How do you heat your coops

[IkeArrumba]

I live in central Minnesota and it gets pretty cold here. I specifically selected breeds that are good in cold climates. I have a heater for their water to keep it from freezing. I also use a heat light on a timer. The light is set to come on at 5:00 AM and off at 9:00 AM. Then it comes on again from 4:00 PM until 9:00 PM. It helps heat their coop (which is all enclosed and well insulated) but also gives them light which keeps them laying all winter long. I also throw a good amount of straw in the coop so they can burrow into it and stay warm. During those two or three weeks in January where it goes to -30 all day and night I leave the light on all the time. Seems only fair.

 

[Cass]

No heat here. Don't want a fire, don't want the added humidity that comes from heated air. Repiratory illness can result from the humidity getting to high, so better cold than dead. I DID put my roosts the 4" side of the 2x4 flat so they can spread their feathers over their toes and my coop is pretty darn draft proof. (Ask Ray, he ducks in there when snowblowing to warm up.) I shut the door at night. Last year (a very mild winter) I never shut the pop door all season. My rooster slept in the floor next to the pop door all winter. (He has a LOT of feathers and must have been too warm)

There are chickens in ICE LAND that survive outdoors and Sumantras in my friend's yard just take to the trees all winter. My problem with a heated coop is making the chickens dependant on that heat source and if there is a power failure (which almost always happens around here in the winter) they will suffer from the cold because they haven't bothered to grow their winter feathers.

Has anyone ever seen a crow or robin or sparrow dead cuz of the cold weather? Neither have I. So no heat here, my chickens have it better then the tiny wild birds in my yard.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm confused. How do you add ventilation but no drafts? Thanks.

Age old question.

Ventilation is an exhaust system. Air must exit the coop, taking with it the gases and humidity. Typically, since warmer air rises, the very best way to exhaust is vent up at the highest point, that is where the warmer, moist air will exit.

This is our barn. Perhaps you'll see how we accomplished this, but there are a ton of ways to "skin this cat".

 

[Aschenfire]

I'm confused. How do you add ventilation but no drafts? Thanks.

There is a difference between drafts and ventilation. Drafts would be down low, where the birds are...as Fred's demonstrated, venting should be done up high, above the level where the birds are. Think of it this way... you can stand in a cold wind in front of a picket fence, where the air can get between the slats...and you freeze your cheeks off, and if you had to sleep in that all the time, you'd like get sick. OR you can stand in front of a solid brick wall. The air can still circulate and go OVER the wall and over your head, but it's not blowing right up your skirt. Much more comfortable and healthy for all involved. At least this is my take on it.

In a dry. well ventilated coop, birds will be comfortable even in winter.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Was thinking about adding sevin bit worried if the girls ate any, is it safe if ingested small amounts?

Equally effective is a poultry or garden dust, permethrin type product. These are perceived to be much safer products, but quite effective against the insects, mites, and nasties. Just another option and one I personally prefer over a Sevin type product.

 

[Gifa]

I made a video trying to demonstrate

Draft vs Ventilation


Did I get it right?

 

[leilani10]

People from Alaska think we all are silly down here. A well insulated chicken house is all that is needed for chickens to thrive in the bitterest of nights. Infact heat will just throw off their natural molt schedule doing more harm than good.

 

[Our Roost]

Since you have electric in your coop, it might not be a bad idea to think about and look at an automatic door opener. The timer can be set to regulate when you open and close it during the day. I'm looking into it myself. Winters here in Michigan can change daily. Somewhat warm and sunny one day and fridgid cold the next. January and February can be terrible and usually are our coldest months. The birds venture out into the run with the good and bad weather. The coop is their shelter during the extreme cold and they mostly coop up to stay warm. I have 2 exit and entry doors with slides to leave open or keep shut for the chickens that are 11 x 14 inches and of couse a main entry door. They face north and are sheltered by the garage. If its too cold out, I keep them shut and let them coop up. Besides the 2 heat lamps I have in my 8 x 16 foot coop, I keep the floor piled with plenty of straw. Hay is for horses! Ventilation is necessary but not needed as much as in summer months. I purchased eave vents from home depot and cut attach holes near the top outside of the coop walls. They work fine and have screen mesh to keep the bugs out mostly. Good luck and I hope these few tips might help.

 

[aoxa]

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!! I grew up in Southern California where 50F was winter coat weather. Figured you would die if it ever got to 40F. Been in VT for 33 years. Now 50F is "guess I should wear a long sleeve shirt today". If it is windy, a sweater or wind breaker might be in order. "really cold" starts around the time the snow squeaks when you walk on it, about MINUS 10F.   And the chickens, as has been pointed out, have not only down jackets, but also down neck , head and butt warmers. And they get better quality "accoutrements" if they are not living in heated spaces. Mother nature provides.

I can agree, however, if it is freeze your @ss off cold even when you are wearing everything you can put on, a little supplemental heat in the coop can't hurt. I'm thinking maybe the huge box the hardware cloth came in can sit in the corner, open side to the wall and if the girls are really cold, they can mush together in there and it will keep their heat 'close'. I'm doing deep litter so they already have inches of pine shavings.


Yep. I bought mine from Amazon. Didn't figure I needed a 250W for the brooder since it was a bathtub with a shower curtain in an unused bathroom. They came June 14th and even though we were wearing summer weight clothing, it was still nearly unbearable in there for us humans at 95F the first week! I put it on a remote sensing thermostat sold for reptile cages so I didn't have to worry about raising and lowering the lamp to keep the heat constant. 

It's the same with us here and heat. 80 degrees is unbearable. That's the temperature where the clothes come off and we all complain like we're on our periods - even the men.

This summer we became acclimated to the heat. June and July were really bad, and August was just as warm but we were used to it.

Funny how our body does not appreciate something we are not used to experience, whether it is hot or cold.

 

[aoxa]

I love people who are direct!

The 95+ weather we have been getting here is harsher than any winter weather.  I have to go and put out 5 5-gallon waters in the pasture and every pen has one that stays full all summer.  They seem to do well as long as they can find shade.  I just wish I had a few trees already grown in the pasture, but I am working on it.

It's so true. I get very grumpy when I overheat, and my chickens do too

They go through far more water in the summer in my experience!