How do you heat your coops

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JackE said:
They need 16hrs a day for egg laying? I guess my chickens don't know about that. I get eggs all through the winter, no extra light needed.
Jack
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Jack,
You must have some of those crazy chickens like White Leghorns if they lay all year long with no break. I like my variety, even if they don't crank out the eggs.


Quote:
Ah... that is helpful information. Thank you.
I was thinking about installing a thermometer in my coop too... one that will read humidity as well. Funny how this hobby makes us all scientists, isn't it?
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You think I am in this as a hobby??? Have you looked at my chicken compound? I AM THE CRAZY CHICKEN LADY!!! (Senora Pollo Loco)
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Tonight is the first night my 3 chicks (4wks and well feathered) are having outside in there coop with no light. They are in a wooden coup lined with newspaper and lots of hay and I have a thick blanket over the open section where breeze can come through. The other half is open for ventilation. It will be about 13-14 degrees Celsius. Hope they will be ok a bit nervous :/
 
No white leghorns here. I have SLW,GLWs, BOs, BRs, EEs, SSs. I like variety too. I don't quite get the production of the summer months in the winter. But, I get plenty of eggs for my family, just don't have a lot of extras to give away to friends.
Jack
 
Well, after reading everything in this thread, and everything in this thread (https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/421122/think-its-too-cold-for-your-chickens-think-again)...I have decided to not heat my small coop... I only have 4 chickens, they all like to snuggle with each other anyway, and I'm only in southern Michigan. No worries, right? ;)

Unfortunately, I already bought a heat mat with an adjustable rheostat...but I'm not sure I'll ever bother to use it. I want them to go outside as much as possible in the winter, so they need to winterize, or they'll just sit on the mat all day. I'm also very concerned about condensation as a result of using any heat...again, small coop. If anything, I may add a covered vent in the top of the coop for better ventilation...

Anyway...I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who posted for helping this first time chicken owner make a VERY informed decision re: the heating in winter issue!! This forum is awesome & I am learning something new all the time! :D I really appreciate you all! :D
 
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JackE said:
They need 16hrs a day for egg laying? I guess my chickens don't know about that. I get eggs all through the winter, no extra light needed.
Jack
Click to expand...
For birds in their first laying year - no they don't need that much light to lay. I think it's actually 14 not 16. I like my older hens to take a break in the winter. I want them to be as productive as possible when it counts (spring and summer for hatching eggs). My pullets keep up laying in the fall to fill eating egg supplies :D

I have a 2 hens in their second and third year and are laying every day. Dawn is around 7am here and dusk is 7:30 pm right now. They only get 12.5 hours a day and still lay consistently.
 
I guess I kinda let mother nature do her thing. No heat, well ventilated. I do run a light ( not a heat lamp) that is in a shatterproof enclosure with conduit, so they cant peck or cause a fire messing with it. It is on a timer, because in Ohio it gets dark at 5:30 or so during the winter. With the timer giving them that extra 3 hours of light they have during the summer the leghorns keep right on laying. At night we shut the coop up tight, so the draft stays off of them, but the birds seem happy and do just fine. We do give them greens, meal worms and such during the winter, since they cant forage up as much then. We feed a good balanced diet and boost their protein about 2% during the winter to compensate for the summer protein loss....all & all chickens are pretty tough. Our biggest thing we are facing this winter is the chicks that just hatched last weekend. I guess these guys and gals will winter on the closed in back porch, as they dont , and wont have the insulation in feathering built up to make the January cold. :)
 
I heat.... but for light. Only for that. Otherwise our coop is well insulated and I think the chickens should b e able to survive.... Of course, when it got down to -50 I was glad they had a heat lamp! We had a chicken die due to cold shock also because we were transporting them when it was -50 to our house to live for a few days... Just to warn you, I think she might have lived if we didn't expose her... A minute, a MINUTE, and she was dead, a minute outside.
 

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