How do you heat your coops

[Belinda7]

I think they will eat them and they only last for a few hours anyway.

 

[lorilouwing]

Hi. I live in Northern Colorado and this is my first winter with chickens - they are 9 months now. Colorado has a wonderful climate and I agree with the "don't heat your coop" mentality in general. I am just concerned about the fact that we are facing a cold front that is going to drop us to an average of 10 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and negative single digits at night, for a 4 - 5 day stretch, with some snow.
Should I heat the coop in this situation??
Thanks.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Your birds should be okay in those temps even without heat. I tend to keep mine in the coop if it's below zero to limit exposure. It can be long days but I do boredom busting sorts of things --healthy treats--for them during that time to break up the days. Alot of those days we were good to go by noon to pop the door when it eeked above zero. I have tried leaving the door open at below Zero but they just stayed in anyways and I just felt the pop door was letting any accumulated body heat out. IDK....sometimes you need to just watch your birds. Yours may go out into that cold even and be just fine. It's good that you are acclimating them to the cold, though. Good for you.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Just dress them warmly they should be fine! Maybe knit a hoodie for those nasty days

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Looks like you've been busy this last weekend, Hokum.

 

[TXchickmum]

 

[Gargoyle]

Hi. I live in Northern Colorado and this is my first winter with chickens - they are 9 months now. Colorado has a wonderful climate and I agree with the "don't heat your coop" mentality in general. I am just concerned about the fact that we are facing a cold front that is going to drop us to an average of 10 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and negative single digits at night, for a 4 - 5 day stretch, with some snow.
Should I heat the coop in this situation??
Thanks.

How many do you have? How large is their coop? 20 chickens in a 5x8 coop will be plenty warm, 3 chickens in a 10 x 12' coop may be cold. Also, what breed are they?

In general I go with the theory that chickens have survived in the wild without heat lamps for thousands of years. However, I'm not sure our chickens or the climates they live in have much to do with their ancestors 500 years ago. Were there native breeds of chickens living in Alaska and northern Canada two hundreds years ago, or were they all living in the Philippines, Indonesia, Italy, and Egypt? Most of our chickens now are breeds developed in the past 150 years; some were deliberately bred to be very cold hearty, and can therefore thrive in climates that the historic junglefowl perhaps couldn't tolerate...

I'm just saying,IMHO there is no one, single, final, definitive answer, just lots of strongly held beliefs and opinions (many of which are based on direct observation, of course).

 

[Hokum Coco]

I have been around the sun 63 times.
I live in Canada (Indian for COLD) Snaps reach-40.
I do not heat my coop.
Feed extra corn for extra cold.
Lost birds to heat never to cold.
Works for me.

 

[Nevada Sun]

I live in Manitoba, just south of Winnipeg, which Manitoba borders North Dakota and Minnesota… so we do get cold here… I have Isa Browns and other bigger chickens but also many little bantams… right now it is -30C and lower of course with the wind chill… my coop it -10C this am…Some of the water of course freezes and I now also have a Dog bowl that is heated.. love it!!! but I have two heat lamps in there and it is still -10 C. most of you say not to use heat lamps.. My coop is insulated Very well but have lots of Windows.. one we should have covered… any remarks,, I 'm ready...

 

[Gargoyle]

but I have two heat lamps in there and it is still -10 C. most of you say not to use heat lamps..

Just make sure your heat lamps are wired and installed safely. Are they bulb type or the ceramic heater type? These are safer than the glass bulbs, and they last longer.