How do you heat your coops

[Rooster Rules]

To heat my coop I close the door. 10 chooks in a small (well ventilated) closed coop = a very warm coop.

You know, no offense to you, or anyone else. But temps to 0 or -10f, are bugger all. Try some -30 to -40, do you all think bantams are going to like this for a week or 2 straight, with day time temps to -10f. They try and survive.
It really amazes Me that those who do not experience bitter cold for days on end, can really understand it.
It is 1 thing to have a night of 0f or -5f, but for a week of -30 to -40.
There are those who talk about -40, that is rare, and even rarer in a lot of areas of Canada and the USA, with the exception of Alaska and northern Canada.
I am not finger pointing, but do you think my small flock of mostly Bantams, would enjoy sitting in the coop today with it being -30 outside and maybe -10 to -15 in the coop.
I have it around 25f in the coop right now, humidity is around 50%, this tolerable.I could probably keep it a little colder, say 15-20f.
So those who have temps above o for the most part, not a huge deal, those with a lot of -30 and colder, may need a boost of heat to make it tolerable for these creatures.
Again not criticizing anyone, it just needs to be stated to all of you no heat, no insulation proponents, maybe you do not understand very bitter sustained cold temps...

 

[Rooster Rules]

Sorry for the double post but I just checked out the forecast. My little brother is in Winnipeg right now. He grew up in the desert so that's quite a shock for him!

Yes and it is much colder than normal for early December. What on earth would a Southern Boy be doin up here in winter.......LOL

 

[ten chicks]

It is very cold in Manitoba. I HEAT my coops also,always have. My small flock cannot deal with these cold temp. I am tired of hearing that heating a coop is not a good idea. Everyone is entitled to their opinion,this is MINE! It has been and still is -30 C with wind chill -40,yes wind chill does matter. If the power were to go out(i can only recall this happening once)then i will put them into my bed and we will all snuggle together!

My silkies and two orpington girls are currently inside,they are in a mudroom off my kitchen,running around doing fun chicken stuff. My birds will not go out in the cold,just sit in their coop,this way they at least get to run around. I think i will keep them inside all winter,this way we can drink hot apple cider,admire the Christmas tree and tell stories to each other. Oh,and if it gets really cold and the power goes out,we will all jump into my king size bed and snuggle together with the dogs(which are currently sleeping on the bed)and cats.

 

[Rooster Rules]

It is very cold in Manitoba. I HEAT my coops also,always have. My small flock cannot deal with these cold temp. I am tired of hearing that heating a coop is not a good idea. Everyone is entitled to their opinion,this is MINE! It has been and still is -30 C with wind chill -40,yes wind chill does matter. If the power were to go out(i can only recall this happening once)then i will put them into my bed and we will all snuggle together!

My silkies and two orpington girls are currently inside,they are in a mudroom off my kitchen,running around doing fun chicken stuff. My birds will not go out in the cold,just sit in their coop,this way they at least get to run around. I think i will keep them inside all winter,this way we can drink hot apple cider,admire the Christmas tree and tell stories to each other. Oh,and if it gets really cold and the power goes out,we will all jump into my king size bed and snuggle together with the dogs(which are currently sleeping on the bed)and cats.

How true, my only real concern is moisture build up, but can pop open the windows a bit here and there to control it.
When it's this cold, it dries the air real fast. My cochin cross bantam hens will go out in the run even today if I let them not going to allow this today, maybe later just for a very short break from the coop.
I find dealing with weather down to -18c or 0f, is not difficult, but this kinda weather we have gets scary...

 

[HenniePennie60]

I live in NW Ohio. This is my first year with hens (46) and 'Dick' the Roo! (he turned out NOT to be a hen, but he's a happy OMOC!) I have them in a 14x18 coop with a partially covered 14x28 foot run. We insulated the coop and are just keeping a heat light on in there for the waterer to not freeze. I've noticed that they don't seem to be sleeping as much with that light on. When I started checking on them when the weather got cold, they were still up walking around in the coop and eating at night. Their egg production is still at 3 and 1/2+ dozen per day. Is there a problem with them not *resting* because of the lack of real night time conditions? I had issues with cannibalism early on, but have put goggles on all but Dick.... and I'm concerned that they might start up again if they get bored and have each other's butts in their faces while on the roosts. So far, so good. But just wondered if anyone has input on this.

 

[Imp]

I live in NW Ohio. This is my first year with hens (46) and 'Dick' the Roo! (he turned out NOT to be a hen, but he's a happy OMOC!) I have them in a 14x18 coop with a partially covered 14x28 foot run. We insulated the coop and are just keeping a heat light on in there for the waterer to not freeze. I've noticed that they don't seem to be sleeping as much with that light on. When I started checking on them when the weather got cold, they were still up walking around in the coop and eating at night. Their egg production is still at 3 and 1/2+ dozen per day. Is there a problem with them not *resting* because of the lack of real night time conditions? I had issues with cannibalism early on, but have put goggles on all but Dick.... and I'm concerned that they might start up again if they get bored and have each other's butts in their faces while on the roosts. So far, so good. But just wondered if anyone has input on this.

Hi and welcome HP60,
I have had a 13W cfl light bulb on, in the coop, for about 12 years. It has never given me or the chickens any problems. They will rest fine with the light on, just as they do during the day. I have not had any pecking, plucking or cannibalism issues. The only difference I have noticed is my chickens rarely have a full molt in the fall/winter. Instead they have several mini molts throughout the year. I am not sure if that is related to the light.

Imp

 

[Hokum Coco]

Winter Peg is as famous for cold. Moncton is famous for snow. We held the worlds record for amount of snow in 24 hours. It may have recently been broken by Newfoundland I am not sure.

In Canada I am subject to -40º cold snaps. I do NOT heat my coop. Murphy's law says my birds will find out what -40 is all about when my hydro goes out. Never lost a chicken to cold. Regardless what you decide feed extra Corn over the winter you will not be sorry.

Or something like this may help also; You could even knit a hoodie for those extra cold days..

 

[Bert2368]

We started with chickens this Spring, in East central MN (by Pine City). The temperature has varied between +104 in summer and -30 F in winter in my experience over 5 years on this site.

Our coop was somewhat over engineered, perhaps...

We re-built an ugly, (cheap) used 10'x10' shed into a coop. Here's what arrived- No insulation, doors that did not close, sheathing popping off. A good roof though-

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss31/Bert2368/photo-133.jpg

We fixed the exterior and doors, added windows, an automatic pop door, 2" of foam insulation, an infra red reflective (aluminized) vapor barrier/building wrap under the roof and outer walls, made the exterior very tight with caulking and trim over any gaps or cracks throughout.

Then we provided ventilation of the space between INTERIOR insulation and OUTER WALLS & ROOF.

We put vents under the walls, at eaves and at the peak of roof. We left an air space between the outer sheathing and the IR reflective layer everywhere. This allowed air to rise between the outer walls and insulation all around, flow through the space between the outer roof and ceiling insulation, then escape through the vent at the roof peak. During the summer, it was never any warmer inside the coop than outside, and generally it was slightly COOLER. We were pretty happy with that! No heat stressed birds were observed.



Then it got cold. We had 2 windows and the pop door for interior ventilation with the man doors closed, all these were on the same wall. The tops of windows were all below upper roost level- Our Dorkings wanted to roost as high as possible and we obliged them...

Experienced people are now shaking their heads at our newby failure to provide a good INTERIOR ventilation system.

The interior of the coop was paneled with a white plastic sheeting of the type used in wet areas of commercial kitchens- Floor, ceiling and walls. We used the included binder strips at the joints and filled all the grooves with silicone sealer as we installed this plastic. The inside of our coop would hold WATER, it was so airtight. Our intent was to be able to pressure wash the coop interior without fear of water entering the insulation behind the interior paneling. We succeeded-

The temperature dropped to -21 F a couple of nights last week, daytime highs below 0 F. The interior of the coop was draft free and about 30 F warmer than outside temperatures, with no heating beyond the 24 birds body heat and the covered, insulated water bucket. But I found some frost bit tips on the combs of a couple of roosters- And when I put a temperature & humidity sensor in the coop, relative humidity was around 70%... My glasses fogged when I went inside.

Cracking the windows and opening the pop door helped very little, especially at roost level where all the humid, warm chicken breath was.

I spent a few unpleasant hours outdoors in the snow at subzero temps with power tools. We now have a vent at the peak of the interior, and another vent at the opposite side about 8" above the floor (we use wood shavings as deep litter, so vent is above highest observed level of litter).

The new vents are aimed to avoid draft on perch areas. Coop interior now has cross ventilation, air goes in at base on one side and out at peak on the opposite side. The humidity and interior temperature both dropped, we are now below 25% relative humidity and only about 10 F warmer than outside temperature at night. I give the chickens extra black oil sunflower seeds and cracked corn, they're going to need more fuel now... They yum it right up!

Birds are much happier, they sit on the perches and fluff themselves up, lay down to cover their feet and some tuck their heads under a wing and snooze... They look like a row of feather balls!


I'm building new perches with built in poop/sand boards under. I'll extend this all with some pictures when I have more time-

 

[Rooster Rules]

We started with chickens this Spring, in East central MN (by Pine City). The temperature has varied between +104 in summer and -30 F in winter in my experience over 5 years on this site.

Our coop was somewhat over engineered, perhaps...

We re-built an ugly, (cheap) used 10'x10' shed into a coop. Here's what arrived- No insulation, doors that did not close, sheathing popping off. A good roof though-

http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss31/Bert2368/photo-133.jpg

We fixed the exterior and doors, added windows, an automatic pop door, 2" of foam insulation, an infra red reflective (aluminized) vapor barrier/building wrap under the roof and outer walls, made the exterior very tight with caulking and trim over any gaps or cracks throughout.

Then we provided ventilation of the space between INTERIOR insulation and OUTER WALLS & ROOF.

We put vents under the walls, at eaves and at the peak of roof. We left an air space between the outer sheathing and the IR reflective layer everywhere. This allowed air to rise between the outer walls and insulation all around, flow through the space between the outer roof and ceiling insulation, then escape through the vent at the roof peak. During the summer, it was never any warmer inside the coop than outside, and generally it was slightly COOLER. We were pretty happy with that! No heat stressed birds were observed.



Then it got cold. We had 2 windows and the pop door for interior ventilation with the man doors closed, all these were on the same wall. The tops of windows were all below upper roost level- Our Dorkings wanted to roost as high as possible and we obliged them...

Experienced people are now shaking their heads at our newby failure to provide a good INTERIOR ventilation system.

The interior of the coop was paneled with a white plastic sheeting of the type used in wet areas of commercial kitchens- Floor, ceiling and walls. We used the included binder strips at the joints and filled all the grooves with silicone sealer as we installed this plastic. The inside of our coop would hold WATER, it was so airtight. Our intent was to be able to pressure wash the coop interior without fear of water entering the insulation behind the interior paneling. We succeeded-

The temperature dropped to -21 F a couple of nights last week, daytime highs below 0 F. The interior of the coop was draft free and about 30 F warmer than outside temperatures, with no heating beyond the 24 birds body heat and the covered, insulated water bucket. But I found some frost bit tips on the combs of a couple of roosters- And when I put a temperature & humidity sensor in the coop, relative humidity was around 70%... My glasses fogged when I went inside.

Cracking the windows and opening the pop door helped very little, especially at roost level where all the humid, warm chicken breath was.

I spent a few unpleasant hours outdoors in the snow at subzero temps with power tools. We now have a vent at the peak of the interior, and another vent at the opposite side about 8" above the floor (we use wood shavings as deep litter, so vent is above highest observed level of litter).

The new vents are aimed to avoid draft on perch areas. Coop interior now has cross ventilation, air goes in at base on one side and out at peak on the opposite side. The humidity and interior temperature both dropped, we are now below 25% relative humidity and only about 10 F warmer than outside temperature at night. I give the chickens extra black oil sunflower seeds and cracked corn, they're going to need more fuel now... They yum it right up!

Birds are much happier, they sit on the perches and fluff themselves up, lay down to cover their feet and some tuck their heads under a wing and snooze... They look like a row of feather balls!


I'm building new perches with built in poop/sand boards under. I'll extend this all with some pictures when I have more time-

That sounds like good engineering. I am curious though, with the pop door open, and windows opened, how could you not have ventilation? What you have since done makes better sense, how much venting did you provide?
Our weather and temps are just like your's, infact you are probably no further than a couple of hours away. It is still below 0f here today. I am debating if i should let the birds out to play in the covered run for an hour....

 

[Bert2368]

That sounds like good engineering. I am curious though, with the pop door open, and windows opened, how could you not have ventilation? What you have since done makes better sense, how much venting did you provide?

The pop door and the windows are all on the South side. Our winds are usually from the North and West here. The North, West and East walls were air tight, with the exception of whatever air might leak around the East facing double doors when they are closed- So there was no cross coop ventilation possible, and the pop door was the only low air entry for convection to cause air exchange. Pop door is located somewhat above the litter and is small.  It also is automatic, and so allowes no air intake down low at night.

(Exterior view from South West)
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss31/Bert2368/photo-135.jpg

(Exterior view from South East)
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss31/Bert2368/photo-134.jpg

Any convection during the day just let outside air in a ways above the litter & damp chicken poo, to rise up and out a window directly above the pop door. The airspace inside the roof peak did not exchange, the (relatively!) warm, damp air just stayed up there and the chickens prefered to roost right up under the ceiling in that damp air-

I added a 4" Dia. round vent with a weather hood on the outside as high in the peak on the West wall as I could. That's about 12.5 square inches of venting. It has an elbow aimed away from the roost area on the inside, so any draft coming in from the high vent will not play against the chickens.

I put a 12"x5" hole a little above the litter level in the North East corner, opposite to the pop door more or less. That's 60 square inches of venting if wide open. Lower vent has a cover with louvers that can be adjusted to decrease or cut off air flow, as well as to aim the draft downward to play over the surface of the litter. It's a common type used for forced air heating systems. There's a screened cover over the outside and I'm making a "scoop" to go over it and prevent snow or rain from being blown in.

Sent from my iPhone