered and fluffier now.
Their current coop is oriented so the solid nesting boxes access door faces West toward our worst windy weather so the wind can't whip it open, their door to attached screened and roofed run and outer run door faces East which is leeward most of the year, Window/coop outer run doors face South, and there's a vent on the North wall of the coop. The ramp and outer roost is semi-shielded from weather, and the outer run is shaped to help funnel them toward the door of the screened run and coop if it is too windy. We've got a dinky little "ready to customize" prefab 4x6 with a 315 square foot run, my intention is to frame out the outer run, fully enclose it, and sort of build around and off of the existing small coop to create a sort of coop within a coop, within the enclosed run.
That way when I start letting them breed I have a safe separate space for the itty bitty floofs, and everyone else safe access to sun and rain if they want a shower.
My birds where hen brooded and raised free ranged until I got them, but my neighbor already doesn't like me for not having a normal grass lawn (Installed native prairie and thicket savanna on the opposite side from him last Fall!!! =D ) and he would not appreciate chicken foraging so they only run free a few hours in the evening when I can hang out with them because they will wander and can roost above my head; and the hawks and turkey vultures have been hanging out closer than they used to since other neighbors and I started maintaining a flock.

 

[3KillerBs]

Heat should be unnecessary.

Birds *usually* time their molt so as to have fresh, new, weatherproof feathers in time for cold weather.

First year birds, who have finished their juvenile molts as they reach full-size, will probably not molt again until next fall.

I've had fully-feathered 4-week-old birds doing just fine at 40F. No need to worry about 10-week-olds.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have never figured out why birds molt in October-November annually (after the first adult molt). Personally, I'd molt in July.

Because July is prime chick raising time. Food is plentiful and the weather is warm. They molt later in the year because the weather and food supply is not very good for raising chicks. So they stop laying eggs and use the nutrition that was going into egg production to replace feathers that have worn out. As you noted, cold weather doesn't bother them that much.

@MrsEarthern I agree with them in that once they are feathered out they can handle cold really well. Even when molting. You are in the Cincinnati area. You will see cold below zero Fahrenheit but from people where it really gets cold it's about -20 F (-30 C) where you have to start taking precautions.

For you, heating the coop should be totally unnecessary. Whet you need is a coop with decent ventilation up high to help keep it dry and keep cold winds off of them in the coop. Thery can handle the rest.

 

[MrsEarthern]

Because July is prime chick raising time. Food is plentiful and the weather is warm. They molt later in the year because the weather and food supply is not very good for raising chicks. So they stop laying eggs and use the nutrition that was going into egg production to replace feathers that have worn out. As you noted, cold weather doesn't bother them that much.

@MrsEarthern I agree with them in that once they are feathered out they can handle cold really well. Even when molting. You are in the Cincinnati area. You will see cold below zero Fahrenheit but from people where it really gets cold it's about -20 F (-30 C) where you have to start taking precautions.

For you, heating the coop should be totally unnecessary. Whet you need is a coop with decent ventilation up high to help keep it dry and keep cold winds off of them in the coop. Thery can handle the rest.

Thank you, yes I am about 25 miles East of Cincinnati and I think the coldest it has gotten here since we've lived here is -9 with wind chill for just a few days.
Their coop is up off the ground, and doing the deep litter method in the attached run below. Most of the year the winds come from west, once we are well into winter we'll have some northwesterly winds and the coop should be protected somewhat because it is situated on the southern side of our home, almost centered, and we have some hedges and shrubs to break up wind.
When I frame out the run, I intend to not block the existing ventilation as it has been drying well after storms so far, so they will end up with a roofed area around the coops and the rest will be enclosed with 1/4in hardwire to protect them from predators. I've been looking at coop designs and will probably consult here before I finalize my build plans.
Edit: it's about 40 miles driving but it's only about 25 miles as the crow flies.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Because July is prime chick raising time. Food is plentiful and the weather is warm. They molt later in the year because the weather and food supply is not very good for raising chicks. So they stop laying eggs and use the nutrition that was going into egg production to replace feathers that have worn out. As you noted, cold weather doesn't bother them that much.

@MrsEarthern I agree with them in that once they are feathered out they can handle cold really well. Even when molting. You are in the Cincinnati area. You will see cold below zero Fahrenheit but from people where it really gets cold it's about -20 F (-30 C) where you have to start taking precautions.

For you, heating the coop should be totally unnecessary. Whet you need is a coop with decent ventilation up high to help keep it dry and keep cold winds off of them in the coop. Thery can handle the rest.

Lol. Yes, well explained, and I know that it makes total natural sense with a chicken's biology...but personally I'd still buy a bikini, fill an ice tea, let the kiddies run, and molt in July August. But I'm not a smart chicken.