How do you heat your coops

[featherz]

Upstate NY and I don't heat anything.. Even have 8 week olds and it's gotten below freezing and they have been just fine. They don't even act differently. One of my coops is essentially open air and it's gotten down into minus double digits and they are fine then too.

 

[JackE]

It's just started to get cold here in maryland -- into the 30's and maybe 20s at night. I have a small raised coop with 3 hens. I've stacked up straw bales on 3 sides and am keeping the door open and a vent cracked -- but I still worry about them. We don't have electricity down there. What would you think of using those hand warmer things on nights when it really gets cold?

I also live in MD. Other than a water fount warmer(CookieTinHeater), my coop has no added heat. And as you can see in the pic below, the whole front of the coop is open. Don't worry about your birds, they are built to handle the cold, and don't need any help from us.

 

[buckbuck704]

I have a new issue. I have 5 girls and 2 roosts. One low...one high. 4 girls sleep on the top one and leave one below to freeze by herself. SO SAD. why would they do this and what should I do to make sure she doesn't get excluded from the group warmth in this Connecticut winter??

 

[OldGuy43]

I have a new issue. I have 5 girls and 2 roosts. One low...one high. 4 girls sleep on the top one and leave one below to freeze by herself. SO SAD. why would they do this and what should I do to make sure she doesn't get excluded from the group warmth in this Connecticut winter??

I'm going to make an assumption that either roost is long enough to accommodate all 5. If so, I wouldn't worry about it. I have one chicken that just seems to prefer to roost alone until it gets to cold for her.

 

[3chickchicks]

Some of you will probably laugh at me but I put out a heat lamp the other day when we went from the 70's to the low twenties in one day. Here, the worst it ever gets would be to go down to 15. But I did see that they didn't seem to care about the low twenties. If they were cold, they would have huddled near the lamp but they weren't.

My coop connects to an enclosed run and so it's the run that I lock up to keep predators out. Anyway, the coop doesn't have a door so they go out to the run whenever they wake up (and so I don't have to get up). That morning, they were down in the run not giving a crap about 23 degrees and these are birds that live in Texas! The run is covered in sand and I wondered if I should put hay down, but they didn't seem to care.

So, I learned I don't need to worry so much about them in the cold. I just put an aquarium heater in their water to keep it from freezing and won't worry. I do need to work on some wind blocks for the run for when fronts come through.

I think people should take care of their chickens how they see fit. If they want to provide heat, fine. I know I slept better. I did learn that my birds didn't need it in the temps I get here. If they were going through a hard molt and a front like that came through, I'd probably stick a lamp out there again.

 

[OldGuy43]

Some of you will probably laugh at me but I put out a heat lamp the other day

Yep, you got that right pardner.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

That morning, they were down in the run not giving a crap about 23 degrees and these are birds that live in Texas! The run is covered in sand and I wondered if I should put hay down, but they didn't seem to care.

So, I learned I don't need to worry so much about them in the cold.

I think you have your answers.

Watch your birds. They'll tell you what you need and don't need.

Personally I don't sleep as well when I've made the decision to use them at -30 or -40 nights due to their fire risk.

Just my two cents.

 

[3chickchicks]

Yep, you got that right pardner.

Hey now, I'm a newbie.

 

[OldGuy43]

Quote:

 

[Belinda7]

Coop has (2) 8 x 4 floors above a 3 sided covered porch underneath it. with a fully enclosed pen attached...I have 4 chickens (I know....a little overboard!) Top floor for roosting and bottom floor for food, water and indoor exercise. They have access to the penned in area during the day, and also free-range if I am outside. We have predators (I lost two to predators early on) so they can't be left unattended...after a recent encounter with a cougar, I think the chickens agree that I (and my gun) should stay with them when out to free-range! Thought with the new coop I wouldn't need the chicken tractor anymore....but the chickens will only lay eggs in their "first" home!..and not the new coop!..so it remains attached! Any suggestions on how to change their egg-laying site?

I live in northern Michigan and it gets extremely cold here! (Temp today is 21 degrees) My water was frozen several weeks ago and I was unable to get a heated water dispenser locally...but I had previously bought a SMALL heated "pond" for deer...so I put that in the coop, filled it with pine chips for a level heated surface, installed a small water on top of the pine chips. ... and no more frozen drinking water!

I installed a red warming lamp (that I used when the chicks were just hatched) on a timer for nighttime heat, and installed insulation on ceiling and all 4 interior walls of the upper level where they roost and sleep. I covered the insulation with thin hard board - because if left uncovered I discovered they eat and therefore REMOVE the Styrofoam insulation! It's 21 degrees outside tonight, and temp in upper level of coop is 38. Chickens are on the roost, not huddled, and have continued to lay 4 eggs a day. I may try to not use the warming light after reading this thread, but am leery of finding stressed out or frozen chickens after a cold night, and perhaps no egg production?!